The awful August of 1912

[Weather-history]

Here's a report in the Times from 27th August 1912 of that horrendous summer month. It was the coldest August on record for the CET with 12.9, it was the wettest on record with 192.9mm. There was also some serious flooding for East Anglia

[Thundery wintry showers]

Very interesting read as usual. I generally quote August 1912 as the king of poor summer months, for instance at Durham the average max was only 15C (compared to the norm of 19C) and sunshine totalled 57 hours, barely over one-third of the average.

As for the year as a whole, the Met Office stats show Durham having had only 222 hours of sunshine that summer (less than half the normal) and only 982 hours for the entire year- in spite of well above average sunshine in April. I'm not sure whether anomalies were that stark over the rest of the country, but certainly in the North East, SAD must have been a big issue in the year 1912!

[Weather-history]

I generally quote August 1912 as the king of poor summer months,

I agree with that, its the exact opposite of August 1995, which holds the driest, sunniest and warmest.

The contrast between August 1911 and 1912 is very notable.

CET: 18.2

CET: 12.9

rainfall: 54.9mm

rainfall: 192.9mm

Lots of people suffered and died from the heat in 1911, whilst people suffered in 1912 for different reasons either through the floods, the damp and the cold.

Edited August 15, 2007 by Mr_Data

[Cookie]

I agree with that, its the exact opposite of August 1995, which holds the driest, sunniest and warmest.

The contrast between August 1911 and 1912 is very notable.

CET: 18.2

CET: 12.9

rainfall: 54.9mm

rainfall: 192.9mm

Lots of people suffered and died from the heat in 1911, whilst people suffered in 1912 for different reasons either through the floods, the damp and the cold.

not to gud years to be alive then?

[Weather-history]

Here is the isohyet map from the British Rainfall 1912 edition of the Great Norfolk rainstorm.