Exceptional mild spell of late November-early December 1979

[Weather-history]

The exceptionally mild spell of late 1979 began on the 26th of November 1979 as tropical maritime air behind a warm front pushed NEwards across the UK.

Maxima were into the teens and as high 16C at Finningley on the 26th. the flow became even milder on the 27th and 28th behind another warm front and 17.0C was recorded at Ruthin in north Wales on the 28th. Dust falls and coloured rain occurred on the 28th showing the source of the air was from north Africa.

The exceptionally mild spell continued into December with maxima into the teens as tropical maritime air was constantly pumped across the UK.

The 5th of December was an excpetionally mild day with 17.2C recorded at Hampton and 17.0C at Wincanton

The following day was another record breaking mild day as 16.4C was recorded at Guersney and 16.0C at Harltand Point, north Devon

The break in the exceptional mild spell came on the 10th as polar maritime air dominated much of the rest of December 1979 as it became much colder.

26th November-9th December

CET mean: 10.1

CET average max: 12.8

CET average min: 7.3

[Weather-history]

Manchester Airport maxima

November

26th: 15C

27th: 12C

28th: 14C

29th: 14C

30th: 14C

December

1st: 13C

2nd: 14C

3rd: 11C

4th: 13C

5th: 12C

6th: 12C

7th: 13C

8th: 11C

9th: 12C

Heathrow Airport maxima

November

26th: 15C

27th: 15C

28th: 13C

29th: 12C

30th: 14C

December

1st: 12C

2nd: 14C

3rd: 14C

4th: 13C

5th: 16C

6th: 15C

7th: 14C

8th: 12C

9th: 14C

[nasher]

The exceptionally mild spell of late 1979 began on the 26th of November 1979 as tropical maritime air behind a warm front pushed NEwards across the UK.

<snip>

Hi,

I was making this point yesterday about the mild(ish) weather we will be having this week,that its not rare to have it this time of the year,and some people were saying its all going pear shaped,so to look at your charts ,there must be hope.

Edited November 29, 2007 by shuggee
No need to quote the whole post! :-)

[yamkin]

Hi,

I was making this point yesterday about the mild(ish) weather we will be having this week,that its not rare to have it this time of the year,and some people were saying its all going pear shaped,so to look at your charts ,there must be hope.

Sometimes I give up trying to tell so many that the good old days were not all cold and there were many mild periods. For some unknown reason, many keep going on about 'even larger teapot' & 'Global Warming'. All they need to do is come and view Mr Data's historic facts and they will be speechless !! :lol:

Edited November 29, 2007 by yamkin

[Weather-history]

30 years ago

25th November - 10th December 1979 CET: 9.9C

Compare that to 100 years before

25th November - 10th December 1879 CET: -1.3C

[Roger J Smith]

I remember that period being quite mild and rainy in the Great Lakes region too.

Do you have a thread about the weather events of about 2-5 Dec 1982? I was looking at maps for that period and noticing a very deep low over Britain followed by a strong northerly. This happened to be a similar lunar date to this year, and much like the present, temperatures were very mild in the lower Great Lakes region and northeast US (then).

If you don't already have a thread, it might make another interesting one for some future date. Thanks.

[North-Easterly Blast]

During late November - early December 2000 there was another exceptionally mild spell at exactly the same time of year and this was comparably as mild as 1979. The exceptionally mild weather set in around November 27th / 28th 2000 and this lasted until December 12th / 13th 2000, and to a similar extent colder weather was prevalent for the rest of Dec 2000 like in 1979. Both Decembers ended at 5.8. Late Novembers and in fact the whole of Decembers 1979 and 2000 were very similar synoptically and temperaturewise, and also rainfall was pretty similar too.

November 27th - December 12th 2000 CET 9.9*C

An replica of the mild spell 21 years earlier, and almost to the date too!

[Weather-history]

Here's a contrast

Manchester Airport maxima for 1979 and 2010

November

26th: 15C; 3C

27th: 12C; 2C

28th: 14C; 0C

29th: 14C; 3C

30th: 14C; 1C

December

1st: 13C; 0C

2nd: 14C; 0C

3rd: 11C; -1C

4th: 13C; 3C

5th: 12C; 1C

6th: 12C; -3C

[Weather-history]

 

 

             

 

Saharan dustfalls

 

The remarkable sunset

Mildness of the spell

 

 

 

 

[Summer8906]

Interesting that this spell produced one rare sunny day on the 29th, according to the readings - very unusual to get mild and sunny weather so late in the year.

I do remember this spell vaguely but the dullness and dampness of this period in 1979, together with frequent strong winds, which rattled the lamp posts outside the house, is what stood out. Obviously it was very mild as well but that didn't particularly register.