Favourite calendar month of weather in your living memory?

[Jax]

I do.

glad to hear it, far too many do not.

[Milhouse]

July 2006, April 2011, March 2012. July 2006 was one big long holiday for me so the hot weather couldn't have come at a better time hence July 2006 is my favourite.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Milhouse

[carinthian]

hi,

 january 1963 ( blizzards, drifting and severe cold ) uk

 

February 1969 ( polar lows and deep snow cover ) uk

 

august 1976 ( heatwave ) uk

 

february 2013 ( fantastic snow cover and ski-ing conditions ( austria ) Lots of snowy nights interspersed with sunny days and deep blue skies.

 

August 2013 ( record breaking heat in (austria) with 40c reached for the first time ever )

[Chess01]

Thought 2009/2010 winter was better for snow here than 2010 . 2010 we had a lot of snow from november to middle of December but the rest of the month was just freezing cold but sunny . We had snow on the ground for Christmas but not falling from the sky the rest of that winter wasn really cold. Where as 2009 winter we had snow in every month , it started on the 23rd of December the warmed up then January we got a really pasting of snow.

If I had to pick it would be

January 2009

November 2010

16th of December 2011 was great in stoke we had a north westerly which was feeding a Cheshire gap streamer and there was a fair bit of snow but it warmed up after and melted which was a shame since it was near Christmas

July 2006

May 2012

May June July 2013

March 2013

It's a real shame that the weather we saw in march and April this year couldn't of happened in December and January instead as it would of being 10 times as snowy and the snow would of lasted a hell of long time but even in march we had snow lying until April

[cheese]

2009-2010 was better overall - the second half of December 2010 was virtually snowless here with only a few light flurries. Very cold though.

 

this can be seen easily in this satellite image:

 

Edited August 16, 2013 by cheese

[BlueSkies_do_I_see]

Some of the weather mentioned is featured here

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/get-ready-for-summer/blog/top-five-severe-weather-youtube-videos?WT.mc_id=Twitter_Comms_GRFS

[MP-R]

Tough one but here goes:

 

January - 2010: Cold and snowy first 15 days, with two further bouts of snow during the less cold remainder of the month

February - 2009: 4 heavy snowfalls in the first 10 days; rest of the month was a bit boring but better overall than most others

March - 2005: Cold and snowy start and the very warm springlike second half 

April - 2011: Two wonderful spells of weather 6th-12th and 17th-25th; rest of the month was very pleasant too!

May - 2008: (closely followed by 2006) Brilliant warm spell first of the month and very thundery overall

June - 2006: Abundant sunshine, heat, thunderstorms, coolth all in one month

July - 2006: (closely followed by 2013) Simply fantastic; plentiful heat and sunshine and more thunder than this year

August - 2003: Very dry, prolonged heat that became warmth with plentiful sunshine right until the final week

September - 2005: (closely followed by 2006) Perfect progression into autumn, summery first 10 days and unsettled final 10 days

October - 2008: Very hard to choose but this month had a bit of everything including a very chilly final week

November - 2009: (closely followed by 2010) I love rPm and Pm Atlantic weather and plenty of hail and thunder; 2010 would have topped it if I was in the southwest but I was in the southeast where there was no snow

December - 2010: No question. Truly wonderful winter month with plentiful snowcover and a visually white Christmas (2009 not far behind)

Edited August 16, 2013 by Miguel Hugo Roberto

[Isolated Frost]

Also think it was again 1979, we had all finally made it walking to school (do children today still do that?) 

I also do- much better and refreshing walking and thinking about how much you're going to mess up today! 

As I'm 15, and I can't remember anything before the age of 9 tbf- nothing before 2006 for me per month-

 

January - 2010

February - 2009

March - 2013

April - 2012

May - ?

June - 2010

July - 2013

August - ?

September - 2010

October - 2008

November - 2010

December - 2010

 

Criteria for a good month for me are- in the order seperated by commas

January-March: snow days, convection, air frosts, sunshine

April-August: sunshine, warmth, convection

September-October: air frosts, cold days

November-December: snow days, convection, air frosts, sunshine

 

Best 30 day period is definitely Nov 25-Dec 25 2010, followed by Dec 17-Jan 17 2009-10 and then this July really.

[Styx]

Got to be October 2006 ( Mid spring in Hobart ), two incredible weather events.

 

October 12 2006: Unprecedented heat and early bushfire threat

 

 

33.1C in Hobart ( 16 above October average ) and the highest temperature ever recorded so soon after winter. October record is 34.6C in 1987, but right at the end of the month. Sustained wind speeds of 50 miles per hour, with humidity falling to 4% ( October 3pm average is 56% ) - lowest ever recorded for any month - yet this was mid spring in temperate Tasmania.

 

Hundreds of homes on the hillside suburbs were threatened by bushfire with mass evacuations ( unprecedented for spring ), but all survived.

 

October 28 2006:  Unprecedented low level snow, settling at sealevel

 

A cold front with air off the Antarctic shelf brought flurries of snow to Hobart ( sealevel ) on the morning of the 28th - 4 weeks out from summer. Temperature 2.1C. Snow settled at 200 metres locally, in the same areas that were burnt out 16 days before, and settled on beaches along Tasmania's east coast. The latest sealevel snow event recorded. 

Edited August 17, 2013 by Styx

[philglossop]

For cold and snow here, February 1986 by a clear mile. Yes of course December 2010 was bitter here, but the snow never really got going, whereas that February it came and stuck around for weeks. It was the easterly that never wanted to give up! January 1987/December 1979 were pretty good as well

 

Hard to pick between July and August 1995- July 1995 we had a major thunderstorm that literally lasted all night down here, before the heat built and stuck for most of August.

Edited August 17, 2013 by philglossop

[BlueSkies_do_I_see]

As I'm 15, and I can't remember anything before the age of 9 tbf- nothing before 2006 for me per month-January - 2010February - 2009March - 2013April - 2012May - ?June - 2010July - 2013August - ?September - 2010October - 2008November - 2010December - 2010

Well there is a good chance that question mark for August will be replaced by 2013 if this morning's charts verify! Edited August 17, 2013 by BlueSkies_do_I_see

[Richard2901]

Here are my favourite calendar months from the past 20 years when I have been interested in the weather:

 

Jan - 2003

Feb - 1999

March - 2006/2012

April - 2007

May - 2001

June - 1994

July - 2006

Aug - 1995

Sept - 2004

Oct - 1997

Nov - 2008

Dec - 2010

 

Couldn't decide for March. Ideally it would be like 2006 for the first third and 2012 for the remainder. A fantastic arctic blast to start with then the first warm and sunny weather of spring.

 

and the worst:

 

Jan - 1996

Feb - 1994

March - 1996

April - 2012

May - 1997

June - 2007/2012

July - 2012

Aug - 2011

Sept - 2001

Oct - 2011

Nov - 2011

Dec - 2002

 

The best calendar months would be August 1995 and December 2010 but both were spoiled by a rubbish final week. The best non-calendar monthly periods were about 23rd July to 22nd August 1995 and 26th Nov - 25th Dec 2010.

 

My most hated months were undoubtedly June 2007, June 2012 and July 2012. All utterly vile without a single redeeming quality.

 

[Lake District Blizzard]

My Favourite Calender months are

 

January -   2010 - deep cold and snow for 2/3rds of the month, never got mild - Sun 50hrs

February - 2003 - dry, very sunny, frosty cold spells with milder periods of spring like weather - Sun 125hrs

March - 2011 - normal march starting as winter and ending as spring - Sun 120hrs

April - 2010 - sunny dry normal spring month again, few warm days and a few frosts - Sun 190hrs

May - 2008 - early start to summer warm dry sunny - Sun 240hrs

June - 2009 - hot start straight back into winter then heatwave last week. - Sun 230 hrs

July - 2013 - not as warm as 06 but just as sunny, and wet thundery last week to quench the drought - Sun 290 hrs

Aug - 1984 - not quite as extreme as 95 but a good summer month Sun 210 hrs

Sept - 1991 - Hot first half, frost by end of the month - Sun 190hrs

Oct - 1993 - Very sunny, cold, frosty - Sun 115hrs

Nov - 2005  - warm start, thunderstorms, very cold frosty 2nd half - Sun 90hrs

Dec - 2010 -  record breaking cold with early deep snow - Sun 55 hrs

 

A year of those months would give 1905 hours of sun here and about 650mm rain so about as dry as 1996, sunnier than 2003 too

 

Worst months recently would be

Jan - 2008 - V mild and wet

Feb - 2011 - unseasonably mild wet and dull, all but frost free

March - none

April - 2013 - windy all month, freezing

May - 2011/2013 - very unseasonable

June - 2012 - record dull/wet

July - 2007/2012 - same as june

August - 2011 - horrible cool wet month

September - 2012 - record wet and very cool

October - none

November - none

December - 2006 - endless rain very mild

Edited August 17, 2013 by Lake District Blizzard

[Optimus Prime]

For recent years;

 

January 2010 - Amazing first half with lots of snow and a low of -10.9c

February 2009 - Remember the evening before the snow event later that night with the first of the flurries starting around 4PM

March 2012 - Warm and sunny

April 2007 & 2011 - Can't recall much variation between the two but I think the heat started later in 2007. Two amazing months and not too hot unlike if it had happened in June or July

May 2003 -  the start of an amazing summer

June 2003 - Very warm throughout. Long warm days

July 2006 - Exceptionally hot seemingly non stop and of course the year of the world cup so a good combination

August 1995 - It eventually broke down with heavy showers and thunderstorms but after a dry and hot spell this didn't fail to impress. 2003 close behind

September 2005 - The most violent thunderstorm I've seen

October 2008 - Early snowfall which settled for a couple of days

November 2005 - An amazing contrasting month

December 2010 - Kind of obvious really lol but 2009 was also very good - low of -12.2c

Edited August 17, 2013 by Optimus Prime

[Weather-history]

Favourite winter month: December 2010

Favourite spring month: May 1992; very warm and thundery, May 1997 was very interesting

Favourite summer month: August 1995

Favourite autumn month: October 1995

[iand61]

Winter month would be February 1979.

Summer month would be August 1995 and interestingly if we were looking at extended periods then I would still be going for 1979 with January and March added and June/July added onto 1995.

1976 would have probably run it close in the summer stakes as would 1963 for winter but I'm too young to remember that one.

[Nights King]

My favourite will probably be January 2014 which I'll be spending in north east Poland  

[johnholmes]

Winter month would be February 1979.Summer month would be August 1995 and interestingly if we were looking at extended periods then I would still be going for 1979 with January and March added and June/July added onto 1995.1976 would have probably run it close in the summer stakes as would 1963 for winter but I'm too young to remember that one.

 

take it from me that 1962-63 far surpasses anything since, longevity, very low temperatures by day and night, and snowfall was not far on 2 or 3 occasions in rivalling the falls folk talk of in winters since.