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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam
Posted

 I think 1954 is a strong candidate for  the worst year of the 20th century around here.  It had the worst summer of the century according the the Manchester Summer Index followed by an autumn that wasn't too far off autumn 2000 in terms of rainfall.  It rained on 73 consecutive days in Manchester.

 

  • Like 1
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Nottingham
  • Location: Nottingham
Posted (edited)

My alternate bogeyman year, using 2012-2023 and using completely different months

Janaury 2014 - Attrocious, mild and wet. Horrible month

February 2020 - Extremely wet and windy, actually quite interestingly so. At least there was plenty of sunny spells

March 2023 - Disgustingly dull and wet, especially in the second half, coming after the sunniest March on record. The only good thing was the snow at the beginning

April 2012 - Pathetic excuse for an APril after a glorious March, from drought to deluge, and from blue to grey. Did somebody switch March and April together???

May 2013 - Another cold and wet May which felt more like October. This came after a cold spring which was really an extension of winter. The BH weedends were nice though,

June 2016 - Cold North Sea Murk in the first 4 days, but followed by a few days of warm and sunny weather. Sadly, the rest of the month was excessively wet and miserably dull, but at least it was thundery

July 2017 - The first half of the month was nice, with decent thunderstorms, but went downhill after the 18th,  and it did a July 2023 and ruined it. Not terrible, but a dissapointing July

August 2021 - It was dry, but a very dull month, with barely 100 hours of sunshine, and the 3rd dullest on record, and tempertures sturglged to get above 22c all month. It was a drier version of August 2008

September 2022 - Not dreadful, but felt like a letdown compared to the good August and the 4 good Septembers before it. There was still thuderstorms ath the start, and cool, sunny weather mid-month

October 2019 - A wet and dull October, which was the first of 5 crappy months, wihch persisted into March. The last 5 days werent too bad. Struggled to reach 16c all month, which is disappointing

November 2015 - The dullest November on record, and came with constant drizzle and light rain, which made the warm weather completely useless. It looking boring compared to the freakish December

December 2018 - Another mild and drizzly month, which was depressing. It was relentlessly overcast, except for the second week

Edited by baddie
  • 1 year later...
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted
On 30/04/2023 at 15:25, SunSean said:

I did one for an ideal year but now, how about a year from Hell??

Again, using only the last 12 full years from 2011 to 2022

Ooh, I did this back in 2023 but we’ve come a long way since then. What about for 2013-2024?

January 2014

February 2024

March 2021 (leftover)

April 2018

May 2013 (leftover)

June 2017

July 2019

August 2020

September 2023

October 2015 (leftover)

November 2022

December 2016

Weirdly and not intentionally this would be the heat spike year from hell! June through October would all have extreme spells of warmth/heat. 

I have a disdain for the heat spike type months. If a month is overall very hot and dry and features a very hot spell I can appreciate it for being a classic summer month. However, months like August 2020 which swap from being 1976 to 1912 in the drop of an eye I’m not a fan of. Identity crisis months. They’re becoming very popular as evidenced by this list. 😭 

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

For 2014-2024 months I would pick the following
Jan 2020 (Not terrible but we haven't really had a really bad Jan in this period that I recall)
Feb 2024 
March 2024 (A repeat of Feb 2024) 
April 2014 (Not bad at all but weve had pretty decent Aprils overall in this decade so the worse of a decent lot) 
May 2021 (Basically a May version of June 2012)
June 2016
July 2023
August 2015 (This one seems to fly under the radar it was vile for southern areas, kind of like summer 2021 but on steroids) 
September 2017 
October 2020
November 2019
December 2023

Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted

I guess we can use 2013-24 now, which is just as well.

Month-by-month it would be something like:

January 2014 - 31 days of rain. Despite that I didn't hate it because it was sunny at times. Still, I can't think of a worse one.

February 2020 - got to be this one. Almost Atlantic-on-steroids from start to finish, though apparently there was a two-or-three-day high-pressure spell in the first week which I've completely forgotten about.

March 2024 - could go with 2023 but wanted that for July

April 2018 - I wanted 2024 but wanted something really bad for March, and I wanted 2023 for July

May 2021 - very bad though the final week was better. Historically I would probably pick 1983 but that's off limits.

June 2016 - constant dull, damp and wet southwesterlies after a half-hearted warm spell early in the week. I disliked it more than 2012.

July 2023 - worst since 1988 for summeryness. Thankfully I missed it.

August 2015 - quite a wide selection of Augusts I disliked but some years are already taken

September 2017 - the worst September of the 21st century

October 2019 - hated it.

November  2022 - very wet and mild

December 2013 - fairly horrible but first 12 days not too bad

Posted
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow Nov - Feb. Thunderstorms, 20-29°C and sun any time!
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
Posted (edited)

Already a similar thread which I posted in but that's almost been 2 years now, how time flies! Someone posted roughly the exact months I hated but since 2024 happened there are a few which would make the cut.

 

Here are my current ones which would make for a very poor year:

January - 2017. Also January 2024 I found quite boring, either flooding or cold with no snow despite being sunny. Most Januaries in recent years have been decent for sunshine apart from 2021, but 2021 had the snow to compensate.

February - 2020 or 2024.

March - 2023 or 2024.

April - 2012 or 2024, too wet and dull.

May - 2021

June - 2019 or 2016 but even those not overly poor. 2012 can't remember

July - 2007 or 2012 but no memory of those. Most recent ones weren't terrible in my view.

August - Not sure as usually abroad for part of it but 2008, 2014 maybe 2017. Augusts typically are on the dull and wet side in recent years.

September - 2024 or 2022

October - most of them since 2019 😂

November - 2024 perhaps but I hate most of them days.

December 2020 or 2021.

 

The thing with a lot of recent summer months is even if they're on the wet or dull side, they're still much sunnier than almost all autumn / winter months so as a baseline they will already be better from my pov. I also don't remember a lot of the very poor summer months between 2007-2012 either. Wet summer months will also likely contain convective interest which something that wet months between October - April will usually not have.

 

Edited by Metwatch
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted

 Summer8906 I have to say I really loved June 2016. Even though it was very dull and quite dank, the month was absolutely brilliant thunderstorms where I was and it included the most extreme thunderstorm I’ve ever seen in my life. So overall, I actually really enjoyed that month.

The period from the 31st of May to the 25th of June was off the scale for rainfall where I was. We had had an absolute all day deluge on the 31st and then June was absolutely biblical for rainfall due to constant thunderstorms and general rainfall. If I had been recording rainfall monthly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had gone in excess of 400 to 500% of the average in that period alone. And what makes it so funny is that it was then pretty much bone dry for the rest of the year.

Posted
  • Location: Maidstone, Kent
  • Weather Preferences: Anything below 0c or above 20c. Also love a good thunderstorm!
  • Location: Maidstone, Kent
Posted

To add my worst year to the table:

January

Mild, wet and dull dominated by southwesterlies and or mild zonality. The PV sitting over North America and a monster Eurotrash high. Record warm month average max 12c, Average min 6c. No frost recorded.

February

A change in month sees no change in order, floods endemic and no sunny days. Only difference is a slightly cooler Average due to Atlantic losing some heat. However still record breaking average max 11c, Average min 6c. 

March (2020, 2023)

Even more rain with big environmental impacts. A particularly long fetch southwesterly spell results in temperatures in the high teems mid month but very cloudy. A result is many plants flowering early. A late SSW occurs towards the end of the month  Not record breaking, but mild nonetheless. Average max 14c average min 7c. 

April

After 3 months of strong +AO,  the effects of the late SSW come into affect to start the month. During the transition to -AO, a late named storm sweeps in from the Northwest stripping trees of blossom. Then a northerly develops bringing the only frosts of the entire year causing havoc for farmers. Many buds and flowers fall off plants. Fledglings also perish. Towards mid month a west based -AO takes hold with some very wet and dull weather for the rest of the month. Average max 12c average min 4c. 

May

A continuation of West based -AO for most of the month resulting in another dull month. Three named storms also prevent plants from reflowerong properly. Towards the end of the month a plume brings the highest temperature of the whole year of 29c. This was on a Wednesday (and not a bank holiday) and did not result in any thunder. Average max 16c average min 8c.

June

A strong HP establishes in the mid Atlantic resulting in frequent northwestern winds. Although drier and months prior, the month is characterised by chilly and overcast days with a breeze. The month ends up cooler and duller than average woth no thunderstorms. Average max 17c average min 9c. 

July

The same as June where the UK is stuck in a trough with the rest of Europe sweltering. Turns out to be the second coldest July on record. Average max 16c average min 10c.

August 

Yet another cool, dull and wet month with any brightness confined to short spells. As with July no thunderstorms. Average max 17c average min 10c.

September 

A cold month with higher incidents of northwesterly winds similar to June. Towards the end of the month an especially cool snap brings widespread maxima in single digits. Average max 14c average min 8c

October 

A very stormy and mild month and ends up milder than September. Yet another duller than average month. Average max 15c average min 10c.

November

An exceptionally wet month with named storms. Due to the cold spell in September, dull conditions, mild October and high winds, plants do not change colour with little autumnal displays compounded by foliage being blown off. Average max 13c average min 8c.

December 

Could December bring anything positive to this awful year as consolation? No. A very Atlantic driven month with record breaking windstorm on Christmas Eve bringing widespread damage. This combined with extensive flooding meant millions spent Christmas without power or in sheltered accommodation. 

Summary

Southwestery dominated in winter and northwestern dominated in summer. Very dull, with ruined spring flowers and no autumnal colours. The lowest temperature in April and highest in May, just for annoyance. Then a windstorm Christmas Eve just to wreak havoc at the worst time. 

Fingers crossed we don't get it this bad!

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
Posted

if we are talking an actual real year and not one that has been made up..my vote for my lifetime would probably go to 1986

  • Like 3
Posted
  • Location: Twickenham, London
  • Weather Preferences: Csa/Csb
  • Location: Twickenham, London
Posted

1986, 2008 and 2021 were all awful.

1986 is probably a once a century level of awful.

2013 was pretty bad too, but was saved by July and August.

Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Posted

Looking at historic years from before I was born, 1912 looks an obvious candidate. At Durham each of the three summer months had less than 100 hours of sunshine, and the year as a whole failed to make 1000 hours. August 1912 was the dullest, coolest and wettest on record. 

Limiting it to years since 1950, 1954 is certainly a contender. When I did annual ratings for the England E and NE region back to 1947, 1974 came out with the lowest rating, followed by 1954, but as the ratings for years prior to the 1990s are based only on stats and synoptic setups and not on personal experience, there is a fair amount of uncertainty over the values for those earlier years, meaning that 1954 could have topped 1974.

Of the years that I've lived through, 2002 and 2024 were tied with the lowest overall rating, which feels right. 

But if I could construct a year from hell with individual months that I've lived through, I reckon something like January 2014, February 2024, March 1996, April 2024, May 1991, June 1987, July 2000, August 2021, September 2001, October 2019, November 1997, December 2002. There are a mix of dull wet months and dull dry months in that list, and the recurring theme is lack of sunshine, so that year might well come out almost as dull as the real year of 1912 did. Again, all from an England E and NE perspective (e.g. the July/August/September that I gave were especially dull in this region, but far less so in many western areas).

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted
5 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

At Durham each of the three summer months had less than 100 hours of sunshine

That really is bafflingly dull. Primitive recording instruments or really that dull? I'd been inclined to believe it. Shameless promotion of an old thread of mine but when I looked at July 1912 the sunshine figures were astoundingly bad. Then some record dull months during the autumn. How incredibly hostile that year was for weather...

 

Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
Posted

 Jackmonday06 1998 wasn't that bad from memory..it was a very mild start but was often dry and again was warm in both Feb and March and dry (i dont mind an early spring esp if it gets close to 20c)..cold wet April but not even close to the horrendous April of 86 ..May was decent ..summer where i was cool but not overly wet..Nov and Dec pretty standard fare for the late 1990s 

Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)
23 hours ago, B87 said:

1986 is probably a once a century level of awful.

I would argue nothing like as bad as 2024, or indeed 2023.

Very good months in Feb, June and September.

Not terrible months (for the time of year) in Jan, March, July, and October.

Only April, May and August as real stinkers for the time of year, though admittedly that is 3 out of the 7 months of the summer half of the year.

Nov and Dec mild and wet, but not unusual for Nov and Dec.

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 cheeky_monkey 1998 was a year of good months at three-month intervals: Feb (I would rate as good as it was extremely dry, and sunny, even though it wasn't cold), May, August and November.

Of the others: Jan, March, September, October and December mixed, with April and June truly terrible and July very cool and dull, though not particularly wet. Not the worst year. Better than 2024.

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 Brad in Kent That makes even 2024 sound good!

I guess the summer would be unlikely to be as cool as that these days, however I could easily see something as bad if not worse: a summer with CET of 17C made up of constant 19C maxima, 15C minima, southwesterly winds, and drizzle alternating with heavy, non-thundery rain. Bit like an endless June 2016.

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Twickenham, London
  • Weather Preferences: Csa/Csb
  • Location: Twickenham, London
Posted (edited)

 Summer8906 1986 was far worse than 2023 or 2024. The only half decent month in 1986 was June (but not as good as June 2023 or 2024). The rest of the year was a cold disaster.

2023 at least had a decent 2nd half of May, a great June and September. Even August 2023 was better than anything in 1986, 2008 or 2021.

2024 had a good June and August, with July just cracking the 200 hour mark.

Edited by B87
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 B87 At my location June 1986 was better than 2024, which I rated as pleasant but nothing special. June 1986 was sunny and often hot from around the 12th, following a dull and cool start.

With months like Feb and Sep 1986 I guess this comes down to differing preferences! The latter was very sunny, though.

2024 is the only year I've lived through where I would give no month more than 6/10 (June and Nov getting the highest scores).

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Twickenham, London
  • Weather Preferences: Csa/Csb
  • Location: Twickenham, London
Posted

 Summer8906 June 2024 was warmer (22.0c vs 21.8c) sunnier (234 hours vs 226 hours) and drier (12mm vs 17mm) than June 1986 in London.

Posted
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine and 15-25c
  • Location: Edmonton Alberta(via Chelmsford, Exeter & Calgary)
Posted

 Summer8906 i would argue Feb 1986 outside of it being a below zero cet was very dull very cold and depressing..April 86 is by far the worst April i have ever experienced anywhere ..just thinking about it gives me a touch of PTSD

Posted
  • Location: Hampshire Snow Hoper
  • Location: Hampshire Snow Hoper
Posted

2024 start to finish,weather,life,the whole caboodle lol

Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Posted

I wasn't a big fan of 1998, but for me it wasn't quite as drab or uninteresting overall as 2002 or 2024, even though I was often on the wrong side of the NW-SE sunshine split in both February and August that year. The record breaking warm February sticks out, as well as the stat that February, March and April all recorded a similar mean temperature, and there was then a jump to a pretty warm May.

The suggestion of 1986 is sensitive to personal preference - it was a very cold year overall, so those of us who dislike cold year round will have a lower opinion of it than those of us who enjoy cold weather in the winter months or especially the winter half-year. September 1986 especially sticks out as a potentially polarising month - very cold but very dry and sunny, quite similar to April 2021 in terms of weather and synoptic pattern, and then of course there was that very cold February which in some ways was like a mirror image of February 1998 - very cold, very sunny in the NW but dull in the SE.

Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 B87 Interesting as I certainly perceived June 1986 (in Sussex and Surrey) warmer and sunnier than June 2024 (in south Hampshire). Not like for like comparison, of course, being in different locations.

It's possible of course that the first 10 days or so of June 1986 were so cool and cloudy that they impacted significantly on the final stats. For example if the first 10 days averaged just 16.5C max (possible in 1986) but the final 20 averaged 24.5C max, we come out with 21.8C mean max.

 

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

April 86 is by far the worst April i have ever experienced anywhere ..just thinking about it gives me a touch of PTSD

That's sounds like me with Feb 2020!

April 1986... I remember the first half as that was school holidays, the second half I have much less of a memory of.

The final week or so of March had been very windy with hail showers at times, but also moderately bright. The wind veered N and then NE and the first week or so of April produced bright weather with thundery hail showers. At the time the concept of "sunshine and showers" from the NE was somewhat alien as I hadn't knowingly experienced it before.

It then became cloudy and dry the following week (7th-11th) but around the 14th-15th it became brighter. We returned to school on around the 16th whereupon apparently the Atlantic came roaring in on steroids and it was extremely wet for around 10 days. I seem to have erased this period from my mind, though.

It did finally become warmer and I remember Sat 26th being sunny and hazy with some large Cu build up and the temps reaching the dizzy heights of 16C, which seemed positively tropical in comparison.

Overall cloudy and cool but the school holiday phase of the month wasn't terrible; mostly dry with the only rainfall being from sometimes-thundery showers.  I'd say slightly less bad than 1983 and (controversially) perhaps 2024 also. Still poor, so in the bottom three of Aprils I've experienced.

I didn't notice nature so much in those days but I can imagine it would have been a very backward month with the opposite problem to what we had in 2024. I can imagine that nature would have been similar to 2013 in terms of its lack of development, so the lack of much in the way of signs of spring would presumably have made April 1986 more austere than it would have been otherwise.

Edited by Summer8906

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