1995

Of the years I've lived through, I generally cite 1995 as my favourite year for weather- it had a blustery, sunny and wet winter, a variable spring with some dramatic contrasts, a famous hot dry sunny summer, an 'Indian summer' in October, and a cold December.  Although it was a warm year overall, it was characterised by frequent cold showery spells from northerly and north-westerly winds, one of which was perfectly timed to give a white Christmas.

 

Monthly Data

 

 

Year	Month	Max temp (°C)	Min temp (°C)	Mean temp (°C)	Highest Max	Date	Lowest Min	Date	Air frosts	Total precip (mm)	% of average sun (est)	Days of thunder	Days of sleet or snow	Days of snow lying	Days with fog	Days with hail
1995	1	6.8	0.9	3.9	12.7	16	-4.4	3	10	68	120	0	9	3	0	2
1995	2	8.9	3.3	6.1	13.3	28	-1.2	9	2	50	150	0	4	0	0	0
1995	3	8.4	1.6	5.0	14.8	23	-2.6	4	9	40	150	0	10	2	0	6
1995	4	11.9	4.5	8.2	18.8	30	-0.5	19	2	27	130	0	2	0	1	4
1995	5	15.0	6.7	10.8	24.8	4	0.9	13	0	41	110	0	1	0	0	1
1995	6	16.2	9.3	12.7	24.4	29	6.5	9	0	30	100	0	0	0	1	0
1995	7	21.3	12.9	17.1	26.9	19	7.3	2	0	23	120	3	0	0	2	0
1995	8	22.2	12.5	17.4	29.0	21	7.8	8	0	11	160	1	0	0	1	1
1995	9	16.5	9.7	13.1	21.4	10	2.7	28	0	86	100	2	0	0	0	1
1995	10	16.1	9.0	12.5	23.0	8	1.1	29	0	21	140	0	0	0	0	0
1995	11	10.1	5.0	7.6	13.6	23	-0.9	5	3	123	80	1	2	1	1	2
1995	12	4.9	0.2	2.5	9.6	10	-9.6	29	14	81	70	0	7	7	1	2
1995	Win	8.1	2.5	5.3					15	185	140	0	15	3	0	2
1995	Spr	11.8	4.3	8.0					11	108	130	0	13	2	1	11
1995	Sum	19.9	11.6	15.7					0	64	130	4	0	0	4	1
1995	Aut	14.2	7.9	11.1					3	230	110	3	2	1	1	3
1995	Year	13.2	6.3	9.7					40	601	120	7	35	13	7	19

   

Daily data can be accessed here.

 

Winter 1994/95:  A mild, sunny, wet and windy winter, characterised by frequent westerly winds, though not quite as wet as 1993/94.  The mean temperature of 5.3C was the highest recorded up to 1995, not exceeded until 1997/98.  

January:  Another westerly month, but with some short-lived northerlies, sufficient to bring temperatures down to average and snow amounts up to average- indeed the coldest January since 1991 in the area.  It began with a little snow on New Year's Day although most of the snow showers stayed out at sea.  A quiet first half with mild cloudy westerlies alternating with cold sunny northerlies.  A very disturbed, showery, windy second half with frequent south-westerlies, but it was often cold in the last week, with two northerly outbreaks on the 26th/27th and 29th/30th, and some snow.

February:  In contrast to February 1994, a very mild month- about as mild as February 1993- with persistent westerly winds.  The first half was often mild and cloudy, but there was a brief cold bright interlude on the 8th-10th, with a few wintry showers.  However, the exceptionally sunny second half raised sunshine totals in the area somewhat above average, with significant sunshine on most days, some of which stayed dry, while others had blustery showers.  It was generally mild until the last week, when temperatures returned to normal.

 

Spring 1995:  Near average temperature (8.0) but with alternating warm and cold spells throughout the spring.  Warm spells tended to be dry and sunny, while cold spells tended to feature northerly or north-westerly winds and a mix of sunshine and wintry showers, so the spring as a whole was dry, with well above average sunshine, up there with the sunny springs of 1948, 1982 and 1990.  The frequency of sunshine-and-showers days was unusually high for this part of the country.

March:  An exceptionally sunny month, with an unusually high frequency of sunshine-and-showers days.  The first week was often cold, with returning polar air embedded in a westerly airstream bringing sunshine and wintry showers.  It turned mild and sunny in the second week, then the third week returned to the theme of sunshine and blustery wintry showers with a particularly wild day on the 17th.  Following another settled spell, there was a further northerly outbreak on the 27th-29th, with significant accumulations of snow on the morning of the 27th, but the snow melted in the sun during the afternoon.  With a mean of 5.0C it was slightly cooler than average.

April:  A very dry, settled month with high pressure.  Warm first half with mostly variable cloud cover, but very sunny from the 10th to 14th when high pressure came over.  There was then a dramatic contrast as a northerly flow took over on the 18th, giving four days of sunshine and wintry showers- snow fell on the 18th, just four days after the year's first maximum above 60F.  A very disturbed day on the 20th, with large hail.  The last week was often cold and cloudy with easterlies in charge, but it became warm and sunny at the end.  Overall not as warm as April 1993, and about as sunny as April 1994.

May:  An exceptionally warm, sunny first week, with 25C reached on the 4th.  There followed yet another temperature contrast, with northerly winds bringing sun and showers for most of the following fortnight, and there was even some sleet on the evening of the 11th.  The final third was quite warm with mostly southerly winds, but often cloudy.  The last four days saw a return to sunshine and showers, with winds swinging back around to the north-west.  Overall slightly drier and sunnier than average, and quite warm (10.8), though for warmth it was comfortably surpassed in 1998.

 

Summer 1995:  After a cool June, this was an exceptional hot dry sunny summer, with August setting new 'hottest', 'sunniest' and 'driest' records across much of the country.  The mean temperature of 15.7C was notably high, but subsequently surpassed in 2003 and 2006.  With only 64mm rain, the driest summer recorded.

June:  The sunshine-and-showers theme and north-westerlies continued for much of the first week, but the second week featured a colder, more stable northerly/north-easterly regime that brought persistent cold cloudy weather and some patchy rain at times.  The weather turned warmer, brighter and more showery towards the 20th as winds backed westerly.  The final third was mostly warm and sunny, especially towards the end of the month with 24C reached, but low cloud was a nuisance from the 23rd-25th.  Overall, along with 1997, the coolest June recorded, dry, with close to average sunshine.

July:  The second warm muggy July in succession, but rather hotter and sunnier than July 1994.  It began warm and humid, with sea fog plaguing the east coast from the 9th to 11th, followed by thunderstorms.  Sunshine and showers dominated around midmonth, with two small thunderstorms on the 15th, then it turned humid and mostly dry and sunny.  Apart from a brief cooler incursion around the 22nd, it was consistently hot with maxima reaching 27C at times.  Until 2006, this was the hottest and driest July recorded.

August:  An exceptional month in many respects.  Easterly winds brought suppressed temperatures and some low cloud at times during the first week, but it was mostly sunny.  As the high pressure repositioned further south between the 9th and 22nd, the weather became consistently sunny and very hot at times, with 29C reached on the 21st and 22nd, and apart from a few showers late on the 12th, it was dry throughout.  Cooler, less settled last week, with heavy showers, hail and thunder on the 27th, with an uncharacteristically cloudy end.  The driest August recorded, and the hottest by measure of the average maximum.  Sunshine at most nearby stations was 60% above average.

 

Autumn 1995:  A warm autumn (11.1), subsequently beaten in 1999.  It was wet due to the remarkably wet November, but quite sunny due to the exceptional October.

September:  Another wet September, but with near-average temperatures and sunshine.  It was often dull and wet during the first third, but became more bright and showery towards midmonth.  After a quiet spell, the last week featured north-westerly winds and a mix of sun and showers, with large hail on the 24th.

October:  An exceptional month- the warmest October recorded for average maximum temperature.  It was also dry and sunny, with an exceptional summer-like day on the 8th, with unbroken sunshine and a maximum of 23C- and the 9th was almost as warm.  A couple of cold nights in the final third brought the average down a bit, and so October 2001 was subsequently warmer.  It took until 2007 to record a drier October.

November:  Exceptionally wet, due to very persistent rain on the 15th/16th- indeed the wettest November recorded, just beating 2000.  It started cold and quiet with some hazy sunshine, but cloudy, mild weather dominated the second week.  Following the midmonth monsoon, there was a cold northerly with thundery wintry showers on the 17th.  Mild cloudy weather returned towards the end, and following two days of sunshine and showers on the 27th/28th, south-easterlies brought very gloomy weather on the last two days.  Overall a mild November but nowhere near as mild as November 1994.

   

December:  The equal coldest month recorded (alongside February 1994).  It started dull, with some wintry showers from easterly winds on the 5th-7th, but only limited accumulations- indeed the 6th was shockingly warm, considering that the TV forecasts had predicted snowstorms.  Less cold easterly winds midmonth, with mostly cloudy weather, but a couple of bright showery days on the 13th/14th.  The month ended with an exceptional northerly outbreak- a brief taster on the 20th, then the cold air established on Christmas Eve, with snow that afternoon, and further heavy snow showers on a snowbound Christmas Day.  Exceptional low temperatures towards the end, with -10C almost reached, and a notable low maximum of -3.6C.

 

Overall, at 9.7C, quite a warm year, though nowadays we rarely come in under 10C!  Sunshine was well above average, and rainfall slightly below.  Despite the warmth, it was quite a snowy year, with 35 days of snow falling- the highest recorded- and 13 days of snow lying.  The frequency of 19 days with hail was also high.