1994 memories

[Sunny76]

I think this was one of the more interesting years in the 90s.

January was a mixed month, cold and mild, with some light snow showers at some point.

February was cold, not exceptionally, but still fairly chilly. Remember the snow in London around mid month, which was the heaviest since 1991, although I recall being slightly underwhelmed by it compared to 1991.

The windchill was very cold on February 14th.

March, and things became much milder and quite spring like. I remember the early part of March was quite warmish, around 15-17c and in the March sun feeling quite warm.

The rest of the month was quite dull and mixed, with some cool days among the milder ones.

April was mixed, and I remember quite a few chilly rainy and sunny days. The sunny spells and showers with a cold wind being a feature, so it was quite typical. Also we had a few warm sunny days later into the month.

May started off on the warm side but not hot. Mostly high teens and low 20s with sunny clear days and cool nights, but it became quite cold and dull during the second half of the month. 
 

The cold and dull weather continued into early June, which at the time I found to be really strange.

After several warm springs, I think this probably came as a shock, but the second half of June made up for the late start to getting some warmer weather. It turned hot towards the end of June and the famous severe storms of Friday 24th came about during a hot week of 28-32c weather. 
 

Definitely a notable storm for London and the south. Similar to late august 1987, as the storm moved in during late Friday evening and into the night.

July was hot and sunny for many days, some humid and more storms broke out. It was the hottest July since 1983 at the time.

August was a slight disappointment, but with more storms and still some hot days at the start of the month.

The heat didn’t stick around though, so naturally it started to feel more like autumn by late August.

September was disappointingly cold and dull with not much warmth, after a decent summer, it was a bit of a blow.

October had a cold start, then a really warm second week.

November was very mild and dull.

December was very mild with some cold days the week before Christmas. 

[North-Easterly Blast]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

I think this was one of the more interesting years in the 90s.

January was a mixed month, cold and mild, with some light snow showers at some point.

February was cold, not exceptionally, but still fairly chilly. Remember the snow in London around mid month, which was the heaviest since 1991, although I recall being slightly underwhelmed by it compared to 1991.

The windchill was very cold on February 14th.

March, and things became much milder and quite spring like. I remember the early part of March was quite warmish, around 15-17c and in the March sun feeling quite warm.

The rest of the month was quite dull and mixed, with some cool days among the milder ones.

April was mixed, and I remember quite a few chilly rainy and sunny days. The sunny spells and showers with a cold wind being a feature, so it was quite typical. Also we had a few warm sunny days later into the month.

May started off on the warm side but not hot. Mostly high teens and low 20s with sunny clear days and cool nights, but it became quite cold and dull during the second half of the month. 
 

The cold and dull weather continued into early June, which at the time I found to be really strange.

After several warm springs, I think this probably came as a shock, but the second half of June made up for the late start to getting some warmer weather. It turned hot towards the end of June and the famous severe storms of Friday 24th came about during a hot week of 28-32c weather. 
 

Definitely a notable storm for London and the south. Similar to late august 1987, as the storm moved in during late Friday evening and into the night.

July was hot and sunny for many days, some humid and more storms broke out. It was the hottest July since 1983 at the time.

August was a slight disappointment, but with more storms and still some hot days at the start of the month.

The heat didn’t stick around though, so naturally it started to feel more like autumn by late August.

September was disappointingly cold and dull with not much warmth, after a decent summer, it was a bit of a blow.

October had a cold start, then a really warm second week.

November was very mild and dull.

December was very mild with some cold days the week before Christmas. 

I will add in that November 1994 holds the record for the warmest November CET on record, at 10.1*C.  February 1994 saw probably the best cold wintry / synoptic spell between February 1991 and the 1995-96 winter.  The middle to latter half of February 1994 did see a good easterly setup (although not on the same scale as the Feb 1991 easterly) and it did give a pretty good two week cold spell for many parts of the country.  A notable feature in 1994 was that the temperature never really changed much from September until December.

[Summer8906]

A year notable for having a lot of dull, wet, unsettled weather but the two most settled months were - amazingly - June and July. So kind-of an opposite to 2011, in which much of the year was fine but the summer was poor. August was more disappointing but still one of the better summers of recent years: in that respect, the summer resembled 2006 and 2018 (two good months, one more changeable one).

January was your typical zonal, wet, windy fest but wasn't as mild as some others. However it did have one very notable weather event which made it stand out. On the 6th, after a cold wet day due to a large but filling low, the rain turned to heavy snow for about an hour (this was in the Hampshire-Sussex-Surrey border area) and while it wasn't outstandingly cold, the snow was heavy enough for a good cover. This was the only widespread "proper" fall of January snow in the south between 1987 and 2010.

The following airmass was Pm and only slightly colder than average, so the 7th and 8th were somewhat cold but not cold enough to prevent a steady thaw of the snow, mostly gone by the end of Saturday. On the Sunday a major storm arrived and standard mild, wet, windy weather resumed though on the 15th and 16th (Sat and Sun) there was a brief northerly plunge. Sat was cold and wet as the front cleared and Sun cold and sunny.

The last 10 days of January were the mildest, but also the least wet and the 22nd/23rd weekend was bright at times.

At the start of February the weather became more cyclonic and wetter again, but around the 11th or so a large and intensifying Scandinavian high started pushing the Atlantic systems back, in fact on the 11th I seem to remember rain arriving from the west during the evening but then retreating westwards again. The weekend was increasingly cold, and Sunday 13th notably so with the easterly fully in control.

The next 2 weeks or so were a battleground, though the south was not always on the 'cold' side of the battleground so I think the month ended up only very, very slightly colder than normal down here. Snow fell on (I think) Tuesday 15th and settled, but it was a northward moving front and behind this were somewhat less cold SE-lies, enough for the snow to thaw in a day or two. Very cold easterlies re-established by Sunday 20th and remained through Monday 21st, but the rest of that week the mild air took control, bringing quite a lot of rain (no snow sadly) with it. However from the Midlands northwards I believe this week was exceptionally snowy, and I remember seeing extensive lying snow in the west Midlands on the evening of the 25th, albeit starting to thaw.

After that the mild air completely took control and March was more like an autumn than a spring month, being mild, windy and changeable, but not quite as wet as January. Settled days were rare but thankfully those that did happen seemed to co-incide with the weekend, for example the 19th/20th and the 26th. The final days of the month were the dullest, wettest and most unsettled as the westerly type (which had dominated the month) became more cyclonic.

The start of April continued the westerly type but winds generally veered NW-ly so it became colder. Some days were typical 'April showers' but rather than being a blocked NW-ly or N-ly, there were still Atlantic systems moving in from time to time with Easter Day being cold and wet, I seem to remember. Gradually the Atlantic ran out of steam so a calmer northerly type took over from the 8th with some showers.

The week of the 11th had an Atlantic high trying to push in but the low pressure area remained close by to the east so westward-moving fronts were occasionally bothersome, though some days were fair. The Atlantic high finally won out a week later but by that time, pressure became lower to the southwest and there were perhaps 10 days or so of warmer but showery weather with slow moving lows either over Biscay or west of Ireland. Eventually at the end of the month high pressure took over and it became warm and sunny.

May 1994 was very reminiscent of 1984 in the sense that it was cyclonic easterly, with lows over France frequently affecting the south. Consequently it was a dull, cool and wet month overall. However the start and end were warm and sunny: the first few days continued the conditions of the end of April before the Atlantic briefly became active again bringing cooler, changeable weather. By the first weekend however the Atlantic lows became flabby and it became briefly brighter again for a few days before the typical type of the month became established. Thereafter for more than two weeks it was cool and cloudy in the south, with lows over France giving a range of varieties of unsettled weather. Sometimes it would be simply cool and wet, or drizzly, but occasionally warm air got into the mix and I seem to remember both weekends had heavy thundery rain from France on the Saturday followed by a brief spell of warm sunny weather on the Sunday.

The May holiday weekend was really notably cool at first but finally high pressure pushed down from the N or NW and the month ended warm and sunny once again.

Sadly this was not to last in the short term, and June 1st was bright but humid with an afternoon thundery shower. Then an unseasonably disturbed spell of Atlantic weather for a few days, with one of the lows featuring particularly strong winds, if I remember right. However it started settling down from around the 8th and by perhaps the 11th the Azores high extended in, starting summer proper. The following week was very warm and sunny; the following weekend however westerlies in the north started extending south and it became cloudier but still warm. A wave on a front produced one wet day on the 21st before cooler and sunny weather followed on the 22nd.

Will end at this point, so that the most outstanding spell of weather of the whole year can follow in its own post...

 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

I remember arriving back in England on 22nd April 1994 from 7 months abroad, to be greeted by a beautiful, sunny, fresh Spring day as I headed to my mum's home in West Sussex, and feeling 'glad to be in Britain, now that Spring is here' (or whatever the saying is!). I would agree with Sunny76 regarding the weather later in the year.

[Summer8906]

And so to the core weeks of the summer, between June 23 and August 10.

This really was an exceptional period for a combination of warm, sunny weather and thunderstorms. Perhaps only 1983 and 1999 come close in this respect.

A particularly unusual sequence of events occurred twice in the early part of this period, in which sunny but relatively fresh and completely un-thundery weather very quickly became humid and thundery, thanks to Atlantic lows which turned northwards just to the west of Ireland.

So on June 22nd it was sunny but fresh with a ridge of high pressure. The 23rd was also sunny and warmer, perhaps around 25C or so, but not notably hot. Notable 'mackerel skies' appeared to the west at sunset and hot, unstable air literally arrived overnight. So the 24th (Friday) was hot, humid and sunny at first, though towards the afternoon became cloudier with thundery skies and the evening featured a quite prolonged thunderstorm. The storm did not seem especially severe in terms of rainfall or lightning, but did last quite a few hours.

As often happens, the day after the storm featured dull weather and low cloud - it is remarkable how often this happens after a storm. Nonetheless it brightened up and the Sunday was warm and bright with variable cloud: it was a rather warm W-ly or SW-ly type but with high pressure to the south.

Monday was warmer again and another burst of southerly air arrived on the Tuesday (28th) which was decidedly hot. A cold front then moved in during the evening bringing cloud, but unlike the previous Friday there was no rain or thunderstorms.

Then, it was very much rinse and repeat from the previous week. Wed 29th was again sunny but fresh under a ridge of high pressure. Thurs 30th was also sunny, and still quite fresh with just fair-weather cumulus, temps perhaps about 23C and not the slightest hint that thundery weather was imminent once again. I'd actually not heard the forecast so I remember being very, very surprised at talk of thunder the following day on the evening forecast as the day had not shown any inkling of thunderiness.

But on Friday 1st July, the temperature suddenly climbed once again and it started sunny, but hot and humid. Just like the previous week though, cloud increased and the evening featured a fairly persistent, if not especially severe thunderstorm. The synoptics were subtly different this time though, if I remember right: a thundery low over Biscay triggering the storms rather than a cold front from an Atlantic low moving east, which had been the case a week earlier.

So Saturday 2nd again started dull and gloomy, just like the previous week, but became warm and sunny later. Sunday 3rd was largely warm and sunny, but an ill-defined type had setup with a second thundery low approaching towards evening with some spectacular Ac Cast displays. Parts of the country got more storms out of this system, I believe, but in south Hampshire we got nothing.

However it did, for a while, end the fine weather and we then got a few days of cooler, changeable Atlantic conditions though mostly with showers rather than frontal rainfall. By the 8th however the Azores high extended in once again and it rather quickly became sunny and this time, hot or very hot. Temps perhaps reached 32C or so by Tuesday 12th but once again, a thundery breakdown arrived, with overnight thunderstorms this time early on the 13th.

Once again the 13th featured post-storm gloominess, which this time persisted all day. It did become brighter by the 14th, and then there was around a week of fine, mostly sunny, warm but not especially hot anticyclonic weather with mostly NE winds.

However on the 23rd very hot, thundery southerlies arrived once again, on a very sticky humid day. More spectacular Ac cast occurred in the evening from a Biscay low, but once again, no storms here. The 24th was still very hot and humid: apparently places further north and west got more severe storms from a cold front but where I was (west Dorset) there was simply a dry 'cool change' with a sudden drop in temp in the evening.

Atlantic air now moved in and the 25th was cooler, and a frontal system brought increasing cloud and light rain by nightfall. This was followed by two dull, drizzly Tm days but then fine weather re-established. However this was the start of a gradual change to more unsettled weather and the fine weather stayed for just two days (28th and 29th) before hot unstable weather arrived, again rather suddenly, on the 30th. I did not observe storms but there were one or two showers about and I believe some areas got storms. It then turned cooler on the 31st behind a cold front; again no storms but some areas may have got them.

August was much more changeable than June and July. Cool showery Atlantic air dominated on the 1st, and a further frontal system on the 2nd brought in humid drizzly Tm air. However we weren't quite done with summer just yet, and the most memorable thundery event of the year was about to begin. On the 3rd the air backed southerly and the Tm clag cleared to reveal warm and very humid air with some mid-level instability. I was on the Marlborough Downs close to sunset and remember noting two very large Cb anvils far to the SSW. I considered this unusual at the time: in these sorts of setups there's normally so much mid-level cloud that the actual Cbs are obscured and cannot be seen from a distance.

I was then headed towards Bath and it started getting dark, and as it did, the Cbs moved closer at quite a rapid pace. Notable were very frequent flashes of lightning which lit up the clouds vividly; the frequency of the lightning was unusually great. Before long the Cbs were overhead and there followed perhaps three or four thundery downpours, with brief pauses in between, each lasting perhaps 15 or 20 minutes or thereabouts. Lightning continued to be very frequent as they passed over. Eventually the whole system cleared northeastwards and as it departed, the Cbs, still illuminated by frequent lightning, could be seen vividly.

That was more or less it for the excitement that summer, but there was one further spell of fine, if cooler, weather, at least. The 4th was cloudy but then there were about 5 days of predominantly fine weather under northeasterlies, though it was a somewhat flabby high so some showers were around on the 6th. However a large low then developed over Biscay, which was deeper than a normal thundery low: essentially intermediate between a thundery low and full Atlantic low. Consequently it turned breezy late on the 9th and the sky became very dark indeed to the south. There were forecasts of yet more thunderstorms, perhaps severe, from this system overnight but in the event nothing happened (that night at least).

On the 10th I left for Montreal but I have the feeling that this low did produce some storms and heavy rain, but later than originally forecast. Funnily enough in Montreal, the same type of weather which had prevailed since June back home continued, with a gradual build up of heat one week, thundery breakdown, much cooler with northerlies, gradual heat build up again, and second thundery breakdown. However at home I am led to believe the rest of August was pretty changeable and certainly when I returned around the 25th it was full-on Atlantic weather and very wet, but with some ridges of high pressure producing brighter weather at times.

So that's the summer, perhaps another post about autumn and early winter later.  But an exceptional summer indeed, very notable for repeated spells of hot weather and thundery breakdowns without any full on breakdown to cool weather, at least until mid-August.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

Most notable aspects:

Mid to late Feb. Very snowy here,we had a feet of snow fall on 23rd when a frontal system became slow moving and moved back south.

Summer. Very humid thundery wet one with spells of hot sunshine. Reminiscent of 1997 though August was not as wet or warm.

November. Exceptionally mild frost free mildest on record.

Other than that not an especially memorable year.

[Sunny76]

On 03/03/2022 at 15:46, Summer8906 said:

And so to the core weeks of the summer, between June 23 and August 10.

This really was an exceptional period for a combination of warm, sunny weather and thunderstorms. Perhaps only 1983 and 1999 come close in this respect.

A particularly unusual sequence of events occurred twice in the early part of this period, in which sunny but relatively fresh and completely un-thundery weather very quickly became humid and thundery, thanks to Atlantic lows which turned northwards just to the west of Ireland.

So on June 22nd it was sunny but fresh with a ridge of high pressure. The 23rd was also sunny and warmer, perhaps around 25C or so, but not notably hot. Notable 'mackerel skies' appeared to the west at sunset and hot, unstable air literally arrived overnight. So the 24th (Friday) was hot, humid and sunny at first, though towards the afternoon became cloudier with thundery skies and the evening featured a quite prolonged thunderstorm. The storm did not seem especially severe in terms of rainfall or lightning, but did last quite a few hours.

As often happens, the day after the storm featured dull weather and low cloud - it is remarkable how often this happens after a storm. Nonetheless it brightened up and the Sunday was warm and bright with variable cloud: it was a rather warm W-ly or SW-ly type but with high pressure to the south.

Monday was warmer again and another burst of southerly air arrived on the Tuesday (28th) which was decidedly hot. A cold front then moved in during the evening bringing cloud, but unlike the previous Friday there was no rain or thunderstorms.

Then, it was very much rinse and repeat from the previous week. Wed 29th was again sunny but fresh under a ridge of high pressure. Thurs 30th was also sunny, and still quite fresh with just fair-weather cumulus, temps perhaps about 23C and not the slightest hint that thundery weather was imminent once again. I'd actually not heard the forecast so I remember being very, very surprised at talk of thunder the following day on the evening forecast as the day had not shown any inkling of thunderiness.

But on Friday 1st July, the temperature suddenly climbed once again and it started sunny, but hot and humid. Just like the previous week though, cloud increased and the evening featured a fairly persistent, if not especially severe thunderstorm. The synoptics were subtly different this time though, if I remember right: a thundery low over Biscay triggering the storms rather than a cold front from an Atlantic low moving east, which had been the case a week earlier.

So Saturday 2nd again started dull and gloomy, just like the previous week, but became warm and sunny later. Sunday 3rd was largely warm and sunny, but an ill-defined type had setup with a second thundery low approaching towards evening with some spectacular Ac Cast displays. Parts of the country got more storms out of this system, I believe, but in south Hampshire we got nothing.

However it did, for a while, end the fine weather and we then got a few days of cooler, changeable Atlantic conditions though mostly with showers rather than frontal rainfall. By the 8th however the Azores high extended in once again and it rather quickly became sunny and this time, hot or very hot. Temps perhaps reached 32C or so by Tuesday 12th but once again, a thundery breakdown arrived, with overnight thunderstorms this time early on the 13th.

Once again the 13th featured post-storm gloominess, which this time persisted all day. It did become brighter by the 14th, and then there was around a week of fine, mostly sunny, warm but not especially hot anticyclonic weather with mostly NE winds.

However on the 23rd very hot, thundery southerlies arrived once again, on a very sticky humid day. More spectacular Ac cast occurred in the evening from a Biscay low, but once again, no storms here. The 24th was still very hot and humid: apparently places further north and west got more severe storms from a cold front but where I was (west Dorset) there was simply a dry 'cool change' with a sudden drop in temp in the evening.

Atlantic air now moved in and the 25th was cooler, and a frontal system brought increasing cloud and light rain by nightfall. This was followed by two dull, drizzly Tm days but then fine weather re-established. However this was the start of a gradual change to more unsettled weather and the fine weather stayed for just two days (28th and 29th) before hot unstable weather arrived, again rather suddenly, on the 30th. I did not observe storms but there were one or two showers about and I believe some areas got storms. It then turned cooler on the 31st behind a cold front; again no storms but some areas may have got them.

August was much more changeable than June and July. Cool showery Atlantic air dominated on the 1st, and a further frontal system on the 2nd brought in humid drizzly Tm air. However we weren't quite done with summer just yet, and the most memorable thundery event of the year was about to begin. On the 3rd the air backed southerly and the Tm clag cleared to reveal warm and very humid air with some mid-level instability. I was on the Marlborough Downs close to sunset and remember noting two very large Cb anvils far to the SSW. I considered this unusual at the time: in these sorts of setups there's normally so much mid-level cloud that the actual Cbs are obscured and cannot be seen from a distance.

I was then headed towards Bath and it started getting dark, and as it did, the Cbs moved closer at quite a rapid pace. Notable were very frequent flashes of lightning which lit up the clouds vividly; the frequency of the lightning was unusually great. Before long the Cbs were overhead and there followed perhaps three or four thundery downpours, with brief pauses in between, each lasting perhaps 15 or 20 minutes or thereabouts. Lightning continued to be very frequent as they passed over. Eventually the whole system cleared northeastwards and as it departed, the Cbs, still illuminated by frequent lightning, could be seen vividly.

That was more or less it for the excitement that summer, but there was one further spell of fine, if cooler, weather, at least. The 4th was cloudy but then there were about 5 days of predominantly fine weather under northeasterlies, though it was a somewhat flabby high so some showers were around on the 6th. However a large low then developed over Biscay, which was deeper than a normal thundery low: essentially intermediate between a thundery low and full Atlantic low. Consequently it turned breezy late on the 9th and the sky became very dark indeed to the south. There were forecasts of yet more thunderstorms, perhaps severe, from this system overnight but in the event nothing happened (that night at least).

On the 10th I left for Montreal but I have the feeling that this low did produce some storms and heavy rain, but later than originally forecast. Funnily enough in Montreal, the same type of weather which had prevailed since June back home continued, with a gradual build up of heat one week, thundery breakdown, much cooler with northerlies, gradual heat build up again, and second thundery breakdown. However at home I am led to believe the rest of August was pretty changeable and certainly when I returned around the 25th it was full-on Atlantic weather and very wet, but with some ridges of high pressure producing brighter weather at times.

So that's the summer, perhaps another post about autumn and early winter later.  But an exceptional summer indeed, very notable for repeated spells of hot weather and thundery breakdowns without any full on breakdown to cool weather, at least until mid-August.

I think 1994 was very thundery, alongside 1992 and 1999,  as the best years in the 90s for storms.

[Sunny76]

2 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Most notable aspects:

Mid to late Feb. Very snowy here,we had a feet of snow fall on 23rd when a frontal system became slow moving and moved back south.

Summer. Very humid thundery wet one with spells of hot sunshine. Reminiscent of 1997 though August was not as wet or warm.

November. Exceptionally mild frost free mildest on record.

Other than that not an especially memorable year.

Someone above posted about how the heat was dry during the start of the hot weather. It felt like a dry heat in June, during that first hot spell, then turned more humid during July. The late June storms also brought very warm humid nights.

[damianslaw]

59 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Someone above posted about how the heat was dry during the start of the hot weather. It felt like a dry heat in June, during that first hot spell, then turned more humid during July. The late June storms also brought very warm humid nights.

Must admit my memories of the summer are a little hazy. I was out of the country for 10 days in first half of July, but do do remember on my return it being very humid very thundery. I think much of Europe had a hotter summer than 1995. June I don't remember much about, but overall I remember it being one of the warmer of the 90s summers, mind we had quite a few, 1990, 1991, 1995 notably so and 1997. Remember the Sept-Dec period being very wet and atlantic dominated.

[cheeky_monkey]

i was living in New Cross SE London in 1994..July was real sweat fest that's for sure..was working on the new Gas fired power plant on the isle of Grain in Kent so would often sit on the roof to take in the breathtaking views of the oil refineries on the Thames estuary whilst soaking up those cooling sea breezes ..then after work heading back to sweltering London..there were quite few storms but the humidity never really let up that July

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Just the very snowy February! miss those days

[Weather-history]

BBC Weather forecasts from 1994

January 

February

March

 

[Weather-history]

April

May

June

 

[Weather-history]

July

August

September

 

October

November

December

 

[Summer8906]

Will continue with the closing months of 1994, following on from my earlier posts. This for southern England (Hampshire or the Bath-Bristol area, depending on date).

Summer 1994 went out on a very unsettled, wet note but thankfully most of the frontal systems seemed to go through overnight, so several of the closing days were bright by day. However I seem to remember both August 31 and Sep 1 having prolonged, persistent rain by day due to a slow moving low.

I then remember Friday 2nd Sep being much better, very sunny under a ridge. However, sadly, the typical early-Sep fine spell was not to occur this year, and another system brought a dull, damp Saturday 3rd.

Weather then remained pretty unsettled with the low of Sat 3rd becoming slow moving for several days with mostly SW winds. Some days were showery (Mon 5th springs to mind) whereas some were just mild, humid and non-descript with 'dishwater skies', as often happens in this sort of setup down here. The low eventually progressed eastwards bringing in clearer westerlies and Sat 10th I remember being a showery day with some spectacular Cbs, which persisted after dark; I distinctly remember lightning from one of these as it retreated east at dusk.

The following week remained unsettled but was more interesting, with bright westerlies taking the place of dishwater southwesterlies. There were also several secondary lows moving in from Biscay and at least one of these was thundery. Sun 11th was fairly sunny much of the day in a ridge, but the first secondary moved in overnight bringing torrential rainfall; some places I believe got thunder from this. This was followed by another showery day with well-defined Cbs on Mon 12th, very like Sat 10th. Tues 13th was then rather like Sun 11th, fairly sunny much of the day, but a further secondary moved in overnight and this one produced more torrential rainfall but this time, thunderstorms - continuing what had been a very thundery few months. On Wed 14th the secondary became slow moving and there were very large Cbs visible, particularly to the south with some very dark, threatening skies. However, at my location, I seemed to miss them but doubtless others would have got more thunderstorms. It was very windless I remember and away from the Cbs there was bright sunshine.

The 'interesting' variety of unsettled weather ended there though, and the 15th was just dull and wet under an Atlantic system. The 16th and 17th were also dull and damp, if I remember right, but on the 18th a short-lived northerly produced brighter, cool weather. The 19th and 20th then produced another Atlantic system but then things started to change with a block to the east and the Atlantic low moved south into France. It then became warm and bright on the 21st under an easterly, and there were some showers dotted around - typical May weather in early autumn! This setup persisted for a few days if I remember right, filling low over France and weak ridge over the UK, warm and bright with some showers.

The final week of September brought more zonal weather but with high pressure to the south, so it was mild, cloudy and dry - basically typical early-autumn conditions.

There was quite a sudden change on October 2nd as an active low produced a wet day but behind it, clear and colder N-lies or NW-lies followed. This brought in the finest spell of weather since July, with a week of very sunny days. At first it was rather cold and frosty but temperatures gradually increase as the week went on and the weekend of October 8th-9th was absolute Indian summer, with very warm days, perhaps 21C+.

The settled weather continued for a further week although the mornings gradually became more foggy. On the 14th fog persisted for quite some time although it finally cleared to give a sunny afternoon. However there was a change mid-month with a frontal system moving down from the NW producing much cooler, dull weather by the 16th. Weather recovered for two further days on the 17th-18th which were cool but sunny, before a more active Atlantic system brought prolonged rain on around the 19th.

This was then a full breakdown to unsettled weather which persisted for the rest of the month. A typical autumn mix of damp, claggy, humid days with prolonged rain and drizzle (Sat 29th was one example) and occasional sunnier, fresher days with coastal showers (Sun 23rd and Mon 24th were good examples). I can't remember the exact timings of frontal systems as only two or three days really stood out, though I do remember a secondary on the evening of the 24th produced torrential rain following a fine day, rather reminiscent of September 11th and 13th.

November was by far the least interesting month weatherwise of 1994, and consequently I have few distinct memories. I seem to remember it being constantly very mild, dull and drizzly - though I remember a couple of sunny days early in the month, possibly the 1st and the 3rd. At the very end of the month it became drier.

December started mild, dull and dry but the Atlantic rapidly moved in and Sunday 4th in particular was a windy day with frequent hail showers. The following week was zonal but not, if I remember right, overly mild (perhaps 1C or so above average), with several days of well-defined Cbs from coastal showers. By the following weekend a further spell of dry, dull and very mild weather took over but there was, the following week, a brief change to frosty, colder, sunny weather around the 14th-15th. This quickly converted once again into dry, cloudy and mild, before an active frontal system produced rain on around the 18th.

The week of the 19th-24th did produce some decent winter weather. The 19th was rather cold, and sunny with more coastal showers and well-defined Cbs, before the 20th-22nd produced classic frosty winter weather with prolonged sunshine during the (very short) day. Some of these days produced some very beautiful red skies around half an hour after sunset.

The weather turned more foggy then, with the 23rd producing fog for much of the day. One of the most interesting fog-related phenomena I have observed occurred on that day, for in the afternoon, the fog cleared above around 100m. So I remember standing on a fairly low hill, perhaps only 120-150m high, and seeing a vast sea of fog in the valley below, which was 'seeping' through the gaps in the hills. This is one of the very few occasions I have stood 'above the fog', it seems to be rare for the line between clear and foggy to be this low.

The 24th was foggy again but for the final week the Atlantic moved back in and it was wet and often dull. In particular, the period to the 28th was very dull and damp indeed with Tm air stuck over southern England and frontal waves producing prolonged rainfall at times. Finally it cleared on the 29th with cyclonic showery conditions, some of the showers turning thundery even inland. This was one of my more alarming experiences of a thundery shower, as I was caught out in one on the Surrey-Hampshire border and there was a very close strike. It was only a shower, but a very electrified one so it was a little frightening while it lasted!

The same type persisted on the 30th but the showers were now restricted to the Channel and did not move inland, while on the 31st the wind veered to WNW and it was mostly drier, though a trough produced some moderate rain in the afternoon. The wind veered to northerly behind this, leading to clear skies at midnight, but that's then another year...

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Summer8906

[ChannelThunder]

On 05/03/2022 at 06:22, Weather-history said:

 

 

Thank you for all these old BBC weather forecasts. I've seen all the 'thundery' ones on Youtube what feels like 10x each now, but it's always great to reminisce! As a child of the 90s and young weather nerd (born in '87), waiting for these forecasts the 1 or 2 times I'd be able to see them each day was exciting but equally infuriating! Back when there was no internet and no ability to load lightningmaps and radars straight out of my pocket! It'd be one update from John Kettley, then that'd be it! On my own to hope that the storms would come by! 

I also love how they just used to chuck a random lightning symbol over in Benelux (like in the June forecast above) or way out at sea, just to show that storms were kind of nearby I guess! I would probably have got carried away if I was in charge of those graphics!

Edited March 11, 2022 by Lance M

[A Face like Thunder]

Fog on the morning of Sat 15th October, coupled with human error, led to the Cowden (Kent) rail crash in which five passengers died. It is thought to be a good example of what can happen when naturally occurring weather events such as fog  combine with human failings to produce a disaster, and this has been discussed recently in another context on another thread.     

[LetItSnow!]

Whilst I consider the true shift into our new climate December 1987, the second shift - I feel - was very much November 1994, which of course is the warmest November on record by far (10.1 seems an extraordinary figure and only 0.1degC cooler than October 1994). From this month on we'd see a slew of warmer than average months into 1995, only abating in 1996 and then returned full on in February 1997 (which to me seems the final shift). Up until October, there had been a smattering of mild/hot months but it was looking like a relatively near-normal year for the C.E.T.

The C.E.T. for November 1993 to October 1994 - 9.68degC 

The C.E.T. for November 1994 to October 1995 - 11.06degC [The warmest period ever until May 2006-April 2007]

 

Correct thread this time!

Edited March 12, 2022 by LetItSnow!