June 1998 Thunderstorm?

[Greyhound81]

I seem to remember a big thunderstorm that happenend in June 1998?  I was at school at the time, and I think the teacher said we would all remember this day.  I think it took place sometime in the early afternoon, don't know the exact time.  I am from South East England (Hertfordshire), so I am sure anyone on this forum who lived nearby at the time would remember it.  I don't know how widespread it was.

I am pretty sure it was June, but maybe it was late May?

 

[Cheshire Freeze]

2 minutes ago, Greyhound81 said:

I seem to remember a big thunderstorm that happenend in June 1998?  I was at school at the time, and I think the teacher said we would all remember this day.  I think it took place sometime in the early afternoon, don't know the exact time.  I am from South East England (Hertfordshire), so I am sure anyone on this forum who lived nearby at the time would remember it.  I don't know how widespread it was.

I am pretty sure it was June, but maybe it was late May?

 

The 90s were great for storms weren't they?!

I can remember several night time beasts and various day time events. There was one instance of a day time storm when I was at school...the whole S horizon went pitch black and forks of lightning were being spat across the sky at a prolific rate.

[Sunny76]

13 minutes ago, Greyhound81 said:

I seem to remember a big thunderstorm that happenend in June 1998?  I was at school at the time, and I think the teacher said we would all remember this day.  I think it took place sometime in the early afternoon, don't know the exact time.  I am from South East England (Hertfordshire), so I am sure anyone on this forum who lived nearby at the time would remember it.  I don't know how widespread it was.

I am pretty sure it was June, but maybe it was late May?

 

I have no recollection of any thunderstorms during 1998. 
 

It’s a rather forgettable year for weather. A mild winter, coldish spring, and poor summer. July was cool and dull that year.

1999 however, was spectacular for thunderstorms.

[SummerShower]

I think there were some thunderstorms going on during the afternoon of 15th June 1998 (a monday, coinciding with the england tunisia game)but not sure of specific locations. That's the only thundery spell I recall on a weekday.

27th June, a Saturday, a massive squall line crossed the country with severe thunderstorms in the SE and possibly other areas? I remember sudden violent wind gusts, vivid lightning, and the hail bouncing back up to the height of our fences after hitting the ground.

[Cheshire Freeze]

I'd love LOVE a shallow cold trough over the UK during June or July yielding big diurnal power storms. Probably my favourite summer weather.

[Dark Horse]

2 hours ago, CreweCold said:

The 90s were great for storms weren't they?!

I can remember several night time beasts and various day time events. There was one instance of a day time storm when I was at school...the whole S horizon went pitch black and forks of lightning were being spat across the sky at a prolific rate.

Yeah we've had a big thunder "drought" for a long while haven't we? Best event though over the last 10 years was the overnight one from 19th July 2014. Seemed to go on for hours. Absolutely brilliant it was, everyone was talking about it the next day. There was another one not quite as intense but it was still enough to call off the champions league game at the Etihad in Sept 2016. Other than those events it's hard to remember much more as it's been so crap!

[Summer8906]

On 29/01/2023 at 22:17, CreweCold said:

I'd love LOVE a shallow cold trough over the UK during June or July yielding big diurnal power storms. Probably my favourite summer weather.

Something a bit like mid-June 1987 I guess? I remember we had day after day of unseasonably cool weather, with sunny starts and  quite nasty storms developing during the afternoon - and little wind.

The sky was also often hazy. So in many ways like a hot thundery spell - except it was cool. Lasted from about the 8th to the 15th, IIRC, before being swept away by more typical unsettled weather of dull skies and regular frontal systems.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

I remember June 1998 was a decidedly unsettled, cool, dull, wet month.

In terms of specific thundery episodes I remember the following:

Overnight 30/31 May a low moved up from France, the previous day had been warmish and sunny with E winds, and the following day was sunny and cooler (but still around average) with W winds. I remember distant lightning from this but no overhead storm.

The weather then turned very poor on 1 June. However there was a brief warm day on Saturday 6th with Tm air, so a dull morning with the cloud breaking somewhat in the afternoon to become humid and bright. A thundery cold front passed through overnight though produced nothing where I was. The Sunday was cooler and bright then it became very unsettled again.

I remember two Saturdays, the 13th and 27th (the latter referred to above) being dull and cool with frequent "showers from the word go", some of which were thundery. No bright starts either - cloudy with frequent showers around most of the day (though I do remember getting lucky on the 27th, when I was out walking all day, and somehow managing to dodge them), clearly the weather was exceptionally disturbed and cyclonic. Sunday 28th was similar.

On Friday 19th there was another brief warm sunny spell, then Saturday 20th was warm with much Ac Cast cover. In a repeat of the occasion two weeks before, a cold front passed through overnight to produce a cooler but bright Sunday, again thunder was mentioned but nothing where I was.

Those are all my specific memories - mostly focused on the weekends because that was when I was out and about. For the remainder of the month it was, I believe, just dull, cool and wet - but conceivable that some other convective episodes occurred mid week. There was evidently nothing interesting enough midweek for me to still remember to this day though!

July was then dull and cool but drier - before summer finally arrived in August - with August 1998 probably being sunnier than any August between 2006 and 2021 inclusive in this area.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 29/01/2023 at 22:16, SummerShower said:

27th June, a Saturday, a massive squall line crossed the country with severe thunderstorms in the SE and possibly other areas? I remember sudden violent wind gusts, vivid lightning, and the hail bouncing back up to the height of our fences after hitting the ground.

I don't actually remember a squall line but I do remember there being frequent showers around, as I described above. Thinking about it, I seem to remember shower activity intensifying perhaps around 6pm or so? I seem to remember some particularly dark and vicious-looking clouds around as I finished the walk I was doing, descending the hill into Guildford.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Summer8906

[A Face like Thunder]

Saturday 1st August 1998 was a day of widespread thunderstorms, with heavy rain and flooding, and a boy sadly died after he was one of three boys hit by lightning at Chalgrove near Oxford. I came south from Lancaster to my mum's home near Worthing that day and the journey was beset by frequent heavy thunderstorms which badly affected driving on the motorways and main roads. The worst of these came on the Winchester to Petersfield road mid-afternoon and was really frightening. Strange though that when I eventually arrived at Worthing, the sun was shining and they had had no rain at all that day. Such is the nature of storms. The area around Winchester was also the scene of the huge thunderstorm on the night of 14th / 15th September 2016 which kept me and many others awake most of the night, and this was the biggest thunderstorm which I've encountered this century.