Terrible decade with slim pickings for ‘best’ months and so many ‘worst’ months it’s difficult to decide between them.
January:
Best: 2010 – Decent snow at the start and end, horrible easterly rubbish in between but still better than 2013 which was the only other January to produce acceptable snow.
Worst: 2014 – Disgusting wet, dull write-off especially the second half. Early 2016 was worse but it improved significantly by mid-month.
February
Best: 2010 – The only one to produce decent snow.
Worst: 2011- Vile wet, dull hardly any frost. A total write-off.
March
Best: 2012 – Very sunny with an exceptional 3 days in a row reaching 20C.
Worst: 2013 – Grey, cold and horrible easterly rubbish. Very little snow and no particularly cold nights. Just nasty and unpleasant.
April
Best: 2015 – One of the few interesting and varied months. Very sunny and warm then cooler with showers at the end with an exceptional late snowfall on the 26th.
Worst: 2012 – Grim, cold, wet, sunless. Dullest since 1941 with 26 rain days.
May
Best: 2018 – Very sunny and warm with the start of the longest drought in 65 years.
Worst: 2014/2019 - Can’t decide which of these two horrors was the most repellent. Both horrible and depressing months ruining what should be the best time of the year.
June
Best: 2018 – The only really good one though even this was not immune from a poor spell mid-month.
Worst: 2012 –Horrifically cold, dull and wet with temperatures and sunshine on a par with October. It took until the 20th until there was a day warmer than the previous Christmas.
July
Best: 2013 – Warm and sunny and didn’t deteriorate after the first week like 2018.
Worst: 2012 - One of the worst months of any name. Phenomenally bad and sunless with relentless grey skies.
August
Best: 2015 – Not any really good Augusts this decade. This was the best – sunny with average temperatures but still wet.
Worst: 2011 – Cold, dull, wet and devoid of anything remotely summery. As bleak as an arctic wilderness at the end of the month with record equalling low maxima accompanied by gale force winds.
September
Best: 2012 – Just like September should be. Started warm and sunny then cold and crisp later on. One of the few interesting weather events when the harbour area was inundated with sea foam.
Worst: 2014 – Abhorrent dull and depressing gloomfest with a week of fog and almost no diurnal range.
October
Best: 2012- A struggle to find anything good about October which has been a truly awful month during this decade. This was probably the best with crisp, sunny weather to start and early snowfall later in the month. 2016 had a good start but soon degenerated into unmitigated horror of the cloudy mild damp variety.
Worst: 2011/2017 – Can’t choose between these vile, cloudy mild and depressing horror shows. 2013 and 2014 came close too but I do recall a few days of warm, sunny weather in both those two months whereas ‘11 and ‘17 were just relentless cloudy mild dross.
November
Best: 2010 – Only for the exceptional snowfall at the end. Rest was cloudy and wet but this was an exceptional and unprecedented snowfall for the time of year. 2016 was excellent for crisp, sunny weather.
Worst: 2014 – Another dire month of 2014 that was the dullest month of the decade with the SE winds bringing murk, rain, poor visibility and the detested combination of very mild nights and low diurnal ranges. 2011 and 2018 weren’t much better.
December
Best: 2010 – No contest. This was an outstanding memorable snowy month.
Worst: 2015/2016 – Total garbage. Cloudy, mild, boring barely a frost. 2013 terrible as well.
Winter
Best: 2010/11 – Enjoyed it more than 09/10 as December was more exceptional. This was despite the write-off February.
Worst: 2013/14 – Horrific and a danger to both mental and physical wellbeing.
Spring
Best: 2018 despite the poor March and early April as the May was outstanding and it is the month I would put most weighting on. 2011 and 2015 let down by disappointing Mays.
Worst: 2016 probably with 2014 and 2019 not far behind but at least they brought better weather in March.
Summer
Best: 2018 best first half, 2013 best second half. I found the dire weekends during the second half of summer 2018 really depressing and it really let down the summer for me. 2013 seemed to have more warm evenings.
Worst: 2012 – this was the worst summer since at least 1879. Astonishingly cold, dull and wet. A real permacast hell.
Autumn
Best: 2012 – the only decent one with good tree colour.
Worst: 2014 – This decade has been dominated by vile mild cloudy, colourless autumns and this was the worst of the lot. The dullest autumn since 1968 in fact.
Year
Best: Probably 2013 for snow/summer combination. 2010 was one of the snowiest years but generally dull with a poor summer while 2018 was rubbish for snow. All other years were poor for both snowfall and summer weather.
Worst: 2014 – An unmitigated horror show dominated by foul SE winds delivering unprecedented amounts of murk and gloom. Also the only year ever with no lying snow. However the way 2019 is going it could end up even worse, especially with regard to the terrible weekend weather.
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything
2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November