Never cast a clout until... June is out? The curious summer of 1858.

[LetItSnow!]

In honour of the exceptionally warm June we're experiencing, let's take a look at why a nice June isn't always a ticket to a classic summer.

 

June 1858 is an exceptionally warm month in the C.E.T. series, coming in at 16.8C. This month became infamous in London for The Great Stink, which you can read extensively about on the internet.

 

The month started as it meant to go on, with a trough of low pressure in the Atlantic and hot humid air moving in from the south. After about a week of slack pressure and warm air aloft with big thunderstorms, things started becoming hotter after the 11th. However, before that, big storms caused particular damage on the 9th: "in places situated within 30 miles of London the damage done was considerable, beds of cabbage were riddled as if with heavy shot. Potatoes completely severed close to the ground and glass trachined in places, especially in the neighbourhood of Reading Berks, wholly deviated of glass and trees of their leaves. For several nights after this storm, lightning was frequent and unusually vivid, the atmosphere appearing so highly charged with the electric field as to present continued illumination."

The heat starts to crank up on the 13th as an unusually deep low in the Atlantic becomes stuck against a lodge of hot air across Europe and winds turn into the south. This is the peak of the summer as temperatures rise to 95F in Greenwich with temperatures probably widely into the low-thirties at least. Pressure is rather slack so I imagine big storms and humidity would have been a feature of the month. The 15th has a daily mean of 22.7. The C.E.T. up to the 16th was at 17.8.

The low in the Atlantic doesn't come to much and the following week ends up warm, dry and fine under an anticyclone, but much fresher as winds originate from more of a westerly direction with the high over and slightly to the east.

The month is somewhat scuppered by a cooler end, a hint of whats to come in July. It doesn't turn unsettled, however, and probably was still fine and reasonably warm in the south with showers in the north.

Like clockwork, on the 1st day of July 1858 we find the winds turning into a cold, northerly and pressure becoming weaker. Amazingly, July 1858 has a C.E.T. record of 14.8C, that's exactly two degrees colder than the preceeding June. This year had July temperatures in June and June temperatures in July.

There are attempts to turn it back to a warm pattern, particularly around the 18th, but it never makes it. It's not horrifically unsettled but it does turn quite autumnal later in the month. A very westerly month but not overall overly wet. Reports of the gale late in the month read: "A hurricane occurred on the night of the 26th inst. doing considerable damage to the corn in exposed localities, such a storm of wind as prevailed in the night of the 24th and the morning of the 25th  is almost without parallel in this country. Trees are blown down, buildings and haystacks damaged and everything movable carried about in all directions."

August 1858 saw temperatures revert to average and had some fine weather in the first half before reverting to cool, autumnal weather in the second half. It was a very dry year but a very wet spell began at the end of the August into mid-September.

September 1858 itself appears to be a changeable month, with a lot of unsettled weather in the first-half but some drier spells in the second-half. A warm month, just 0.1C cooler than July. Some exceptional air thickness on the 26th.

 

Overall, compared to the longterm average, June was +2.4C, July -2.2C and August +0.2C. Interestingly, the previous summer had been a hot one just like 2022 (especially for the time). Along with historic trends, will our heat vanish come July? Things are a lot different to back then... I hope you found this thread interesting. Data is a little lacking from it being so long ago.

 

[Weather-history]

Manchester maxima (°F)

June

1st: 70  2nd: 77 3rd: 76  4th: 74  5th: 71  6th: 70   7th: 73  8th:  81  9th:  83   10th:  72  11th:   78  12th:  70  13th:  82  14th: 84  15th: 85  16th:  71  17th: 61  18th: 64  19th:  71  20th: 72   21st:  75

22nd:  73  23rd:  74  24th:  68  25th:  67  26th:  63  27th:  62   28th:  62  29th:  62  30th: 62

 

July

1st:  61   2nd: 61  3rd:  64  4th: 63   5th: 64   6th: 61  7th: 61  8th: 63  9th: 62  10th:  72  11th:  71  12th: 72  13th:  71  14th: 71  15th: 77  16th: 76  17th:  75  18th: 71  19th: 74  20th: 74  21st:  67

23rd: 74  24th: 76  25th: 62  26th:  65  27th: 68  28th: 70  29th:  69  30th: 69  31st:  70

 

August

1st: 77   2nd: 78   3rd:  73  4th:  72  5th: 67   6th:  66  7th:   67   8th:  78  9th:  76  10th:  79   11th:   82  12th: 70  13th:  70  14th:  64  15th:  72  16th:  70  17th: 69  18th:  72  19th:  68  20th:  63

21st:  64  22nd:  66  23rd:  75  24th: 71  25th:  63  26th: 62  27th: 60  28th:  63  29th:  62  30th:  57  31st:  58

 

[Sun Chaser]

On 20/06/2023 at 11:39, LetItSnow! said:

In honour of the exceptionally warm June we're experiencing, let's take a look at why a nice June isn't always a ticket to a classic summer.

 

June 1858 is an exceptionally warm month in the C.E.T. series, coming in at 16.8C. This month became infamous in London for The Great Stink, which you can read extensively about on the internet.

 

The month started as it meant to go on, with a trough of low pressure in the Atlantic and hot humid air moving in from the south. After about a week of slack pressure and warm air aloft with big thunderstorms, things started becoming hotter after the 11th. However, before that, big storms caused particular damage on the 9th: "in places situated within 30 miles of London the damage done was considerable, beds of cabbage were riddled as if with heavy shot. Potatoes completely severed close to the ground and glass trachined in places, especially in the neighbourhood of Reading Berks, wholly deviated of glass and trees of their leaves. For several nights after this storm, lightning was frequent and unusually vivid, the atmosphere appearing so highly charged with the electric field as to present continued illumination."

The heat starts to crank up on the 13th as an unusually deep low in the Atlantic becomes stuck against a lodge of hot air across Europe and winds turn into the south. This is the peak of the summer as temperatures rise to 95F in Greenwich with temperatures probably widely into the low-thirties at least. Pressure is rather slack so I imagine big storms and humidity would have been a feature of the month. The 15th has a daily mean of 22.7. The C.E.T. up to the 16th was at 17.8.

The low in the Atlantic doesn't come to much and the following week ends up warm, dry and fine under an anticyclone, but much fresher as winds originate from more of a westerly direction with the high over and slightly to the east.

The month is somewhat scuppered by a cooler end, a hint of whats to come in July. It doesn't turn unsettled, however, and probably was still fine and reasonably warm in the south with showers in the north.

Like clockwork, on the 1st day of July 1858 we find the winds turning into a cold, northerly and pressure becoming weaker. Amazingly, July 1858 has a C.E.T. record of 14.8C, that's exactly two degrees colder than the preceeding June. This year had July temperatures in June and June temperatures in July.

There are attempts to turn it back to a warm pattern, particularly around the 18th, but it never makes it. It's not horrifically unsettled but it does turn quite autumnal later in the month. A very westerly month but not overall overly wet. Reports of the gale late in the month read: "A hurricane occurred on the night of the 26th inst. doing considerable damage to the corn in exposed localities, such a storm of wind as prevailed in the night of the 24th and the morning of the 25th  is almost without parallel in this country. Trees are blown down, buildings and haystacks damaged and everything movable carried about in all directions."

August 1858 saw temperatures revert to average and had some fine weather in the first half before reverting to cool, autumnal weather in the second half. It was a very dry year but a very wet spell began at the end of the August into mid-September.

September 1858 itself appears to be a changeable month, with a lot of unsettled weather in the first-half but some drier spells in the second-half. A warm month, just 0.1C cooler than July. Some exceptional air thickness on the 26th.

 

Overall, compared to the longterm average, June was +2.4C, July -2.2C and August +0.2C. Interestingly, the previous summer had been a hot one just like 2022 (especially for the time). Along with historic trends, will our heat vanish come July? Things are a lot different to back then... I hope you found this thread interesting. Data is a little lacking from it being so long ago.

 

Wouldn't be at all surprised if summer 2023 turned out very similar to this actually! Hope July can change in the second half