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Good first half/poor second half


Summer of 95

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

With this month having looked up until mid-month as though it had the potential to surpass May 1992 (by far the best May I can remember); then having gone badly pear-shaped since the mid-way point with the few sunny days not being warm and the rest being overcast and/or wet (how common is it for May to have the second half colder than the first?); it's set me thinking of other months where a fine first half was spoilt by a disappointing second half:

1- June 2006. For the most part a virtual carbon copy of this month, with a glorious spell from about 4th-12th with temperatures reaching into the high 20s and plenty of sunshine. However after the 15th it went badly downhill with several cool, cloudy days which caused the sunshine total to plummet despite little rain falling. It redeemed itself by warming up again in the last 3-4 days- will May 2008 do likewise?

2- June 2004. Another fine first half of June with lots of warm sunny days (though not quite as warm as June 2006's). Then a big change around the 20th ushered in some really horrible cold, wet windy weather which stayed for not only the rest of June but most of July and (in a slightly warmer, more thundery guise) August too.

3- August 2003. For this area I'm stretching it to include this vastly overrated month even in this category, let alone comparing it to August 1995 or July 2006. Suffice to say the 3 or 4 hot sunny days were all between the 1st-9th (not 10th you'll note which was warmish but grey and dull here) and the rest of the month was a mild dry, cloudy non-event.

4- May 2000. An often-forgotten fine first half of May in an otherwise terrible summer (and year). As I recall the second half was much cooler, although wet in the SE that never really got up here.

5. April 1995. Really odd to see this happen in April which should be a month that gets notably warmer as it progresses, but then 1995 was a remarkable year in so many ways. A long spell of warm sunny days up until about the 17th April was followed by a flip to winter-like conditions in the week beginning the 19th, with frosts and snow showers. A wet few days to finished followed by an equally strange May which I'm tempted to include as well (but won't as the cold spell straddled the middle of the month, creating a 3-thirds rather than 2-halves one).

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Some of those examples were less clear-cut in other parts of the country. For instance the first half of May 2000, while exceptionally warm, dry and sunny for much of central, northern and western Britain, was very dull in many parts of eastern England- so on the Tyne & Wear coast, there was an unusual divide between a warm dry but cloudy first half, and a cool showery but sunny second half.

Similarly I recall June 2004's first half had a contrast between the dry sunny south and east, and the cloudy, often wet north and west.

On the other hand I remember August 2003 in Cleadon (hot sunshine 1-9 August, thunderstorms 10 August, often cloudy from 11 August on) and June 2006 in Leeds (hot sunshine 1-11 June, thunderstorms 12 June, often cloudy from 13 June on) very well. Thus in many ways July 2006 felt like a "second bite at the cherry" where conditions similar to 1-12 June 2006 were able to sustain for a large majority of the month.

If I remember rightly April 1995 did warm up in the last few days as well following an outbreak of cool north-easterlies- indeed in Cleadon the 30th was warmest day of the month, leading into that remarkable heatwave in early May. Again, the contrast between a warm dry first half and cooler, wetter second half was pronounced almost everywhere, but it was less clear cut sunshine wise- in both Lancaster and the Tyne & Wear area, the sunshine total for the second half was similar to the first half.

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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam

July 2005, May 2006, June 2007 as far as my location is concerned had poorer second halves compare to the first.

That second half of July 2005 was really dull here.

June 1997 is another you could consider, certainly the second half was worse than the first.

Edited by Mr_Data
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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

July 2005 I did consider as another candidate- I agree that most of the second half was almost unbelievably dull here too, especially from the 20th on when there was a week with next to no sunshine and several wet days with maxima around 16C at best. However the first 8 days were also too cool and unsettled for me to consider it a "good" first half overall, even though admittedly there was an outstanding spell from about 9th-17th. A more accurate description of that month would be "fine middle, rubbish beginning and end".

June 2007 and June 1997 were more a case of "OK first half, diabolical second half" although again I agree the contrast was there. May 2006 (and May 2007 come to think of it) were more "decent first week then washout".

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

I did think of June 1997 as a possible candidate for the Tyne & Wear area, though that month was divided more into thirds. I remember plenty of warm sunshine during the first third, with a few thundery showers floating about on the 6th-9th, then a mediocre middle third, and then an exceptionally cold dull wet last third.

I recall July 2005 being similar to what Summer of '95 mentioned- very fine spell 8th-17th in the North East, but cool cloudy first week, and outstandingly dull during the last third. Without that last third of July, indeed, I'd probably have regarded 2005 as one of my favourite summers.

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Posted
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Continental winters & summers.
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset

September 2004 should be another surely, maybe not everywhere but certainly in Bristol.

The first half was excellent as the 1st-9th saw unbroken sunshine with a few misty mornings and some of the best weather of that summer! 28C was reached here on the 9th. The 10th-14th, although cooler, was majorly convective with some amazing downpours and a notable thunderstorm on the 13th with marble-sized hail. Then after the 15th, it went downhill. Although not overly wet, it was predominantly dull and sunless after the 17th anyway. I think out of two weeks from the 17th to the 1st of October, the only days with sun were the 24th and the 30th.

August 2004 is another one that sticks out.

The first half was actually quite settled here in Bristol with many sunny days and the highest temperature of the year being recorded. The second week was a tad cooler than the first but still, some very nice pleasant weather to be had. It was on the 15th that a front swept up bringing rain and then after that the rest of the month was a complete write-off. It was cool and showery from then on, more like what April should be like.

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