Septembers 1992-95

[Summer of 95]

Halfway through another mostly fine, sunny 2000s September I find myself thinking back to the Septembers of 1992-3-4-5 which I remember as almost unrelentingly cold, dull and wet; especially 1994. These Septembers I think led me to consider a typical September a cold, wet month until recently: here are my memories:

1992: Following the wet August, September continued this theme, though tending more towards "sunshine and showers" rather than whole days of rain. My one outstanding memory of this month however is a surprisingly late hot (around 25C) day on Monday 28th which seemed to be the warmest day since June, the 27th was also warm and sunny.

1993: No hot weather at all, frequent rain and sparse sunshine. Again not unlike August. Didn't have the memorable frosts of Oct/Nov that year either which made it a particularly "bad" month weatherwise.

1994: Overall the worst September I can remember; dull, cold, wet and windy with absolutely no warm sunny weather and a bucketload of rain midmonth. In 1994 daytime temperatures hardly seemed to change from early September till just before Christmas.

1995: Not as bad as 1994 but would still be seen as bad by 2000s standards. Unsettled throughout (I remember a thundery spell around the 5th) with again 21C being elusive. October saw the summer return.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I remember during my early school days in Cleadon, thinking of September as that depressing month when not only did I have to start getting up early in the mornings to go back to school, but the weather always turned dull, cold and wet. The Septembers of 1992-1994 were three dull cold wet ones in a row, with 1992 and 1993 both even worse than 1994.

Most of the Septembers of the period 1995-2002 had below average sunshine, with 1996 and 2002 dry and cloudy, and the others dull and wet, but the two that did not (1997, 1999) had sunshine 40% above normal. September 1995 was probably only marginally under the average sunshine wise in the North East, despite a dull wet first third.

The Septembers of 2003-07 were the polar opposite of 1992-94, with each one being warmer, drier and sunnier than average.

[Don]

1993: No hot weather at all, frequent rain and sparse sunshine. Again not unlike August. Didn't have the memorable frosts of Oct/Nov that year either which made it a particularly "bad" month weatherwise.

1995: Not as bad as 1994 but would still be seen as bad by 2000s standards. Unsettled throughout (I remember a thundery spell around the 5th) with again 21C being elusive. October saw the summer return.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a repeat of Autumn 1993! On the other hand I would also like to see a repeat of Autumn 1995, providing a similar Winter followed!

Edited September 16, 2009 by Don

[damianslaw]

I remember the poor run of Septembers from 1992 - 1995 very well indeed. Being at secondary school at the time, I used to walk to school 1 and half miles away and always remember it being wet. Also during 1992 and 1993 I had a paper round in the morning, those wet Sept mornings and return to school are not great moments I want to remember.

I distinctly remember 1994 as being very wet mid-month, also September 1995 felt like the heavens had just opened after the wonderful dry sunny warm summer, I'm sure the good weather aug 1994 and 1995 made the wetness of the septembers to follow even more memorable.

Like others the run of Septembers made me think for a bit that Sept is destined to be cold and wet, however, recent Septembers now make think of the month as a very benign fellow when long lengthy dry spells are along with April/May highly likely in Cumbria.

[Terminal Moraine]

September 1994 in particular was outstanding. It stands as the second coldest September on my records, beaten only by 1986 which had the same mean max' but a lower mean min'.

It was also the wettest September on record here with 173.0mm, beating 1981 by about 5mm. The 14th was also the wettest September day on record with 71.4mm.

On top of that it also holds the record at this site for the most sunless days in September with 8 although 1969 at a different site a few miles away managed 10.

[damianslaw]

September 1994 in particular was outstanding. It stands as the second coldest September on my records, beaten only by 1986 which had the same mean max' but a lower mean min'.

It was also the wettest September on record here with 173.0mm, beating 1981 by about 5mm. The 14th was also the wettest September day on record with 71.4mm.

On top of that it also holds the record at this site for the most sunless days in September with 8 although 1969 at a different site a few miles away managed 10.

Yes I shudder when remembering Sept 1994 for many reasons and the weather seemed to eclipse my mood at the time.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a repeat of Autumn 1993! On the other hand I would also like to see a repeat of Autumn 1995, providing a similar Winter followed!

I certainly wouldn't mind a repeat of October or November 1993, which were pretty interesting months in their own ways- but I wouldn't want to touch September 1993 with a barge-pole! That month had a significant regional divide though with eastern England (including north-east England) being particularly dull and wet, but parts of the west were less wet and cloudy, some parts of the NW managing to be drier and sunnier than average.

I must admit I don't remember September 1994 at all, despite having some weather records for that month- it just pales into my general memory of expecting Septembers to be dull and wet around that time. Statistically in the Tyneside area it was not quite as dull or wet as September 1993, though it was certainly cold wet and windy around midmonth. However, it is notable that at many of the sites in Weather Log from the Midlands southwards, September 1994 was the duller and wetter of the two months.

In the Tyneside area a recent contender was September 2001. It was not a particularly wet month but the shortage of sunshine was every bit as acute as in September 1993, and I remember a particularly grisly dull damp spell in the second half. It wasn't particularly cold but this was only because of the high minima, the average maximum was less than 1C above those of 1993 and 1994.