Historical weather is full of fascinating quirks and facts that you will come across when looking at it and statistics. This blog post will reveal many weather facts and quirks that I and Kevin Bradshaw (a.k.a. Mr. Data) have found.
Dry Aprils ending in "7". Had to use the England and Wales Precipitation (EWP) series for the totals here.
2017 - 19.9mm 2007 - 10.4mm 1997 - 23.7mm 1987 - 69.2mm (was drier for Ireland) 1977 - 52.6mm 1967 - 47.6mm 1957 - 9.7mm
In fact, the last wetter than average April ending in "7" was 1947.
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Take the last sub 2°C winter: 1979 CET: 1.6
Go back 50 years to 1929 CET 1.7 and keep going back 50 years each time, you come up with this list:
1979: 1.6
1929: 1.7
1879: 0.7
1829: 3.9
1779: 5.6
1729: 1.7
1679: 1.0
5 out of the 7 winters were sub 2°C, all winters had a below average January. January 1829 was colder than Januaries 1985 and 1987.
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The hottest summer on record (up to 2017) is 1976 with a CET of 17.8, go back 50 years to 1926 and keep going back 50 years and you come up with this list:
1976: 17.8
1926: 15.6
1876: 16.0
1826: 17.6
1776: 15.2
1726: 16.0
1676: 16.8
Only summer 1776 was a touch below average.
1676 was the hottest summer on record until 1781
1826 was the hottest summer on record until 1976.
So 3 of those summers have held the title of hottest summer on record and even odder those summers are 150 years apart.
1676, 1826, 1976
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One of the oddest winters of all time is Winter 1874-75 (figures are CET).
December 1874: -0.2 (4th coldest December at the time) January 1875: 6.4 (Joint 5th warmest January at the time) February 1875: 2.3
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It's odd how some decades have particular months that seem to stand out in that decade. For instance, a number of the Aprils of 1940s were very warm.
The Aprils of 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1949 all had CETs above 10, with April 1946 just missing out with a CET of 9.9 There was only one below average April during the 1940s and that was 1941 with a CET of 6.4.
The 1950s had particularly wet Augusts with 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1958 all averaging over 100mm.
The Decembers of the 1960s tended to be on the cold side with 7 of them having CETs below 4°C {1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1969}.
The Januaries of the 1990s tended to be on the mild side with 5 of them having CETs above 5°C {1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999}. 1992, 1995 and 1996 were also mild for their time though 1992 and 1996 were relatively cool by modern standards.
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In 2003, July was duller than every month from March to October at Valentia Observatory. It was only barely 5.8 hours sunnier than February that year.
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Spring 1948 was so sunny that using the England and Wales sunshine series, the season was sunnier than ANY of the Summers from 1997 to 2005 inclusive.
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The CET for the first 4 days of June 1975 was just 8.65°C. This is colder than average October values.
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For 3 consecutive years (1974, 1975, 1976), January was warmer than the following March.
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Summer 1887, the season with Ireland's all-time highest temperature of 33.3c, was within a very cool year. For the CET, 1887 was the 28th coldest year on record. It was also the driest year on record in Ireland with only 356.6mm of rainfall being recorded at Glasnevin, Co. Dublin that year. For the EWP series, it was the third driest year on record behind 1788 and 1921.
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Years ending in "6" tend to favour warm Junes.
4 of the the 5 warmest Junes on record occurred in years ending in "6"
1846, 1676, 1826, 1976.
1846 is THE warmest June on record (for the CET).
Years with above average temperature Junes ending in "6"
2016, 2006, 1996, 1986, 1976, 1966, 1936, 1906, 1896, 1876, 1866, 1846, 1836, 1826, 1806, 1786, 1746, 1736, 1726, 1706, 1686, 1676, 1666
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Summer 1954 was so dull that not one of the summers months was in the top 3 sunniest months for that year. In order: April, September, May then June.
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March 1947 was so wet (177.5mm for England & Wales), it was more than the combined total of the next two wettest months for that year. 1947 is a very odd year with the coldest February on record, the wettest March on record, one of the hottest Augusts and Summers on record. Perhaps it was the ideal year for weather enthusiasts as a notable cold Winter followed by a notable hot Summer? Unfortunately, this does not happen very often. On the fortunate side, thankfully disasters like 1947 do not happen often as February's record breaking snow being followed by March's record breaking rainfall (along with more snow) led to some of the most severe floods in the history of the British Isles.
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6 of the Decembers of the 1910s were warmer than the previous November. This includes 1915 which saw the coldest November of the 20th and 21st centuries at a CET of only 2.8°C!
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There has never been a December with a CET of 5.9, despite 11 having a CET of 5.8 and 7 having a CET of 6.0.
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The first 4 days of June 1975 had a real impact on that summer's CET (remember that this was the period of notable June snowfalls which have a 1 in 250 year return or so the stats say like the Great Storm of 1987). Summer 1975 had a CET of 16.9 but if you take out first 4 days and the CET for the rest of the summer was 17.3. With 16.9, the season stands as the 13th warmest Summer on record for the CET series (up to 2017) but if it were to have 17.3, it would be the 5th warmest Summer on record in the series.
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August 1912 was the wettest AND dullest Summer month on record. Not to mention, coldest August on record. Yes, all those extremities in one month. As a result, this was easily the worst Summer month. The CET was just 12.9°C compared to the 1981-2010 average of 16.1°C. The worst August in terms of the mean temperature since then was 1956 with a CET of 13.5°C. Absolutely awful, dire month in what was the wettest Summer overall of the 20th century and we have not seen a wetter Summer since although 2012 came close. Summers 2007-2009 were also significantly wet. There have been many Junes warmer than August 1912, even some Mays and a lot of Septembers.
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Huge differences between the lowest minimum and the highest maximum recorded the next day in the UK
25th January 1958: -21.7°C
26th January 1958: 17.2°C
19th November 1947: -17.2°C
20th November 1947: 17.2°C
30th November 1985: -20.9°C 1st December 1985: 16.0°C
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In 1974, January was warmer than February or March. December was warmer than October or November.
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December 2015 was warmer than March, April or November that year; even though November was very mild too at 9.5°C, December's CET was 9.7°C!
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The last year to fail to reach an air maximum temperature of 25.0°C or above in Ireland was 1988 which had an air maximum of only 24.5°C at Roche's Point, Co. Cork on June 23rd that year. It is no surprise why this is such a low annual maximum as June was the only warmer than average month of the entire Summer. July was one of the coldest, wettest and dullest on record and August wasn't much better.
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30°C has been reached in Ireland in 2018, 2016, 2013, 2006, 2005, 2003, 1995, 1989, 1983, 1976 and 1975 in modern times. I think 2016 and 2005 are the jokers in this pack as they weren't really notable for hot spells.
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The last year to fail to reach an air maximum temperature of 30.0°C or above in the UK was 1993 which had an air maximum of 29.7°C at East Bergholt in Suffolk, England on July 4th that year. Other years that have failed to reach 30.0°C since 1900 in the UK include 1910, 1913, 1920, 1927, 1931, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980 and 1981. Notice the number of years in the 60s and 70s failing to achieve an annual air maximum of 30.0°C or above. The former being noted as a decade for very cold Winters or a large number of cold spells.
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The only date of the meteorological Summer season (June 1st to August 31st) in the UK that has not ever reached (since records began) 30.0°C or above is June 13th. The record for this date is just 28.3°C set in 1948 and 1994.
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There have been only 8 Februaries with a sub zero CET but 4 of them have occurred within the last 60 years: 1947, 1956, 1963, 1986. The others are 1684, 1740, 1855 and 1895.
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