Slowest Start To Spring Since 96?

[Optimus Prime]

I'd imagine 1986 would be the slowest of the 20th century looking at the temperature series;

January 3.5c (-0.3c)

February -1.1c (-4.9c)

March 4.9c (-0.8c)

April 5.8c (-2.1c)

May 11.1c (-0.1c)

The previous winter and summer was also very cool and also Summer and Autumn 1986 was unusually cold;

June 14.8c (+0.7c)

July 15.9c (-0.2c)

August 13.7c (-2.1c)

September 11.3c (-2.3c)

October 11.0c (+0.5c)

November 7.8c (+1.3c)

1963 had that extremely cold January and February but March and April were relatively mild so it probably wasn't too earlier in the end. I'd take a guess and say 1986 was the slowest season overall.

[AderynCoch]

I'd imagine 1986 would be the slowest of the 20th century looking at the temperature series;

January 3.5c (-0.3c)

February -1.1c (-4.9c)

March 4.9c (-0.8c)

April 5.8c (-2.1c)

May 11.1c (-0.1c)

1917 was slightly colder:

January 1.6c

February 0.9c

March 3.2c

April 5.4c

May 12.8c

January-May 1917 = 4.78C

January-May 1986 = 4.84C

January-April 1917 averaged just 2.8C. Spring must have been a long time coming that year!

[Optimus Prime]

May was warm that year probably allowing a sudden emerge of Nature.

May 1917 Mean Maxima 18.0c (+2.5c)

May 1986 Mean Maxima 15.0c (-0.5c)

[jethro]

Not really, I'd say it was normal. Daffodils came out about 3 weeks ago, as is normal, crocuses were coming out in late February, again as is normal but theyve stopped now. Everything is normal here, apart from maybe the leaf buds on trees is a little behind, but nothing on the scale some people suggest for their part of the country.

In the main 90% of Daffodils are out. Blossom on trees is now occuring. Hawthorn is almost in young full leaf in places. Horse Chestnut flowers starting to emerge.

Blimey! I thought I lived in one of the mildest areas in the UK, you must be so much warmer up there - the Horse Chestnut is particularly notable, it doesn't usually flower until May at the earliest.

Still haven't seen the slightest glimmer of Hawthorn bursting bud down here, it's reliably the earliest tree to green-up after winter. Still a lot a sheep being fed supplementary feed to make up for the lack of grass growth.

[littlemissy]

My Bramly apple tree hasn't sprung into leaf yet, although the daffodils have made their entrance-but only just.

However I think it was 2004/2005 when I had a daffodil flower in my north facing front garden in January-that was really odd.

Nature will do as she pleases I have decided.That is what makes weather watching such fun!(for me anyhow)

Happy Easter to all.

[Guest]

Not really, I'd say it was normal. Daffodils came out about 3 weeks ago, as is normal, crocuses were coming out in late February, again as is normal but theyve stopped now. Everything is normal here, apart from maybe the leaf buds on trees is a little behind, but nothing on the scale some people suggest for their part of the country.

In the main 90% of Daffodils are out. Blossom on trees is now occuring. Hawthorn is almost in young full leaf in places. Horse Chestnut flowers starting to emerge.

The hardy (small) daffodils are out here, but the normal sized ones are still just buds with slightly yellow tips. The crocuses are out but have been for only a fortnight or so. I don't know how far ahead or behind normal this is, but I do know that there are sometimes daffodils by mothers' day, and this year there were none.

I would suggest that perhaps this year is more like a typical year, and previous years were perhaps on the early side in terms of plant growth.

[Cheggers]

Well up here in Forres not a sign of anything yellow, and further in land, no sign of any pavements etc!!!

Edited April 4, 2010 by Cheggers

[pottyprof]

Still haven't seen the slightest glimmer of Hawthorn bursting bud down here, it's reliably the earliest tree to green-up after winter. Still a lot a sheep being fed supplementary feed to make up for the lack of grass growth.

Hawthorn is just about turning green here. Not full leaf though. On the other hand, gooseberries are covered in leaf and they are covered in flower buds.

The cows are still being fed in the top field and the ground is turning into a mud bath in places. Very little sign of real grass growth here.

I would suggest that perhaps this year is more like a typical year, and previous years were perhaps on the early side in terms of plant growth.

Agree Catch. I think some people forget what normal is. I can remember in the 70's that daffodils tended to be just starting to flower around this time. The reason I remember this was because I used to help keep the local church yard clean. Not sure if it's still the same but there were huge amounts of them there.

[Optimus Prime]

There are different types of daffodil as far as I understand. Some which flower early and some late.

[Snowyowl9]

1986 actually had slightly more grass to this spring.

Snowcover protected the grass thoughout february,early march.

[Northernlights]

Odd daffodil flowering but 90% still green. Still lots of snowdrops and crocuses flowering and the horsechestnut tree in the front garden is at the sticky bud stage. I feel the timing is just where it should be and not at the end of January begining of February as it was many times in the last 3 decades.

[mezzacyclone]

I feel the timing is just where it should be and not at the end of January begining of February as it was many times in the last 3 decades.

Agree 100% with this

Edited April 4, 2010 by mezzacyclone

[Weather-history]

I'd imagine 1986 would be the slowest of the 20th century looking at the temperature series;

January 3.5c (-0.3c)

February -1.1c (-4.9c)

March 4.9c (-0.8c)

April 5.8c (-2.1c)

May 11.1c (-0.1c)

I'd take a guess and say 1986 was the slowest season overall.

1941 was a struggle. There were frosts even into May and pretty severe at that.

Highest temperature for Kew for those first 5 months was just 18.9C. I would imagine in Scotland, it was a real struggle.

[Terminal Moraine]

There are different types of daffodil as far as I understand. Some which flower early and some late.

You're right about that. Some of the early varieties flower in February in an average year whereas some of the latest varieties don't flower until early May. If you keep records of flowering dates etc it's important to stick to the same clumps of flowers rather than just the earliest one you happen to see.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I'm guessing that spring will be a little more backward than the long-term average but not outstandingly so, thanks to the warm wet second half of March. However it is markedly late for recent years.

[Terminal Moraine]

The first Daffodil in flower here today, the latest date since 1996, when it was April 15th This is much closer to the average date during the late 70s and early 80s, which was April 10th, than for the last 20 years or so when the average date has been March 26th.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Terminal Moraine

[damianslaw]

Will be interesting to see what impact the slower start to spring will have in terms of the timing of when birds begin to build their nests. Many smaller garden birds need to ensure their nests are well covered from preying eyes and indeed sheltered from the rain. In my parents garden the past three years have seen blackbirds build a nest in their clematis, with the chicks hatching usually in mid May. By early April their are usually signs of some slight greening of the buds, this year none, will the clematis be in full flower by the time the chicks are ready to hatch?,. Hopefully their is going to be some major spring growth spurt in the next couple of weeks or so.. Conditions have been very good recently with the wet conditions, the high pressure scenario later next week should do the trick some abundant warming sunshine is what is needed right now to help steer nature into spring.

Nature has a habit of quickly balancing herself out. Indeed the winter was a case in point, after the wettest Nov on record around here, we were staring at the potential for a horrible winter, the ground could not take any more rain, thankfully we were spared with nature delivering a notably dry and cold winter, which was just what was needed, helping to dry it out substantially. The weather is often cyclical, dry lengthy spells are often cancelled out by a sudden very wet spell in maritime climates anyway. In this respect I wouldn't be surprised to see a lengthy wet spring after the dry winter, or we could have entered a similiar period to what we saw during spring 95 - spring 97, which was very dry after a very wet period. This year feels very similiar to 1996 so far, which indeed it has now been confirmed was the last time we saw a later spring than this year, hopefully we do not have a May like 1996, though I'd take a summer that is comparable to 1996.

[SP1986]

Things have really started to move on now, Hawthorns are almost 100% covered with fresh, young leaves. Magnolias are in flower now which is a nice sight (and smell). Daffodils are still going strong, and Hyacinth is coming into flower prolifically now. Horse chestnut trees are starting to get some sizeable leave, the only trees which have not really got any sign yet are willow, and Birch.

However weeping willow is quite well covered in young foliage.

Spring is probably therefore ontime here. It's at odds with other areas, not sure why, maybe a lack frost, more sunshine/higher day temperatures over the last 30 days.

[Derp Patrol]

I haven't had a frost here since early March, and it's helped to speed up growth a bit. We were quite far behind, my cherry tree is about 2 weeks behind as usually it would have lost its blossom by now, but things are starting to pick up with the recent milder weather.

[RichardR]

Lots of bees around today.

[Cheese Rice]

According to the Daily Mail spring growth is around 3 weeks late, which sounds about right. With local variations and possible biased toward London due to the news paper been based in London.

[frostyjoe]

Lots of bees around today.

oh aye there was tons of bees and wasps about today nearly got stung.. too bad the warm weather comes when we go back to school... !!! ahhhh!

[Milhouse]

First tulip about to open in the garden. Last year it was round about the 1st so were only a week behind.

[Summer of 95]

17C today; in 2001 we didn't get to that until May. Hardly the latest spring since 1996!

[Optimus Prime]

The title should read the slowest growing season since 1996. Spring upto this point is near normal for the 71-90 reference.