January 1988

[Sunny76]

In recent decades, this month was probably the first in a run of milder than average months, following a much colder than average few years(85-87).

What were the daytime maxes across this month?

I have vague memories of London having lots of sunny days with mild temps. 
 

 

[Summer of 95]

That was my first winter around here; I can remember one decent snowfall that January, I was at school so it was a weekday, cant remember the exact date though. It was mostly a mild winter but had that one, so a bit of a 2006-7. The December was very mild certainly, can't really recall anything in the February. 

The other things I remember clearly from 88 were the atrocious July and the snow on 20 November

[Weather-history]

2 hours ago, Summer of 95 said:

That was my first winter around here; I can remember one decent snowfall that January, I was at school so it was a weekday, cant remember the exact date though.

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

4 hours ago, Summer of 95 said:

That was my first winter around here; I can remember one decent snowfall that January, I was at school so it was a weekday, cant remember the exact date though. It was mostly a mild winter but had that one, so a bit of a 2006-7. The December was very mild certainly, can't really recall anything in the February. 

The other things I remember clearly from 88 were the atrocious July and the snow on 20 November

Tha days! want 'em back

[Don]

2 hours ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Tha days! want 'em back

No thanks, winter that followed was terrible!!

Edited January 4, 2023 by Don

[I remember Atlantic 252]

22 minutes ago, Don said:

No thanks, winter that followed was terrible!!

must have been better than this! looks like my area will have seen snow on that day, this year virtually none

[Don]

10 minutes ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

must have been better than this! looks like my area will have seen snow on that day, this year virtually none

Yes, I think even the south saw some snow on that date.  However, come December the cold was gone and Billy Bartlett set up camp for the majority of winter 88/89!

[Summer8906]

The first of the "snowless January" era, and the start of a very marked downturn in winter weather compared to the whole of the period from 1940 to 1987, it appears.

A pretty rubbish month for weather, though personally, not for life in general.

Non-stop rain and mildness from Atlantic lows more or less, and stormy at times - only broken by a brief cold spell in the middle weekend which produced a foggy Saturday and sunny but cold Sunday.

We had a trio of un-wintry Januaries then, i.e. 1988, 1989 and 1990. Nonetheless all three years were subtly different. In 1988 the focus was on rain and wind, and while mild it wasn't a record-breaker, IIRC. 1989 the focus was on dry weather and the anticyclonic conditions allowed a few frosts, even though the days were often very mild. 1990 was the extreme mild one, though in the far south it only turned wet for the final 10 days or so; I seem to remember the second and third weeks being a very unusual, and a bit unearthly, combination of extremely mild (more than 1989) and very dry.

So will January 2023 be a 1988 or a 1990? (I think we've lost the chance for it to be a 1989). Or will it be a 1998 and turn a lot colder towards the end?

Edited January 7, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 04/01/2023 at 18:46, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Tha days! want 'em back

I remember getting a little bit of wet snow out of that in the south. Didn't settle of course, and following this autumn snowfall, the next snow, and heaviest of the season, was well into spring (first week of April)!

Edited January 7, 2023 by Summer8906

[Don]

7 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I remember getting a little bit of wet snow out of that in the south. Didn't settle of course, and following this autumn snowfall, the next snow, and heaviest of the season, was well into spring (first week of April)!

Yes, I had wet snow on that day too with no settling.  I think the far southeast had a significant fall though, around 6 inches?

The spring event you are thinking of was April 5th.

[Summer8906]

26 minutes ago, Don said:

Yes, I had wet snow on that day too with no settling.  I think the far southeast had a significant fall though, around 6 inches?

I can't remember I have to admit. I do remember November 1988 being cold, frosty and sunny - easily the best month of the "winter". In fact in this era there was quite a tendency for November to be the best month of the "winter" as November 1987 and 1989 also featured significant frosty spells, though the latter was mild and sunny as well - not such a bad thing in November.

26 minutes ago, Don said:

The spring event you are thinking of was April 5th.

Thanks for that. Yes, I remember it was the first week of April, and around mid-week - I had the feeling it was Tuesday 4th but I think it lasted a few days, from perhaps the Monday to the Thursday (no settling where I was though) before it eased off into a drier and less cold weekend. When the time comes (three months' time?) I think that whole episode will be worth a historical post, because late March was very sunny and warm and then it suddenly went very cold.

Edited January 7, 2023 by Summer8906

[hillbilly]

A bit different here in the Pennines,we had snow on the 4th,21st,22nd 23rd and the 31st.I bought my first set of snowchains which were well used in the 3rd week.Generally a wet and windy first10 days to the month becoming drier and colder.

[Don]

2 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I can't remember I have to admit. I do remember November 1988 being cold, frosty and sunny - easily the best month of the "winter". In fact in this era there was quite a tendency for November to be the best month of the "winter" as November 1987 and 1989 also featured significant frosty spells, though the latter was mild and sunny as well - not such a bad thing in November.

Thanks for that. Yes, I remember it was the first week of April, and around mid-week - I had the feeling it was Tuesday 4th but I think it lasted a few days, from perhaps the Monday to the Thursday (no settling where I was though) before it eased off into a drier and less cold weekend. When the time comes (three months' time?) I think that whole episode will be worth a historical post, because late March was very sunny and warm and then it suddenly went very cold.

Yes, although November 1988 was the most wintry of the three, I too remember 1987 and 1989 having significant frosty spells.

Where I was living on the 4th April 1989, there some sleet/wet snow during the afternoon but didn't settle.  The next day was forecast to be milder, so I thought that was my lot.  I was therefore surprised to wake up to settling snow and it carried on snowing all morning with about 3 inches in total.  By the following day, it had mostly gone, but was the biggest fall since January 1987 and would be almost another two years before seeing the next significant snow in February 1991!  Luckily it was the Easter holidays so I could make the most of it!  However, during the first week of the holidays in late march, it was like you say very warm and I remember playing out in the street with no coat!

[Summer8906]

12 hours ago, Don said:

Where I was living on the 4th April 1989, there some sleet/wet snow during the afternoon but didn't settle.  The next day was forecast to be milder, so I thought that was my lot.  I was therefore surprised to wake up to settling snow and it carried on snowing all morning with about 3 inches in total.  By the following day, it had mostly gone, but was the biggest fall since January 1987 and would be almost another two years before seeing the next significant snow in February 1991! 

I don't remember any hints in the forecast of it turning milder on the 5th, I have to admit. My memory's a little hazy but what I do remember is this (and apologies, I know April 1989 isn't January 1988):

Saturday 1st - sunny, some high and medium cloud, still warm or very warm. I do seem to even remember a suggestion of the possibility of thundery showers in the forecast, but nothing happened

Sunday 2nd - much cooler. Northerlies. Bright. Cool for early April but not very cold

Monday 3rd - can't remember, but I think the very cold air arrived

Tuesday 4th - the really cold air was in place. Biting NE winds. Temps no higher than 5C, IIRC. Sunny morning, but wintry showers in the early evening, about 5 or 6pm. Some slight settling where I was (away from home) in the Bordon area of Hampshire. No settling at home, in the same general area but wet snow had fallen

Wednesday 5th - became more cyclonic and more frequent wintry showers. Thinking about it, I think it was actually this day when a lengthy spell of sleet and wet snow fell around 5-6pm again, but no settling.

Thurs 6th, Fri 7th - can't remember, but I think the cold spell was maintained before the low started easing away eastwards, and it became less cold with a ridge building in over the weekend. I do remember Sat 8th being sunny and not especially cold.

The following week - winds went more round to the WNW and it was rather wet with a WNW-ESE low track, I think. I remember one Pm-type day in the week, but the rest is a bit hazy. The whole month remained cold, with some wet days though it wasn't anything like as bad as April 2012. Saturday 15th and a few days in the week of the 18th were sunny. Sunday 16th was wet, as was one of the Saturdays (either the 22nd or the 29th) but most of the weekend days were reasonable.

The month as a whole didn't seem that bad to me, but maybe that was because it came immediately after the very poor February and (except the final week) March.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Summer8906