Warm years with poor summers

[Harry233]

On 22/06/2023 at 12:54, Frigid said:

2014 and 2020 spring to mind. Summer 2014 was quite bad for warmth, the max here was 27C which is almost unheard of these days. August 2014 was the coolest since 1993. Summer 2020 was a mixed summer. June was average with a warm final week. July was anything but summer, except that freakish warm final day. And August had a very warm first half, with a very cool second half. 

I though 2014 was a good summer despite the poor august. July certainly was probably one of the best for me locally. My average high was 22.1.C which is 2.C higher than average. It was also the sunniest July I’ve recorded beating 2006, 2013 and 2018. I have lots of good memories from that summer. 

On 22/06/2023 at 17:45, LetItSnow! said:

Using the traditional and common meaning of a poor summer, I would say warm years with poor summers would be:

2015, 2011, 2007, 2004, 2002, 1998, 1988, 1957 (Became poor after June), 1948, 1828.

I'd also be willing to add 2020 to that list because I think cloudy, unsettled weather prevailed over the hot spells. In the north, July 2020 was one of the dullest and coldest summer months I have memory of (I come from Kent). August 2020 was also very unsettled and not an overly warm month in the north of which they never tapped into the heat early in the month, so just a straight up wet and dull month there.

I definitely agree with summer 2020 being poor. Definitely was at least for the north, think it was a better summer further south though, we missed out on a lot of the heat. Highest I reached was only 26.C which is still reasonable for my area but you’d hope for a 27/28.C.

[danm]

1998 and 2011 are the two stand outs that spring to mind. 

[Sun Chaser]

2011 and 2020 for me. Two of the warmest years ever but both in the bottom 3 summers since 2010 down here. The years were carried by exceptionally warm springs and mostly mild winter/autumn weather while the summers were not extremely cool but instead just constantly unsettled and dull.

[Summer8906]

On 27/06/2023 at 01:27, LetItSnow! said:

It was the start of it. The cold blob was at its most powerful into 2015. The winter of 2014/2015 was the most westerly ever yet temperatures weren't far from average. 2015 was actually running rather cool if it wasn't for that pesky November/December combo from hell... If we get a strong El Nino I wonder do we have to worry about the liklihood of a repeat.

Interesting that; the "cold blob" obviously made that winter much more pleasant than it would have been otherwise. I do remember a lot of sunny, and somewhat chilly NW-lies; one of the better winters of the past 10 years or so.

[Summer of 95]

2002 and 2011 were definitely the first years that came to mind, particularly 2011 (all three summer months colder than average, in one of the warmest years on record...). I think the warm thundery Augusts in 2004 and 2020 disqualify those years, even though the summers certainly qualified on the dull and wet front.

2014 was far too good a summer, I actually rate it better than 2013 round here as two months were predominantly dry, warm and sunny although with no spectacularly high temperatures. 1998 and 2000 you could make a case for; but not 1999 (brilliant July) or 2001 (not a warm year, and summer wasn't as bad as 1998 or 2000).

1996 stands out for the opposite, a decent summer in a cold year, the anti-2011.