August 1995 a sizzler!

[Row w]

21 minutes ago, Ed Stone said:

That was something else 1976 is famous for, too, Row W; the sky was full of ladybirds and the washing covered in them!

coincidentally I was watching a documentary on youtube about the summer of 76 which showed the invasion of ladybirds, people getting attacked by swarms of them and cars covered in them, I found it really interesting and thought it makes the invasion of 95 look meek compared to then

[Methuselah]

10 minutes ago, Row w said:

coincidentally I was watching a documentary on youtube about the summer of 76 which showed the invasion of ladybirds, people getting attacked by swarms of them and cars covered in them, I found it really interesting and thought it makes the invasion of 95 look meek compared to then

1976 was the only time I ever saw a Camberwell Beauty butterfly on my buddleia, or anywhere else for that matter. This year is not so good (well, here, anyway) for butterflies, though; I imagine the predators have caught up with their prey?

[HafrenLMP1]

A glorious month of weather, and from a fabulous period full stop. I finished work most days by 2 o'clock - and was home 20 mins later; so was in the garden most of the afternoon. If there was a time machine then the mid 1994 to early 1997 would be my choice.

[stewfox]

New house new fish pond without a filter pump. I remember Aug 1995 very well 

[cheeky_monkey]

On 11/08/2022 at 07:41, Sunny76 said:

Some of the 90s was good but not all of it. 2000s had some good years, especially the earlier years. 

the 1990s were the end of my youth..i started the decade l was still at Poly..i ended it married with 2 small children and trying to grow my career..the 2000s were adding to the family and moving up the career ladder ..all in all the 2000s were a bit of blur..almost a lost decade for me

[damianslaw]

10 hours ago, HafrenLMP1 said:

A glorious month of weather, and from a fabulous period full stop. I finished work most days by 2 o'clock - and was home 20 mins later; so was in the garden most of the afternoon. If there was a time machine then the mid 1994 to early 1997 would be my choice.

Yes mine would be then as well. 

[Summer8906]

On 09/08/2022 at 00:03, Wold Topper said:

From a nostalgic point of view if your in your mid forties it certainly was but i suppose that metric can be applied over many decades and age ranges? personally the 90's was fantastic, nowadays my back hurts and my knee is fu#@ed

I doubt anyone will remember the late 2010s, early 2020s with any form of fondness, that's for sure. Even those currently in their teens or early 20s.

For me, the peak was probably 80s for music, 90s for everything else. I'd say things have been on a downward trend since the end of the 00s, both weather and otherwise...

Edited September 15, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 08/08/2022 at 20:57, SummerShower said:

I was in northern France for the 1st week of August 1995 and incidentally experienced massive thunderstorms overnight 1/2, 2/3rd and again on the 4th.

The hottest weather of the month in the UK occurred as this thundery low sat to the south and threw up very hot air.   I wouldn't mind betting the 20C isotherm was nearby at this time.

Sorry, a bit late to this thread, missed it earlier.

The opening days of August (1st and 2nd) I remember as being hot, very humid and hazy in the south of England, with much large Cu development and isolated showers and thunderstorms. The last days of July were similar. Of note was a huge Cb visible from the Bath area on the evening of the 2nd, apparently centred over Cardiff. It was a very slack pressure pattern. Nights, however were clear - all the Cu/Cb development was diurnal. Very reminiscent of some of my experiences in Greece this summer!

The 3rd and 4th remained hot but were much clearer with little or no cloud, good visibility and low humidity. I seem to remember it being 33 or 34C but didn't feel at all oppressive or uncomfortable.

On the 5th it became cooler, presumably due to a cold front from the north, but at the same time a small low over France tried to move in. This produced Ac cloud over the south coast but never any rain, and on the 6th it pulled away again.

The main part of the month then produced two separate anticyclones with consistent hot sunny spells, separated by a weak cold front around the 13th. I was actually in Cornwall at this time and it was rather more potent there with proper moderate rain, but presumably was much weaker further east.  One or two days (e.g. the 7th) had some Sc sheets at times reducing the sun total.

Round the 19th/20th pressure became more slack again and there were isolated showers and hazy conditions though it was largely sunny. Finally on the 21st/22nd sunny weather with clear blue skies re-established but on the 23rd a cold front produced moderate rain and ended the hot weather. Rest of the month was cloudier and cooler but mostly dry (see separate thread on the September following).

Edited September 15, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 11/08/2022 at 14:22, reef said:

When you look at the mean temperature though you can really see the effect of almost 30 years of climate change.

Our mean temp for that summer was 16.2C. Thats only 0.2C above the current 1991-2020 average and actually cooler than summers 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Incredible given that 2016 was so-so, and 2017/19/21 varying degrees of poor.

I guess in 1995 the days were warmer but nights cooler, while in recent summers constant cloudiness and damp, muggy air has produced flatlining temps. (And of course silly brief heat spikes have distorted the figures).

After all, a 17C mean can be obtained from either an 11C min/23C max, or a 15C min/19C max. The former would suggest a good summer, the latter an abysmal one (as the low diurnal range would suggest cloudiness).

 

On 11/08/2022 at 14:22, reef said:

As for the August, it had a mean of 17.5C and has been beaten 6 times since!

... even though only 2003, and, by all accounts 2022, would come even close to rivalling 1995 for notably warm and sunny weather.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Summer8906

[hillbilly]

10 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Incredible given that 2016 was so-so, and 2017/19/21 varying degrees of poor.

I guess in 1995 the days were warmer but nights cooler, while in recent summers constant cloudiness and damp, muggy air has produced flatlining temps. (And of course silly brief heat spikes have distorted the figures).

After all, a 17C mean can be obtained from either an 11C min/23C max, or a 15C min/19C max. The former would suggest a good summer, the latter an abysmal one (as the low diurnal range would suggest cloudiness).

 

... even though only 2003, and, by all accounts 2022, would come even close to rivalling 1995 for notably warm and sunny weather.

A bit like September 1986,on paper it is the Coldest September since the Queen arrived on the throne with many frosts but the days were warm and pleasant with a lot of T shirt days,just to show what statistics mask!

[cheeky_monkey]

On 08/08/2022 at 16:55, CreweCold said:

I think it’s become increasingly apparent that the 90s was the last truly great decade.

depends one your age ..i was in my 20s during the 90s ..got married and had 2 of my children towards the end of the 90s ..so yes the 1990s were truly great for me..its all been downhill since then 

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, hillbilly said:

A bit like September 1986,on paper it is the Coldest September since the Queen arrived on the throne with many frosts but the days were warm and pleasant with a lot of T shirt days,just to show what statistics mask!

The mean CET value tells you little about the reality of a month. A shortlived heat spike set against modest warmth can distort the reality of the month. Very warm maxima can be cancelled out by cool minima to produce near average means, comparable to months with littke diurnal range. 

[Summer8906]

13 hours ago, hillbilly said:

A bit like September 1986,on paper it is the Coldest September since the Queen arrived on the throne with many frosts but the days were warm and pleasant with a lot of T shirt days,just to show what statistics mask!

Yes, I think Sep 1986 was very like the current weather, right now, but for most of the month.

Sunny, reasonable daytime temps, cold nights. Could do a lot worse!