Summer 2011

[Milhouse]

Apart from the early May, that spring was pretty awful - it was an extension of winter, March was actually colder than January that year, and had the white easter. April was very cold until the final weekend, when it was mild. If not for that mild spell, it too would have been barely warmer than January.

A good spring would mean having months like April 2007 followed by May 1992.

I agree, that would be my perfect Spring. Lots of pleasant warmth building up to some proper heat later on. A good watering for the gardens from some April showers but nothing too substantial. I was just under the impression that some forumers liked a bit of wintriness in March and early April. Personally i found April 2008 a very frustrating month seeing a mere 2c one afternoon i recall.

[damianslaw]

Interestingly the first week of May 1995 (15.1C) was much hotter than May 1990 (13.4C) here and May 2008 was 12.7C.

May 2008 was actually a bit of an odd month. It was dry and sunny but as the winds were predominantly easterly (on 28 of 31 days) the temperatures were unexceptional. Indeed, the month was only 1.2C above the 1971-2000 average and cooler than May 2009 by 0.1C.

Id welcome a cold and varied spring. 1996 is the only spring to record a mean more than 1C below average here since 1989. So it'd definitely be something different, though I understand it'd be very unpopular in many quarters!

Surprised at those figures for spring 1989. I thought March 89 was a mild one and May 89 was quite good, though it was a notably cold April..

1996 was a predominantly cold spring with a cold March, followed by an average April and a very cold May. Spring growth that year was notably late after the cold winter, and I remember the garden being devoid of much greenery even in the middle of May - with many damaging frosts. Luckily we saw a hot spell in early June and relatively good summer thereafter to make up for the poor spring.

I'd like a varied spring like 1995 which saw alternating cold and mild spells during March and April followed by a very warm start to May and then a switch to notably cold weather again - a real topsy turvy spring - a summer like 95 would be superb - the best summer i've experienced.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I would imagine that many forumers would want a spring like 2009 (consistently warm and settled with no major wintry spells), or even more ideally a March 2009 followed by April 2007 and then May 1992. I'm not one of them (lack of variety being the main issue) but having said that I would certainly welcome a repeat of May 1992, which upon close examination was actually quite an eventful month.

As it stands my favourite season of all time is still Spring 1995 in the Tyneside area (even beating the subsequent summer)- it had some dramatic contrasts, a lot of convective activity (it remains the season with the highest frequency of hail there between 1993 and 2010 inclusive) and sunshine was above average in all three months. On four separate occasions (two in March, one in April and one in May), we were in warm sunshine one week, and wintry showers the next! I wouldn't welcome a spring like 1996 though, mainly because March and April were very dull across much of the country.

Interestingly the first week of May 1995 (15.1C) was much hotter than May 1990 (13.4C) here and May 2008 was 12.7C.

I think the same will be true of most east-coast locations from Yorkshire northwards- May 2008 had onshore winds which kept the east coast a lot cooler, while early May 1995 had an anticyclonic south-westerly flow which kept away the sea breezes. Tutiempo.net's stats for Newcastle Weather Centre and Tynemouth suggest that sea breezes were also an issue in early May 1990, with Tynemouth's absolute max of 15.4C in the 1990 spell contrasting with 23.6C in the 1995 spell.

[MP-R]

I would imagine that many forumers would want a spring like 2009 (consistently warm and settled with no major wintry spells), or even more ideally a March 2009

Very true! March 2009 was a great month with a stormy first third, a very springlike and quite warm middle third, and changeable but sometimes sunny final third.

[Thundery wintry showers]

It's an interesting point- come to think of it, from a South West perspective I would agree on March '09. In Exeter I remember a very climatic day on the 4th March 2009 with wintry showers and large hail, and an unexpected dusting of snow the following morning- and there was definitely a warm and exceptionally sunny spell there around midmonth. I remember walking around and thinking that it felt almost like summer! I think the SW did rather better for variety than most other regions of the UK though.

[Summer of 95]

Spring 2009? So memorable that I have virtually no memory of it weatherwise, other than remembering April as constantly above average but never having any 20C plus days- and having to wait till the end of May to top 21C, equalling 1996 as the latest ever.

May 1995: what a month, was it summer (in the first week, 26C on the 6th), autumn (barely 10C on the 8th), winter (-2C early on the 12th and snow on the 17th) or spring (warmed up but was showery in the final week)? Easily the most varied month I can remember, even if it followed a snowy but sunny March and an April that started warm, then went very cold in the third week! Spring 1995 was as amazing as the summer in some ways.

March 2003, April 2007 and May 1992 would be a match for any summer I've ever known for sunshine. And would beat a few for warm days.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Aye, while March may have had its moments, at least in some areas of the country, I have very few memories of April or May 2009, other than, in a word, "homogeneity" (hence comment about overall lack of variety). For instance, my Cleadon weather records note April 2009 as the third warmest April during the period 1993-2010, yet the highest maximum was a mere 16.8C!

[summer blizzard]

Mei

1960

1962

1963

1967

1968

1974

1982

1984

1986

1996

1997

1999

2009

qbo

2007

2000

1991

1988

1986

1981

1976

1972

1970

1967

1964

1962

1960

1958

MEI + QBO

1960

1962

1967

1986

July 2006

August 2003

August 1997

August 1995

July 1995

July 1994

August 1990

July 1989

July 1983

July 1976

August 1975

August 1955

These are the 12 months since 1950 which have recorded CET values above 18C. Sadly, we are not statistically overdue.

We have 1976 and 1997 as analogues, so there is potential for a very warm summer month.

1960, 1962, 1967 and 1986 are the closest analogues overall, I am pretty sure they were all very poor summers.

[Optimus Prime]

For me 2010 was a really non-descript spring. Warm by day, cold by night. Nothing really happened in an otherwise spectacular year (best since 1987)

[Weather-history]

. Nothing really happened in an otherwise spectacular year (best since 1987)

Don't agree with it being the best since 1987. 1990 and 1995 were spectacular years, 1995 being the better of two IMO.

So much happened in 1995 with early flooding, highly variable Spring, magnificent summer culminating in the standout summer month, August, in the record books as it was the driest, sunniest and warmest on record. there was September flooding, Indian summer October and a cold December and the year ending with record breaking low temperatures.

It had heat, cold, floods, drought, snow, freezing rain. Amazing year.,

[Bottesford]

Yes it does seem 1995 stands out as the year with the 'best' weather in recent(ish) times.

A varied spring followed by a dry & hot summer is exactly what many people want - I know I do!

I'd definitely like to see wintry showers in mid April - the kind where it's sunny one moment but snowing the next. But then follow that up with summer like heat late April... then back to frost & cold feed early May (and some rain for good measure)... then switch on the hot & dry for 3-4 months.

In recent years we seem to have had 'good' weather in April (great for walking - dry, lots of sun, not too hot or cold) then a bit of early summer warmth in May/June before it all goes down the pan for July & August. Lets hope we get something different this year.

[Weather-history]

To be honest, I didn't think 2010 was that spectacular, it started and ended as such but for the bulk of the period not a lot happen.

[Milhouse]

2010 a good year? For cold lovers it certainly was but very disappointing for heat seekers. However in my location we had a near record warm July.

The 20th March 2007 sticks in my memory as a very wintry feeling day in an otherwise warm and settled month. I remember trying to play tennis in a near gale force northerly. 8th April 2005 was very similar. I can cope with brief northerly outbreaks, however a repeat of Spring 1996 would be most unwelcome.

On the other end of the scale i remember the 15th April 2007 so well, incredibly warm for the time of year. However it turned out to be the best day of the whole year

[Alex95]

To be honest, I didn't think 2010 was that spectacular, it started and ended as such but for the bulk of the period not a lot happen.

January, November and December were the best for several decades in terms of cold and snow, but other than that there was no more significant weather events. Not much thunder either; the best storms of the year occurred in late September and late November (thundersnow) here. We're overdue a warm spell in the height of Summer - The last warm spell in July/August which was almost countrywide was in July 2008. Admittedly late May / June 2009 was good, but that's early Summer, not mid Summer.

The last widespread strong thunderstorm outbreak was in September 2006. Since then there's just been localized or weak events. The last widespread strong thunderstorm event which also affected the North East was in 2005. Thunderstorms are as good as snow in my book as long as they follow a nice warm/hot spell, and are reasonably intense.

Edited February 11, 2011 by alza

[Bottesford]

I just remember April 2010 being very dry. I did two walks that month - one in the Lake District and one in the Peak District. On both occasions the ground was baked hard and we saw not one drop of rain. We had plenty of sunshine too (enough to get a pink face!) hence my thinking that it was a 'good' month in so far it was a very usable month for the outdoors.

[Nick L]

Hopefully we will get a few decent storms for a change, it will make any heat less unbearable!

[Tucco]

I just remember April 2010 being very dry. I did two walks that month - one in the Lake District and one in the Peak District. On both occasions the ground was baked hard and we saw not one drop of rain. We had plenty of sunshine too (enough to get a pink face!) hence my thinking that it was a 'good' month in so far it was a very usable month for the outdoors.

Last spring was dry and very sunny here and great for been outdoors. As others have said a decent sunny dry summer would be great after the last 4 years.

[Bottesford]

Hopefully we will get a few decent storms for a change, it will make any heat less unbearable!

Do we ever get unbearable heat in this country...? :ph34r:

[Optimus Prime]

2010 had those very cold spells. But also a hot June and July and some notable frosts in October. November and December were both pretty amazing. 1995 Autumn was really, really poor.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I thought of 2010 as pretty average for notable weather events during February-October inclusive. The spring contained one of the driest and sunniest Aprils on record and some notable temperature contrasts in May, and Norwich had a remarkable hot sunny spell from 22 June to 4 July, but I don't remember many outstanding events between then and October.

April 2010 seemed to underwhelm a lot of people in MOD if I remember rightly, probably because it was often compared with the record-breaking April of 2007. At Cleadon the average maximum was as high as in April 2009, and it was cooler only due to lower minima, which in themselves were a reflection of generally clearer skies.

Re. Autumn 1995, I didn't enjoy it as much as the spring or summer but it still had more than its fair share of notable weather events, including some record-breaking rainfall in the NE in early September, an unusually potent cold snap in the north on 27/28 September, some exceptional warm plumes in October including a particularly summer-like one around the 8th (even Tynemouth made 23C that day), exceptional rainfall in places around 12-16 November, and wintry showers accompanied by thunder in eastern areas on 17 November. Of the notably warm Octobers of the last 20 years (1995, 2001, 2005, 2006) only the 1995 one was widely sunnier than average.

[summer blizzard]

I must admit to feeling some trepidation about the coming summer. All anologues bar 1986 indicate a weak La Nina, 1986 indicates a neutral/weak El Nino. All anologues indicate that the QBO will become easterly by summer. Not good signs.

Saying that, i am one of the people that pretty much flips a switch and on the 1st April i will be on the look out for a heatwave.

[Costa Del Fal]

I must admit to feeling some trepidation about the coming summer. All anologues bar 1986 indicate a weak La Nina, 1986 indicates a neutral/weak El Nino. All anologues indicate that the QBO will become easterly by summer. Not good signs.

Saying that, i am one of the people that pretty much flips a switch and on the 1st April i will be on the look out for a heatwave.

Oh dear, its never right is it. :lol:

Im not worried by any poor summer Forecasts yet as its still a long time away. Its the same with winter forecasts, not everyone was right.

[Summer of 95]

April 2010 I will always remember for those fantastic blue skies courtesy of Eyjafjallajokull; combined with a sun that seemed unusually strong and big daily temperature ranges; during the aircraft-free period it was often below freezing just before sunrise, and rose to the mid-teens by noon; with the sun making for comfortable T-shirt weather despite temps of only 14C.

Autumn 1995 had a very good October; 23C on the 7th, high teens and sunny/dry for much of the month, and a brief but violent storm I remember near the end (think it was the Monday of half-term week: I know I'm not mixing it up with Hurricane Lili a year later because I was in a different place for that). November was OK; some frost, not especially wet, scertainly an improvement on 1994. Although September was wet it wasn't as bad as 1994 or 1993, and did have some thunder on about the 5th. It did lack really warm days but after that August I could live with that!

[Essan]

with an earlier start to winter we may also see an earlier arrival of Spring

http://weatherearthnews.blogspot.com/2010/10/winter-201011-forecasts.html

Looking good! Could be one of the mildest Febs ever here the way things are looking!

Not given any thought to spring proper yet. But I'd expect a few colder spells in March/April. Gut says we could see some hot weather late Spring/Summer.

Edited February 11, 2011 by Essan

[johnholmes]

perhaps a coldish start to spring for March

a bit less so for April and May probably with above average temperatures!