Springlike Autumns/Winters - Lovely but underrated

[baddie]

This is a forum to discuss any previous autumn or winner months which felt like spring

September 2015
October 2018 (2011, 2016 and 2023 had several spring-like episodes)
November - Dont know
December - New Years 2021/22 was spring-like, but otherwise I dont know
January 2022 (Low minimas, Mild maximas. Sunniest and 5th Driest on record)
February 2019 (2008 and 2023 other ones)

Spring is my favourite season, and I love it all year round

Edited November 25, 2023 by baddie

[A Face like Thunder]

Christmas Day 1987 - we played cricket in the garden!

[Sun Chaser]

On 25/11/2023 at 17:13, baddie said:

This is a forum to discuss any previous autumn or winner months which felt like spring

September 2015
October 2018 (2011, 2016 and 2023 had several spring-like episodes)
November - Dont know
December - New Years 2021/22 was spring-like, but otherwise I dont know
January 2022 (Low minimas, Mild maximas. Sunniest and 5th Driest on record)
February 2019 (2008 and 2023 other ones)

Spring is my favourite season, and I love it all year round

Nov and Dec obviously very unspringlike, but there have been some recent episodes. The freak sunny warm spell midmonth in Nov 2022 has been quickly forgotten but reached 16-18c with clear blue skies widespread. Perhaps the very sunny and dry Dec 2001 had some more springlike days. And of course as you mentioned the spell over new year 2022, will never forget waking up Jan 1st and it feeling like April.

[Summer8906]

In all honesty I think it's impossible for autumn or early winter to feel like spring. It can't feel like spring IMO if the nights are drawing in, or sunset is significantly before 5pm.

The earliest that any spring-like tendency can occur is around Jan 20th IMO, as before then, the nights haven't drawn out enough and there is no sign of spring flowering - beyond that you can get the snowdrops and sunset is approaching 5pm.

But I will go with these periods, all of which were late Jan or later:

Late Jan - Feb 1993

Feb 1998

Late Jan 2003

Feb 2008

Second half Feb 2009

Second half Feb 2012

and Feb 2019, though that one is quite obvious.

12 hours ago, Sun Chaser said:

Nov and Dec obviously very unspringlike, but there have been some recent episodes. The freak sunny warm spell midmonth in Nov 2022 has been quickly forgotten but reached 16-18c with clear blue skies widespread. Perhaps the very sunny and dry Dec 2001 had some more springlike days.

 

And of course as you mentioned the spell over new year 2022, will never forget waking up Jan 1st and it feeling like April.

Mind you, with the damp Tm air and early sunset, wouldn't it just feel like late October?

Edited December 4, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 25/11/2023 at 18:13, baddie said:

November - Dont know

November 1989 and 2011 featured rare combinations of mild and sunny, though due to the state of nature and short days could not be classed as spring-like.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

November 1989 and 2011 featured rare combinations of mild and sunny, though due to the state of nature and short days could not be classed as spring-like.

It is the lack of daylight that really stops any extreme mildness from feeling properly springlike. But days start lengthening in a couple of weeks!

[cheeky_monkey]

February 1990 and 1998 November 1994  December 2015

[Freeze]

February 2019 obviously the most extreme example. In fact it could even be described as summer-like. Which is funny because it snowed at the beginning of the month.

11 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

February 1990 and 1998 November 1994  December 2015

I'm not so sure about December 2015, while it was warm, it didn't feel like spring but rather an extreme mild winter month there was basically no sunlight whatsoever, at least here anyway 

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

February 1990 and 1998 November 1994  December 2015

Actually I don't completely disagree there despite the extremely wet start. The first 17 days or so (finishing Sat 17th) were windy and extremely wet but I do remember the end part of the month as being very mild and quite dry, and do recall a couple of distinctly spring-like warm sunny days during the week (Mon-Fri) sometime late in the month. As for specific days I remember, Sat 24th was cloudy but dry and very mild so somewhat spring like.

How's this for a (similar) curve ball: Sat Feb 22 and Sun Feb 23 2014. After the horrendous winter, the latter part of Feb, beginning the 16th, was reasonable at times, particularly this weekend.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Summer8906

[baddie]

4 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

November 1989 and 2011 featured rare combinations of mild and sunny, though due to the state of nature and short days could not be classed as spring-like.

A springlike day in autumn/winter would look like

Temperatures above 10c in Winter, and above 13c in Autumn
Wall-to-wall sunshine, or hazy sunshine
Gentle winds

Several days in this October perfectly demonstrated this. October 14th-16th felt more like sunny March days, October 17th, 25th and 29th felt like good April days, while October 7th-10th felt more like May
I remember late-October and early-November 2015 also demonstrating this too

Sunset times and Nature does not really interefere with this. It just has to feel pleasant

Edited December 4, 2023 by baddie

[cheeky_monkey]

3 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Actually I don't completely disagree there despite the extremely wet start. The first 17 days or so (finishing Sat 17th) were windy and extremely wet but I do remember the end part of the month as being very mild and quite dry, and do recall a couple of distinctly spring-like warm sunny days during the week (Mon-Fri) sometime late in the month. As for specific days I remember, Sat 24th was cloudy but dry and very mild so somewhat spring like.

How's this for a (similar) curve ball: Sat Feb 22 and Sun Feb 23 2014. After the horrendous winter, the latter part of Feb, beginning the 16th, was reasonable at times, particularly this weekend.

Feb 1990 in my area was overall wet but also sunnier than normal...reached 19c on the 23rd 

[Summer8906]

5 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

Feb 1990 in my area was overall wet but also sunnier than normal...reached 19c on the 23rd 

Ah ok, so I'd guess the 23rd was one of those warm sunny weekdays I remember.

[cheeky_monkey]

12 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Ah ok, so I'd guess the 23rd was one of those warm sunny weekdays I remember.

it is also tied as the warmest Feb of the 20th Century with 1998 and +0.5c warmer than 2019 

[Sun Chaser]

7 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Mind you, with the damp Tm air and early sunset, wouldn't it just feel like late October?

In the middle of the day, with sunny skies and ~15c, for a brief moment it could've been an average April late afternoon. It was humid but nonetheless felt warm and bright

[Sun Chaser]

2 hours ago, baddie said:

A springlike day in autumn/winter would look like

Temperatures above 10c in Winter, and above 13c in Autumn
Wall-to-wall sunshine, or hazy sunshine
Gentle winds

Several days in this October perfectly demonstrated this. October 14th-16th felt more like sunny March days, October 17th, 25th and 29th felt like good April days, while October 7th-10th felt more like May
I remember late-October and early-November 2015 also demonstrating this too

Sunset times and Nature does not really interefere with this. It just has to feel pleasant

Nov 1st 2015 reached up to 22.4c in the west. A very nice warm day. Similarly Oct 31st 2014 was even warmer and more widespread but annoyingly fell in October so seemed much less extraordinary!

[alexisj9]

It damaging to nature, I had a spring plant start growing in September, started flowing in late November, didn't get time to see what it would actually look like fully flowered, the winter cold over the week end killed it.

[MP-R]

November 2011 was quite springlike at times. Then, I lived in Surrey where there were many warmish sunny afternoons.

Christmas Day 2002 was very springlike. The mildest day of that winter here until the very end of February.

January 2022 recently had its moments but the days were still quite cold. 
 

February 1998, 2008, 2017, 2019, 2023 were all often springlike. Much easier to achieve by Feb.

[Summer8906]

12 hours ago, MP-R said:

Christmas Day 2002 was very springlike. The mildest day of that winter here until the very end of February.

Don't remember Christmas Day 2002 at all, though I have the vague feeling it was dull and wet. Certainly Dec 2002 was a month of two halves: cold, though not always dry and often dull, until the 19th then mild, dull (practically sunless?) and very wet, often extremely wet - flooding became a problem for a while. Thankfully it quite suddenly turned a lot drier and sunnier around Jan 3rd. The contrast between the very dull and wet Dec 2002 and very sunny and dry Jan and Feb 2003 was stark.

Surprised it was warmer than the end of January 2003 which really was spectacularly warm for two or three days before suddenly turning much colder. Indeed that sudden warm to cold flip is also very typical of spring, so it could be said the entire last week of Jan 2003 was spring-like!

I'd certainly add Jan 25-27 2003 to the list - particularly Jan 27th, a notably sunny and warm day. Some areas got 17C, though probably towards the east.

Some spectacular red sunsets too: that of Sun 26th being really memorable.

The third week of Feb 2003 too. The first half was dry but rather cold with variable cloud, but it became somewhat warmer by day (but still cold at night) and very sunny in the third week. Sat 22 in particular was warm, sunny and very spring like - though the final week, and first week of March, was briefly dull and wet, before that spectacularly sunny and warm March got underway.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

57 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Don't remember Christmas Day 2002 at all, though I have the vague feeling it was dull and wet. Certainly Dec 2002 was a month of two halves: cold, though not always dry and often dull, until the 19th then mild, dull (practically sunless?) and very wet, often extremely wet - flooding became a problem for a while. Thankfully it quite suddenly turned a lot drier and sunnier around Jan 3rd. The contrast between the very dull and wet Dec 2002 and very sunny and dry Jan and Feb 2003 was stark.

Surprised it was warmer than the end of January 2003 which really was spectacularly warm for two or three days before suddenly turning much colder. Indeed that sudden warm to cold flip is also very typical of spring, so it could be said the entire last week of Jan 2003 was spring-like!

I'd certainly add Jan 25-27 2003 to the list - particularly Jan 27th, a notably sunny and warm day. Some areas got 17C, though probably towards the east.

Some spectacular red sunsets too: that of Sun 26th being really memorable.

The third week of Feb 2003 too. The first half was dry but rather cold with variable cloud, but it became somewhat warmer by day (but still cold at night) and very sunny in the third week. Sat 22 in particular was warm, sunny and very spring like - though the final week, and first week of March, was briefly dull and wet, before that spectacularly sunny and warm March got underway.

Most of December 2002 was very dull, and especially the final third which was indeed very wet and often mild. Christmas Day, however, saw a brief window of sunshine between fronts, and as such felt quite springlike. I remember going for a walk locally between presents opening and Christmas lunch haha in just a light zip up jumper. High of 14.2C that day.

Jan 25-27 2003 was a no show here. The east is almost always warmer than the west when the Atlantic is in full flow. Here it was just dull, shut in and a bit drizzly until the sharp clearance on the 28th. Still managed 13.5C on the 26th though despite complete dullness.

I actually remember that weekend in Feb 2003 too! A frosty start then beautiful sunshine. Perhaps a harbinger of the lovely long sunny period from mid March to late April (still one of my favourite such periods).

[Summer8906]

8 hours ago, MP-R said:

Most of December 2002 was very dull, and especially the final third which was indeed very wet and often mild. Christmas Day, however, saw a brief window of sunshine between fronts, and as such felt quite springlike. I remember going for a walk locally between presents opening and Christmas lunch haha in just a light zip up jumper. High of 14.2C that day.

Jan 25-27 2003 was a no show here. The east is almost always warmer than the west when the Atlantic is in full flow. Here it was just dull, shut in and a bit drizzly until the sharp clearance on the 28th. Still managed 13.5C on the 26th though despite complete dullness.

Interesting as here, Atlantic air is often very dull too.

I think the difference on this occasion was that it was a "returning tropical maritime" WNW-ly. Sat 25th was largely sunny (I remember a sunny walk in the downs north of Chichester and a good sunset from Bow Hill, Sussex), Sun 26th was cloudy but not dull (with a clearance at sunset giving a spectacular red sky, as already noted, outside Winchester) and Mon 27th sunny. Here we often do well in WNW-lies, even a slight veer to north of west can do wonders for sunshine in the winter half year.

By contrast, while I was out of the country ISTR hearing that Jan 1, 2022 with a SW-ly or WSW-ly was very dull and drizzly here. Strangely Jan 1, 2023 was essentially a less-mild, but still very mild, repeat of a year earlier.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

22 hours ago, Sun Chaser said:

Nov 1st 2015 reached up to 22.4c in the west. A very nice warm day. Similarly Oct 31st 2014 was even warmer and more widespread but annoyingly fell in October so seemed much less extraordinary!

Nov 1 2015 was a day which annoyed me intensely. The forecast suggested warm and sunny, so I was intending to do a walk in the downs but the mist was so thick that views were severely restricted, meaning I had to cancel that walk as it would have been pointless doing it. Would have been happy with 10 degrees cooler if only the visibility had been decent!

[baddie]

October 2018 and April 2018 should have switched that year

April 2018
Mean Max : 13c
Rainflal : 88mm
Sunshine : 105 hours

October 2018
Mean Max : 14c
Rainfall : 40mm
Sunshine : 130 hours

[baddie]

9 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Nov 1 2015 was a day which annoyed me intensely. The forecast suggested warm and sunny, so I was intending to do a walk in the downs but the mist was so thick that views were severely restricted, meaning I had to cancel that walk as it would have been pointless doing it. Would have been happy with 10 degrees cooler if only the visibility had been decent!

I felt the same on Valentines Day 2023

Forecasted : 13c and wall-to-wall sunshine
Recieved : 9c and Mist until 1pm, followed by sunshine

Edited December 5, 2023 by baddie

[Sun Chaser]

37 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Nov 1 2015 was a day which annoyed me intensely. The forecast suggested warm and sunny, so I was intending to do a walk in the downs but the mist was so thick that views were severely restricted, meaning I had to cancel that walk as it would have been pointless doing it. Would have been happy with 10 degrees cooler if only the visibility had been decent!

I remember it being very misty in London. Then I was sat in the back of a car heading west (where the good weather was) for 4/5 hours thinking how nice it would be if I was outside. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Halloween 2016 warm and sunny too? Three very warm ends to October in a row

 

27 minutes ago, baddie said:

I felt the same on Valentines Day 2023

Forecasted : 13c and wall-to-wall sunshine
Recieved : 9c and Mist until 1pm, followed by sunshine

15.4c down in the south west!! The best mid Feb day I can remember (too young for 1998). Obviously 2019 was better but that was closer to spring.

Sadly I spent the entire day in an airport haha

Edited December 5, 2023 by Sun Chaser

[baddie]

2 minutes ago, Sun Chaser said:

I remember it being very misty in London. Then I was sat in the back of a car heading west (where the good weather was) for 4/5 hours thinking how nice it would be if I was outside. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Halloween 2016 warm and sunny too? Three very warm ends to October in a row

 

15.4c down in the south west!! The best mid Feb day I can remember (too young for 1998). Obviously 2019 was better but that was closer to spring.

Sadly I spent the entire day in an airport haha

Jealous. At least I had a better March and April than you, hahahahaha