Meteorological spring 2019 is nearing its end and with just 7 months left and two full seasons of the 2010s to go, I am going to look back at the 2010s and give my opinion for my area what I think were the best and worst months and seasons of the 2010s.

Winter 2009-10 for me was the best winter season of the 2010s, worst was 2013-14, it barely registered as winter.

Best spring for me was 2018 for its variety of heat and cold, worst spring is a bit trickier, 2014 was a bit tedious. 

Best summer so far is 2018 whilst the worst so far was 2012 

I'm struggling with autumn. Best 2010? Worst 2015? 

Best and worst months

January, best: 2010; worst: 2014

February: best 2018; worst: 2014

March: best: 2012; worst: 2014

April: best: 2011; worst: 2012

May: best: 2018; worst: 2015

So far

June: best 2018; worst: 2012

July: best 2018; worst: 2012

August: best 2013; worst: 2014

September: best 2014; worst 2012

October: best 2017; worst: 2013

November: 2010; worst 2015

December: 2010; worst 2015

 

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My best month - December 2010 - Worst season - Summer 2012. That was a really vile summer.

 

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For me.

January: best 2014, worst 2013
February: best 2019, worst 2018
March: best 2012, worst 2013
April: best 2011, worst 2012
May: best 2018, worst 2015
June: best 2018, worst 2012
July: best 2018 or 2013, worst 2012
August: best 2016, worst 2014
September: best 2016, worst 2012
October: best 2011, worst 2012
November: best 2015, worst 2010
December: best 2015, worst 2010

Spring: best 2011, worst 2013
Summer: best 2018, worst 2012
Autumn: best 2011, worst 2012
Winter: best 2015-16, worst 2010-11

Year: best 2014, worst 2012

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January 2010 was okay, but no January sticks in my mind as special.

February 2019 was a winner.

March 2012 and 2018 for different reasons; and April? 2011- agree with Kev.

May 2018  wins for me so far- but this thread is premature, so although June and July 2018 currently lead, I have a funny feeling about some of the summer months this year.

August 2016 was the best for many a year and September joins it.

October 2011 was a cracking start. Beats the others.

November and December 2010 win by a mile.

Seasons: Never mind the oft-quoted four. I prefer spring, extended summer,  autumn and Christmas.

No winner for spring as March 2012 and April 2011 prevent an all-out winner.

2018 extended summer despite August being a summer-CET-killer. 

No winner for autumn.

2010 for Christmas. Late November to Boxing Day is all that's needed for 100% Dickensian atmosphere. 1891 was a good match.

 

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For me, it is difficult to pick individual months within an entire decade which I have found to be my favourite and even if go for entire seasons, it would be far more difficult for me to pick out a favourite spring or autumn than it would be to pick out an entire summer or autumn since it is the winters and summers that are always the big occasions for me with the springs and autumns merely been periods where I have pondered over what the following summer (if we are in spring) or winter (if we are in autumn) might bring.

However, I can pick out a few period which I consider to be my favourites. As for the winters, my favourite period has to be December 2010 which even as of today, remains the last occasion when we actually had lying snow on Christmas Day. Nevertheless, that was the second of two back to back white Christmases as well (the first one is outside the scope of this particular thread as it occurred in 2009, which was at the end of the previous decade of the 2000s) and although we didn't actually get anything more than a few light snow flurries during that morning, that was still technically speaking, enough to make than an official white Christmas.

Of course, that (an official white Christmas) can happen even without any lying snow as a result of there being a bit of sleet which falls within what is actually mostly rain, but that wasn't the case on this occasion and it was the fact that there was still a lot of lying snow around at the time which made that special. After that, I can remember January being wild and wet with very little snow in this part of Edinburgh where I live, before it then became really mild in February 2011.

After that and although there was quite a bit of falling snow in the winter of 2012-13, there wasn't any further significant lying snow here until March 2013 and of course, it wasn't until the end February 2018 that we would finally get to see that during the actual winter itself. In fact, the winters during this decade have mostly been mild, even when the analogues and various other factors leading up to that have pointed towards something a lot colder and of course, there was no worse occasion amongst that, than December 2015 which was by far, our mildest December on record that was thought to have occurred as a result of the massive El Nino event which occurred at around that time.

As for the summers, there has been a bit more to pick from in that regard since there has actually been one or two more decent summers during this period than what there has been, cold winters. One observation which I have noticed though is that the two best summers of this decade which occurred in 2013 and 2018 both came after some really cold Beast From the East events which had at least partly occurred that the March of that particular year so in both cases, these could be referred to as decent summers which were never really expected to occur for that very reason.

Of those two really good summers, I would probably say that last year was my favourite summer of this decade as that was sunny all the way through from about halfway through the previous spring. The summer of 2013 was really good as well but with the high pressure being centred to our SW at lot of the times during that summer, we tended to get a lot of cloud at times from the the resulting TM air mass which came in here around the top of that area of high pressure although that high pressure was still close enough to us even then, to keep things dry with a bit of sunshine at times.

As far as our worst summer is concerned, that has to be 2012 in my books as that was the last of a run of poor summers which stretched back to 2007 and of course, everyone will know full well that it was 2007 and 2012 which was the wettest, dullest and coldest of those two poor summers. Thankfully though, we haven't had anything as bad as that since then and whilst there is still one more summer (and the first month of the following winter) to go within this decade, I'm hopeful that this coming summer won't be as bad as that either.

 

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Worst winter of the 2010's: easily Winter 2014 by a country mile, it was disgustingly vomit inducing rancid with frequent windstorms and rain bands crashing in one after the other. It was consistently mild as well.

Best Summer of the 2010's: Last year's. Finally it felt like a proper old school summer, even if heat records never got broken. However my lawn suffered badly due to the persistent dryness, in fact there were still bare patches into the winter.  

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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 26^th.

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 20^th 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.

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As I don't have the the stats before me, just going from memory and not a long list.

Best January: 2014. Relatively stormy month (though not exceedingly so)
Best February: 2014: A few gales and a loud overnight thunderstorm.
Best March: 2019: One of my least favorite months generally speaking, but a loud and lively overnight thunderstorm on the 9th of this year.
Best April: 2014. Warm and springlike with thunder at times.
Best May:2014: Big thunderstorm on the 20th.
Best June.:2014:Four consecutive very thundery days early in the month, with a number of lively storms on each day between the 7th & 10th, with more of them, if somewhat less dramatic, later in the month.
Best July: 2014. Not a month I enjoy generally but an intense thunderstorm in July 2014 stood out.
Best August: Can't recall anything of note...
Best September: Either 2014 or 2015 (can't remember exactly) which was very dry.
Best October. Was there one?
Best November. 2010. Snowy, cold end.
Best December: 2013. Stormy at times with some thunder - the way a proper December should be.

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Standout events of the 2010s for me and my area

4th/5th January 2010 snow

Late November-early December 2010 frost and snow

17th-26th December 2010 cold

Good Friday 2011, the warmth

Late September-early October 2011 heatwave

Late March 2012 sun and warmth

Summer 2012 and how bad it was

Mid January 2013

Mid-March to early Apeil 2013 and how cold it was for that time of the year

July 2013, the first decent summer month as a whole for here since July 2006

Winter 2013-14 on how devoid of winter it was

The night storm of 19th July 2014

Halloween 2014 and how warm it was

Boxing Day night 2014, best rain to snow event for some years

29th-30th January 2015 polar low snow

1st July 2015 dusk thunderstorm

December 2015 on how mild it was

Nacreous clouds of 1st February 2016

28th April 2016: amazing day of weather, snow, thunder, hail, torrential rain

13th September 2016 storm

Red sun and the remains of hurricane Ophelia 16th October 2017

Beast from the East late February 2018

May-July 2018 amazing spell of summer weather

Very mild spell of late February 2019

Gales have not stuck in my mind, despite them being named recently. Oddly the Beast from the East gale that Wednesday into Thursday was notable.

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Best (by far): Dec 2010 and June 2018.

Worst: it's all a blur.

 

The most memorable events for me were:

November to December 2010 - deep snow and sub zero temps.  We had snow on 27th November followed by sub zero temps.  I’d organised our community Christmas market for 3rd December and put road closures and diversions in place. Two days before the event, the alternate route was still too icy for buses to get through and there was big talk on here about more snow on the way.

So I had to make the decision to cancel the event for safety reasons.  Some people thought I was wrong as there was time for it to clear in the next two days but I wanted to give notice to those stalls selling food before they bought their supplies for the event. So I stuck to my guns and trusted you knowledgeable TWO members.  Good job too because we had another 9” of snow fall on 3rd December and were completely cut off!  

Snow and ice were also the theme for  my best February and March, which was 2018, The Beast from the East!

2018 was the best summer of the decade by far, although August wasn’t memorable but it was also the best May weather.  It was surprising how quickly the March cold turned into warm April, then into hot May!  

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Fortunately I captured timelapse footage of some of the above I have mentioned

19th July 2014 night thunderstorm timelapse



Boxing Day 2014 evening rain to snow timelapse



29th/30th January 2015 polar low timelapse



1st July 2015 thunderstorm

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  I always enjoy watching your time lapse vids Kev!  

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  I always enjoy watching your time lapse vids Kev!  

Thanks Caz

 

 

Late November-early December 2010 frost and snow

 

17th-26th December 2010 cold

 

Good Friday 2011, the warmth

 

Late September-early October 2011 heatwave

 

 

Mid-March to early April 2013 and how cold it was for that time of the year

 

July 2013, the first decent summer month as a whole for here since July 2006

 

 

Nacreous clouds of 1st February 2016

 

 

Red sun and the remains of hurricane Ophelia 16th October 2017

 

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Best summer so far is 2018 whilst the worst so far was 2012 

So far

June: best 2018; worst: 2012

July: best 2018; worst: 2012

 

Even by this stage, I can't see this summer surpassing 2018  now and I think July 2018 will remain as best July for this decade. 

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In my last post, I also forgot to mention as well that June 2017 was actually our wettest June on record here in Edinburgh and since I last posted on here, last month has also come not all that far behind that at Edinburgh Gogarbank, mainly due to one particular thunderstorm event which caused flash flooding here in Edinburgh after three quarters of the entire 1981-2010 June average rainfall fell in that single day alone at Edinburgh Gogarbank.

Those are therefore two more of the worst summer months in this part of the world which I can now add to my earlier list over and above that really poor summer of 2012 at least in terms of rainfall. In terms of decent summers, 2014 was quite a decent summer here despite the fact that there was quite a lot of northern blocking around during July 2014, and the reason why this happened was because we ended up being lucky enough for that high pressure to be close enough to us to give us a fairly decent month in July 2014, even though we had to pay for that with quite a lot of easterly winds which produced a lot of dull and overcast mornings (the reason why I didn't list that as my best summer).

If we want to go by rainfall in terms of our worst winters of this decade, I would say that the wet and stormy winters of 2013/14 and 2015/16 were the worst two winters out of that lot. As far as cold and snowy winters are concerned, it is easy to pick those winters with a lot of northern blocking and either easterly or northerly winds as our best winters in that regard, and I would say that this is probably right enough.

Sometimes though, we can get what is known as cold zonality where we get really cold air which originates from around Canada or Greenland, and which then heads in our direction. That air is always modified to a certain extent due to its long passage over the relatively warm Atlantic Ocean but if that air mass is cold enough to begin with, this can then be enough for showers in this part of the world to then fall as sleet or snow even though the wind might actually be coming from the west or even the south-west here at the time.

Any snow which we get from that sort of set-up never actually lies for long here and yet whilst that snow is falling here, quite a bit of deep snow can end up being dumped here during that period. As regards to that type of set-up, I would say that my favourite winter for that was probably the winter of 2014/15 which produced this type of set-up on quite a number of occasions.

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It'd be nice if August 2019 joins the ranks as one of the best summer months of the 2010s. We are long overdue a proper hot August.

 

Best summer so far is 2018 whilst the worst so far was 2012 

 

June: best 2018; worst: 2012

July: best 2018; worst: 2012

August: best 2013; worst: 2014

 

Confirmed now,  best summer 2018 and worst 2012

Best June and July: 2018

Worst June and July 2012

I am not hopeful about this August being the best of this decade.

August has been the worst summer month of the 2010s overall. 

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  I always enjoy watching your time lapse vids Kev!  

Let's not forget though that both of the Manchester duo (Kev Brads and Bolty) produce some very good timelapse videos on YouTube, and I enjoy watching all of those videos.

 

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My memory's not good enough to give a full list and I don't keep written records, but from what I can remember, the best months have been:

January - 2010

March - 2013

May - 2018

June - 2018

July - 2013

December - 2010

 

 

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