Cold years with good summers

[LetItSnow!]

A sort-of-reply thread to Greyhound’s interesting topic on warm years with poor summers, this time taking a some notably cool/cold years that had some good to great summers.

Looking through the data, I can say some picks could be:

1996: A persistently chilly year with only October coming out notably above average, yet the by all accounts and data appears to be a forgotten one. Coming after the super-ordinary sizzler of 1995, it would have had to have been remarkable to compete. Having said that, all three months look to have enjoyed plenty of warm, sunny spells. June 1996 indeed started very hot with an exceptional, short-lived heatwave on the 7th, but the charts look as though high pressure dominated for most of the month with only a colder northerly plunge around the solstice and some unsettled weather at months end. July 1996 looks like it started very cool and wet but quickly got itself into action and most of the month after the first week was high pressure dominated. August 1996 looks a little more unsettled but still had its moments. I think this summer may have appeared shorter not just because of the previous year but also because May 1996 was exceptionally cold and September 1996 wasn’t anything to write home about.

1955: The winter was long and very cold and apart from a brief break in April, extended into May. Indeed, there was a snowstorm in May which you can read about on here. The first half of June was quite poor but once the summer got going it truly became a classic. July 1955 and August 1955 were bone dry and very hot with persistent anticyclonic weather. September 1955 also had its moments with some warm and dry spells though some cooler spells at times too. You can also read about the great storm in July 1955 which set a rainfall record and is the, at least one of the, most intense thunderstorms this country has ever seen.

A more modern example is 2013. Similar to 1955, the winter was long and cold, and colder than normal conditions lasted pretty much into early July, but once it got going it really got there. July 2013 I remember for its endless blue skies and constant heat. August 2013 was more changeable but had its moments too.

 

[Frigid]

Interesting thread, was thinking about this when I saw the other one. I assume cold years are anything below 10C CET.

My first thought was 2013 of course, but another notable one would be Summer 1947. We all know about the snowy, cold winter of 1946/47. The year started off brutally cold, which is why the year as a whole has a cool anomaly. The summer was very warm.. perhaps a classic. All three summer months were well above average for the time with August having a CET of 18.6C, just beaten last year. Was quite an extended summer starting around May up to September. I'd class that as a pretty good summer all round. The rest of the year was quite average temperature-wise. 

 

[Optimus Prime]

2010, a very chilly year overall but had a warm sunny June & July. Disappointing August but the summer as a whole was a decent one.

 

[LetItSnow!]

1 hour ago, Frigid said:

Interesting thread, was thinking about this when I saw the other one. I assume cold years are anything below 10C CET.

My first thought was 2013 of course, but another notable one would be Summer 1947. We all know about the snowy, cold winter of 1946/47. The year started off brutally cold, which is why the year as a whole has a cool anomaly. The summer was very warm.. perhaps a classic. All three summer months were well above average for the time with August having a CET of 18.6C, just beaten last year. Was quite an extended summer starting around May up to September. I'd class that as a pretty good summer all round. The rest of the year was quite average temperature-wise. 

 

Perhaps a classic? Summer 1947 ranks alongside the very best summers. June 1947 had an exceptional heatwave with 35C as early as the 3rd (!). August 1947 was the August 1995 before its existence with very high sunshine totals and being very dry.

The criteria is ideally anything below 9.3C. Below 10C isn't a cold year. Back in the '80s a year 9.7+C could be considered on the warm side. I added 2013 as a more modern example and to be fair it had been a very cold year up to June, only skewed by the warmth of the summer, October and December.

Edited July 4, 2023 by LetItSnow!

[cheeky_monkey]

6 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

A sort-of-reply thread to Greyhound’s interesting topic on warm years with poor summers, this time taking a some notably cool/cold years that had some good to great summers.

Looking through the data, I can say some picks could be:

1996: A persistently chilly year with only October coming out notably above average, yet the by all accounts and data appears to be a forgotten one. Coming after the super-ordinary sizzler of 1995, it would have had to have been remarkable to compete. Having said that, all three months look to have enjoyed plenty of warm, sunny spells. June 1996 indeed started very hot with an exceptional, short-lived heatwave on the 7th, but the charts look as though high pressure dominated for most of the month with only a colder northerly plunge around the solstice and some unsettled weather at months end. July 1996 looks like it started very cool and wet but quickly got itself into action and most of the month after the first week was high pressure dominated. August 1996 looks a little more unsettled but still had its moments. I think this summer may have appeared shorter not just because of the previous year but also because May 1996 was exceptionally cold and September 1996 wasn’t anything to write home about.

 

i wouldn't say 1996 was a good summer it was pretty average ...1990, 91 94 95 97 and at a pinch 99 were better and that's just the 1990s

[LetItSnow!]

3 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

i wouldn't say 1996 was a good summer it was pretty average ...1990, 91 94 95 97 and at a pinch 99 were better and that's just the 1990s

I wasn’t alive but members memories and stats show it was decent. High pressure seemed to dominate most of the time but unlike 1995 there were unsettled spells inbetween. Each month was above average, most so August, but all months were within a degree above average. I’d rather a summer like 1996 than 1995 any day. 

[cheeky_monkey]

7 minutes ago, LetItSnow! said:

I wasn’t alive but members memories and stats show it was decent. High pressure seemed to dominate most of the time but unlike 1995 there were unsettled spells inbetween. Each month was above average, most so August, but all months were within a degree above average. I’d rather a summer like 1996 than 1995 any day. 

i got married in Sept of 1996 plus it was Euro 96 that year went to Wembley to watch the opener between England and Switzerland so remember this summer particularly well ..summer 1995 was spectacular in comparison there is no contest  

[Summer of 95]

1 hour ago, Optimus Prime said:

2010, a very chilly year overall but had a warm sunny June & July. Disappointing August but the summer as a whole was a decent one.

 

July 2010 certainly wasn't sunny! By far the dullest on record round here, even duller than August 2008... June was decent but the rest of the summer was a shocker. Almost unrelenting cloudfest.

1996 was the best example I remember, gave it a brief mention on the warm years with poor summers page as the opposite. 1991 I'd say counts as well, CET of 9.5C with 2 months above 17C, despite a cold June (I remember July and August being pretty good).

[Sunny76]

51 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

i wouldn't say 1996 was a good summer it was pretty average ...1990, 91 94 95 97 and at a pinch 99 were better and that's just the 1990s

I would class 96 as a disappointing summer. I remember lots of cloudy days in July and August.

90, 94, 95 and 99 were all better. 

23 minutes ago, Summer of 95 said:

July 2010 certainly wasn't sunny! By far the dullest on record round here, even duller than August 2008... June was decent but the rest of the summer was a shocker. Almost unrelenting cloudfest.

1996 was the best example I remember, gave it a brief mention on the warm years with poor summers page as the opposite. 1991 I'd say counts as well, CET of 9.5C with 2 months above 17C, despite a cold June (I remember July and August being pretty good).

Yeah summer 2010 was only decent in June during the South Africa World Cup. After that it went progressively downhill. August was hideous.

[Sunny76]

49 minutes ago, LetItSnow! said:

I wasn’t alive but members memories and stats show it was decent. High pressure seemed to dominate most of the time but unlike 1995 there were unsettled spells inbetween. Each month was above average, most so August, but all months were within a degree above average. I’d rather a summer like 1996 than 1995 any day. 

No, 1995 was lovely. Weeks of sunny clear skies and only a few days of unsettled weather. It just went on for ages.

2018 is the most recent version of a summer like 1995.

[damianslaw]

1996 springs to mind, whilst not a particularly warm summer, by no means a write off.

2013, second half of the year was mild in the main.

2010 summer was cool.

[LetItSnow!]

3 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I would class 96 as a disappointing summer. I remember lots of cloudy days in July and August.

90, 94, 95 and 99 were all better. 

Yeah summer 2010 was only decent in June during the South Africa World Cup. After that it went progressively downhill. August was hideous.

I’m surprised at 1999 being higher since June was quite cool and August was exceptionally wet. Quite an odd summer. 

[cheeky_monkey]

1 hour ago, LetItSnow! said:

I’m surprised at 1999 being higher since June was quite cool and August was exceptionally wet. Quite an odd summer. 

stats don't tell the whole story of a season esp if you weren't alive to see or remember it and of course its also swayed by where you were living at the time 

[Greyhound81]

2 hours ago, damianslaw said:

2010 summer was cool.

  August was cool.  June and July were above average.

[Harry's House]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

stats don't tell the whole story of a season esp if you weren't alive to see or remember it and of course its also swayed by where you were living at the time 

Very true. I have read other people's comments about certain seasons being good/indifferent/poor and have disagreed with them.

[cheeky_monkey]

3 hours ago, damianslaw said:

1996 springs to mind, whilst not a particularly warm summer, by no means a write off.

 

IMO that sums up the summer of 96..not a write off ..but not good and definetly not great as per the criteria set out in the opening statement of this thread... also if you have a good to great summer this alone would probably preclude it from being a cold year.

[LetItSnow!]

4 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

stats don't tell the whole story of a season esp if you weren't alive to see or remember it and of course its also swayed by where you were living at the time 

Somewhat, though sometimes memory can become hazy. Stats, regionally of course, do tell the true picture though. It’s the reason we keep them after all.

[cheeky_monkey]

13 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

Somewhat, though sometimes memory can become hazy. Stats, regionally of course, do tell the true picture though. It’s the reason we keep them after all.

i dont agree take Feb 2009 for example..many will remember this as being a cold snowy month due to the cold first 2 weeks with fair amount of snow..but the second half was much milder and it ended up being slightly above average ...looking back say in 50 years time the stats will show it as being an unremarkable month not worthy of mention..how many other months or seasons have the memories been lost to time and we are just left with the stats that only tell half the story.

[B87]

1976, 1983, 1984, 2013

1996 had an average summer.

 

[danm]

On 04/07/2023 at 15:06, Summer of 95 said:

July 2010 certainly wasn't sunny! By far the dullest on record round here, even duller than August 2008... June was decent but the rest of the summer was a shocker. Almost unrelenting cloudfest.

1996 was the best example I remember, gave it a brief mention on the warm years with poor summers page as the opposite. 1991 I'd say counts as well, CET of 9.5C with 2 months above 17C, despite a cold June (I remember July and August being pretty good).

 

On 04/07/2023 at 15:30, Sunny76 said:

I would class 96 as a disappointing summer. I remember lots of cloudy days in July and August.

90, 94, 95 and 99 were all better. 

Yeah summer 2010 was only decent in June during the South Africa World Cup. After that it went progressively downhill. August was hideous.

It was more localised to the SE, but Summer 2010 brought a lengthy warm to hot spell from 21st June to 3rd July. The rest of July also had a lot of warm and some hot days:

 

August was much cooler and wetter. 

[LetItSnow!]

6 hours ago, B87 said:

1976, 1983, 1984, 2013

1996 had an average summer.

 

1976, 1983 and 1984 were all warmer than average years with the first two being 10+C so hardly cold!

[Weather-history]

1808 is an interesting year. A CET of 8.9 but the May to August period was very warm  

May: 13.7

June: 14.8

July: 18.4

August:  16.7

 

 

[B87]

4 hours ago, LetItSnow! said:

1976, 1983 and 1984 were all warmer than average years with the first two being 10+C so hardly cold!

Looking at the stats for Heathrow, they all looked mostly below average outside of summer.

[LetItSnow!]

2 hours ago, B87 said:

Looking at the stats for Heathrow, they all looked mostly below average outside of summer.

Perhaps against the 1991-2020 average but longterm they weren’t cold years. 1976 had a chilly March and a cold December which would be notable for todays standards but not for the time. 1983 had cold weather in February and through April and May but saw warmer than normal conditions persist through most of the other months. 1984 was the coldest of the three and had a chilly late winter and spring had cold conditions at times (but very warm maxima in April). Warmer than normal temperatures persisted from the summer right until the end of the year.