2016 overview

[damianslaw]

A good time I think to start a thread discussing thoughts on 2016 overall weatherwise.

In a word 'non-descript', perhaps best sums it up, very few interesting notable weather events, and again another very mild year, with little in the way of below average temperatures.

Most notable day:

July 19 -  a freak hot day in what turned out to be a decent summer but nothing spectacular, reminscent of events on 1 July last year, when had a freak hot day that came out of nowhere.

Monthly overview:

January - another very mild wet one, redeemed by the shortlived cold snowy snap mid month which made it bearable.

Feb - a decent cold frosty second half.

March - quite chilly throughout, but little to speak of.

April - perhaps the most abnormal of all the months, quite wintry at times, we had a very late snowfall on the 30 April

May - at last a good May for sunny warm dry weather

June - half decent, but quite wet at times, certainly not flaming June but there was a bit of heat at times

July - a good month overall, but hardly vintage summer month]

August - consistently good

September- yet again another very mild dry sunny one - summer hung on

October - a month spared of much rain and wind, very benign, very pleasant

November - enjoyed it for once, thankfully little heavy rain, lots of cold frosty sunny weather

December - like Jan, disapointingly very mild, but unlike Jan, no snow to speak of, and after a frosty start, just rather overcast.. 

2016 - A year spared of any weather headlines.

[cheese]

January - mild, wet and cloudy. Only one transient covering of snow. One for the dustbin.

February - a big improvement on January. Temperatures and rainfall were bang-on the 1981-2010 average but sunshine was well above average. No complaints from me, even though it didn't snow once. 

March - probably the most forgettable month of 2016. I'm struggling to remember what even happened - I think it snowed once.

April - a cold, wintry month. Snowfall on the 29th is the latest accumulation I've personally witnessed. More interesting than March but by this point I've grown tired of winter. Sunshine was above average.

May - sunny and warm May! Feels like ages since the last one - maybe 2008? Generally very pleasant, temps up to 25C early in the month.

June - very disappointing. Average temperatures, but very cloudy and wet. 

July - decent. A little warmer than average, a little sunnier than average, noticeably drier than average. One hot day on the 19th, up to 31-32C. Grass went yellow.

August - warmest month of 2016. Consistently warm and sunnier than average. Similar rainfall to June but falling on far fewer days, so didn't feel wet at all. 

September - a warm, sunny and dry month. Amazing thunderstorm on the 13th, which was also the hottest day of the month at 29.5C.

October - a sunny and dry month. Largely forgettable but pleasant nevertheless.

November - likely to be colder than December. Snowfall on the 9th, and further non-accumulating snow later in the month. Wetter than average but also sunnier than average. 

December - very settled and very mild. Below average rainfall - around the same amount as December 2010. Not sure about sunshine but it seems like more days than usual have been sunny.

Overall, 2016 has been a fairly boring year but not unpleasant. In fact, I'd say it's one of the more pleasant years of recent history with many usable days, and not many washout days. Seems like many months were on the sunny side.

But once again, very little snow.

Edited December 27, 2016 by cheese

[Matthew.]

Not a special year in my book(waiting for another 95') but a good August. My favourite month of this year. 8 days of clear blue skies.

January and Feb saw a gradual return to more polar air masses after a relentless SW period. The middle of Jan being the coldest week bringing frosts and ice nights, 3-5c by day.

April won't be forgotten for its late wintriness. Our best snow event of the year around April 26th. Couldn't believe my eyes when a cm had settled. 

Overall not much Hp dominance locally. March had it to the NE at times after the SSW event so probably one of the drier months. 

Good spells in April and May with 4-5 days each of beautiful days. 

Then towards June things went foggy with an unusual NE wind bringing poor conditions to central and eastern parts but even then the great conditions out west spread eastwards for a few days. After that though it went all downhill with constant cloudy weather. Even though it was a above average month it showed to me how much more important local Hp is bringing sunshine. 

One day in September it felt like being abroad with temps pushing towards 30c. Probably favourite day of the year for heat.

A very notable October for dry and easterly components. 

A notable November for cold. Felt colder than December at times.

As of now December looks like coming out the driest month of year compared to average. I think we only have 50% of average here(about 90mm) and local Hp dominance has been incredible(making up for lost time maybe). As I sit now writing this the pressure is at the highest since I can remember for years maybe(1042mb).

So nothing great this year as months go but with this month perhaps having the most notable anomalies for being dry. Then again there were good short sweet periods.

Edited December 27, 2016 by Matthew Wilson

[March]

Jan - Was a bit like December '15 but with cold snaps, saw a pitiful 2cm of snow that lasted about half a day.

Feb - Coldest month, quite settled and very dry.

March - Story of HP being around at the wrong time. A lot of chilly dry dull weather. Disappointing. 

April - Disappointingly chilly.

May - Fantastic month, was hoping for a warm May for ages.

June - Warm but stormy which resulted in in being quite wet. Wettest month in fact.

July - Nice and warm.

August - Nice and warm.

September - Nice and warm.

October - Rather boring, lack of notable mildness of previous years.

November - Would have preferred it a bit milder. A bit dull.

December - Quite good, calm weather. 

[Lettucing Gutted]

I hated this year!  January through March and December were all god awfully mild and wet, just like the monsoonal December 2015!  Yes, December this year was cooler and drier but that wasn't hard to achieve and so it was yet again another very mild and unsettled one!  The summer (including May and September) was just too bloody muggy and humid with no respite unlike many other recent summers.  October was just boring with dry and consistently slightly mild weather.  Only April and November were seasonably cool and enjoyable for me.  These 2 are also the only months to break another otherwise endless mild train post September 2015.  This sequence of months was very similar to 1989 albeit with July and November 2016 being somewhat cooler and March, April, June, August and September 2016 somewhat milder than their 1989 counterparts.  2/10   I now await the lynch mob...

Edited December 28, 2016 by Lettucing Gutted

[Summer of 95]

January- pile of rubbish. Mild, damp, boring, Rain with -8C uppers one night just the icing on the cake. No snow coverings it all, little frost. 1/10

February- at least drier and frostier than Jan, even if it still wouldn't snow. 3/10

March- nothing happened I remember. 2/10

April- incredibly the only time I saw settling snow this year was in the early hours of 16th April. There were a couple more days with wintry showers. 6/10

May- pretty good month, topped 200 hours for the first time since 2001 (seems an awfully long wait for a sunny May?). Plenty of warm, sunny weather, great contrast with the utter tripe that was May 2015 (that didn't even reach 20C once). Thunderstorm on 7th as well. 8/10

June. Nice first week, then went downhill. Some thundery showers, but a lot of nuisance rain. Didn't do as badly as the East though. 5/10.

July. Whatever else it did, this was the month that finally reached 30C here after a 10-year wait. It didn't do much else really, but it did what "hot months" July 2013, July 2014, June 2010 and that so-called "hot day" of July 2015 failed to do. It wasn't just 30.1, it was 33C- 4C warmer than any other day since 2006. 7/10.

August- better than most recent ones, plenty of warm, usable weather, but still only average sunshine. Still no 200-hour August since 1995. 6/10

September- would have been a very frustrating month if it wasn't for an afternoon of brilliant thunderstorms on the 13th. Otherwise we missed all the heat somehow (it didn't top 25C here when people were reporting 28-30 widely) and it was quite cloudy at tines. The 13th really saved it. 5/10

October- anyone remind me?  3/10

November- at least a semblance of a frosty month, and that unforgettable mad 10 minutes on the 17th. 6/10

December. Frosty at the start and end, 3 weeks of utter rubbish in between. Yet again no snow.  4/10

Overall another year with lots of boring "eternal Autumn" weather, but notably less so than 2015 (the year when it was nearly always 14C, cloudy and windy); especially in the spring and summer months. Terrible lack of snow however, looks likely to be the first year since 2008 with no snow-lying days (2015 managed 3- though none lasted the day- and 2014 one). 

 

Edited December 28, 2016 by Summer of 95

[Relativistic]

January: mild, dull, some cold weather thrown in but nothing notable.

February: mild again, although turning colder into March, some frost.

March: a cold start with frost and some falling snow, otherwise average.

April: a chilly month, most notably at the end with falling snow on a number of days (26th was the best), the 30th was a very eventful day with a crazy hailstorm.

May: muggy and warm most of the time.

June: muggy, warm, and exceptionally cloudy.

July: very dry with temperatures regularly in the mid-20s, and that exceptional plume that brought crazy nighttime minima, lack of storms.

August: another dry and warm month, with hot days interspersed throughout.

September: by this point the ground had huge cracks (easily big enough to get your fist down there) in it because of the warmth and dryness, exceptional heat mid-month.

October: dry (bar the 1st) and chilly for large parts.

November: quite frosty on the whole and not much mild weather, again dry.

December: started very frosty but quickly turned into mild crap, the end of the month saw more frost.

 

Overall, a mild start, cooling off in Spring with some very late dates for falling snow, then leading into a very long and warm Summer (May to September) that featured 30C days in all three of July, August, and September. The remainder of Autumn was overall chilly, with some decent frosty days. December not so great.

[Optimus Prime]

January; One of the most boring January's I can remember. Very mild but never truly unsettled

February; Some sharp frosty weather, brief snow that didn't settle. Quite mild

March; Some frequent wintry showers. Rather cold

April; Mostly mild but with the notable cold snap at the end. Cold for recent years

May; Some lovely very warm weather

June; Ditto

July; Ditto

August; Ditto

September; Exceptionally hot with some fantastic thunderstorms. Comparable to 2013. Since 2013 though storms have become quite frequent during the year

October; Fine and quite warm at times but also some chilly spells

November; Mostly average but very cold end

December; Mostly exceptionally mild but with a cold start and end.

[hillbilly]

Not the most exciting year,A wet start becoming dry with very little winter if any at all.Once again winter made an appearance in spring and kept things cool right into summer.There were a few very warm days late spring but much of the good sunny weather was spoilt by cool winds.Summer really was bordering on poor for much of the time but warmer sunny weather appeared in August but no heatwaves to remember.It really felt the best season was autumn,feeling warm especially in calm conditions and plenty of sunshine .Wintery weather arrived early in November with a couple of snowfalls and frost sticking around a few days on high ground.Winter arrived and it is back to normal,mild and windy ,at least it wasn't wet except for one day which really was torrential ,just avoiding flooding.Still waiting for Elland bridge to be rebuilt a year after last boxing day floods .

[Weather Enthusiast91]

January: Damp, cloudy and mild.

February: Similar to January.

March: Quite a windy month. Temperatures and weather typical for early spring.

April: A couple of nice sunny days with mild temperatures. Turned wintry towards the end of the month.

May: We had a reminder that summer is just around the corner, especially early in the month when temperatures reached 25 Celsius.

June: Nice during the first week, then the weather became mainly unsettled for the rest of the month. 

July: The first week or so was a continuation of the wet June. After this, it became drier and a little sunnier with temperatures only around average. It was warmer and sunnier during the second half of the month with a hot spell around the 19th.

August: The best of the summer months in my opinion. Especially since this is the first August in a long time that has actually felt like summer.

September: Another good month with a hot spell around the middle.

October: Quite a boring month in terms of weather, although it started off fairly sunny.

November: Cloudy and mild. Sunny and cold with sharp frosts around the end.

December: A bit milder than November.

 

[moorlander]

2016 will be quickly forgotten about sums up my feelings

But did enjoy the dry Autumn period which made a pleasant change from the norm.

Nearly time to roll the dice again, snake eyes or a double six, only time will tell.

[Dangerous55019]

Right... From totally IMBY, and memeory perspective, 2016.
It did have a few better points, as well as many low ones... One of the high points being a very seasonal, gentle mellow and foggy autumn 

January: Started off on the wet note that had begun back in November 2015, but it did give us a week of winter(!!) with snow and thunder!

February: By the middle of February we had actually achieved a run of sunny days which gave me hope that the gloomfest of winter 2015/16 was finally over. 

March: Came in like a lion, and out like a lamb... On the whole a reasonable month, a bit of all sorts, but not a total wash out, with pleasant of pleasant sunny days, but towards the end of the month, we had some spectacular convective cloudscapes, with even the odd rumble of thunder and hail 

April: A coldish cooler month, with snow on the hills. Many sunny days, and a few wet(ish) ones as well. Again towards the end of the month, a good convective spell giving some spectacular cloudscapes.

May: Started off pleasant enough, but the first weekend gave us our first Spanish Plume of the season, with a half reasonable thunderstorm, plus hill fog, also a month of many weathers, but on the whole, not too bad, and generally sunny 

June: The middle of the month sticks out in my mind for going 'BANG'!! Thunderstorms a plenty, day after day, but once the storms had gone, then sadly summer 2016 started to turn into a gloomfest. *sigh*

July: Most days started off sunny and promising, but by 10.00 to 11.00 each day seemed to turn into a total gloomfest... It was like a re-run of the winter beforehand, only with less rain. Then there was the 19th of July, a freak hot/very hot day! A day in which I remember seeing over 2500 j/kg of CAPE and a lifted index of -5 (off the top of my head) and all we managed was one poxy clap of thunder the next day 

August: Early on, had some early morning fog that were very autumnal feeling, followed by a few sunny days (the 6th of August being a very pleasant summers day) before the daily gloomfest started once more. Dry but gloomy. But we had another warm spell around the middle of the month. Although around the end of the month the was another quite impressive little thunderstorm... A night time rattler if my memory serves me correctly. 

September: A warm month that gave us at last a taste of summer, and it turned out to be our last taste of summer. Also the first autumn storm (rain wise), and another thunderstorm on the 13 of the month.

October: A generally calm and foggy month, but with plenty of sunshine, but feeling much, much cooler, and a windy day around the 27th of the month ... Can we have more Octobers like this please? 

November: A notable chill in the air had set in by now, but still reasonably sunny, with foggy starts and ends to the days, and a frost end to the month, although there was a very wet spell around mid month.

December: Started off chilly but warmed up, but apart from a couple 'winter storms' around Christmas nothing spectacular, although the year has ended on a rather pleasant and frosty note.

So there you have it, not the most exciting year on record, some good bits, and other bits that I hope aren't repeated in a hurry... Namely the gloomfest parts.