Summer 1954 - worst in living memory?

[xmetman]

I've just finished an article for my blog investigating in a little more detail the summer of 1954, which scored the lowest Summer Index of all summers back to 1929. Here are some of the graphics that I put together for it. I can't remember it personally but it must have been pretty depressing, perhaps some of you can!

[Alan Gardiner]

We went to Harlech in North Wales for our summer holiday, incessant rain and wind was my recollection of the time there.

Alan

[Martin Rowley [West Moors/East Dorset]]

... Indeed: in my composite summer index series for the 'London/SE' area (based on sunshine & average maxima), 1954 ranks first, with a value of 23.4, closely followed by 1956 with a value of 23.9.

For the 'South Wessex' dataset, equal (with 1920) second-worst, with the worst being 1912.

Both series 1900 onwards. 1954 is thought to be the 'worst' summer (taking all parameters) in the second-half of the 20th century.

We (younger brother and I) had great fun paddling in the semi-permanent floods in our lane - which (we didn't know but parents probably did) were contaminated with raw sewage; I keep telling today's youngsters that they don't know about 'bad' summers!

Martin.

[Tudor Hughes]

     In 1954 I was just about old enough (11) to know roughly what a summer should be like and what I thought of 1954 was "this is not very good".   Only for a few days in early September was the weather fine and warm.

     1956 was not much better, so it seems, but I remember one or two interesting events from at summer so I've probably got an inappropriately favourable view of it.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, NE Surrey.

[RWood]

 I was old enough then to be reading sports "annuals" and I recall that Wisden 1954 contained many references to matches spoilt by poor weather.

[xmetman]

Hi

Welcome to the forum.

I was thinking about what you said about cricket matches rained off in Wisden, an if you had all the match data you could come up with a kind of cricket summer index! Obviously it would be dependent almost entirely on rainfall, and duration not amount.

You'll have to forgive me because because I maybe slightly delirious at the moment, because I have a high temperature from another raging UTI. I think my body is trying to tell me something!

Bruce

[Martin Rowley [West Moors/East Dorset]]

On Saturday, 30 July 2016 08:04:41 UTC+1, xmetman wrote:

Welcome to the forum.

I was thinking about what you said about cricket matches rained off in Wisden, an if you had all the match data you could come up with a kind of cricket summer index! Obviously it would be dependent almost entirely on rainfall, and duration not amount.

... I have a feeling this was written about in a 'Weather' article/paper several years ago: unfortunately, the Wiley web site is off-line so I can't find out the exact source.

 

 [ You'll have to forgive me because because I maybe slightly delirious at the moment, because I have a high temperature from another raging UTI. I think my body is trying to tell me something!

Bruce]

... you have my sympathy!  Hope it clears up soon.

Martin.
 

[John Hall]

On Saturday, 30 July 2016 08:04:41 UTC+1, xmetman wrote:

Philip Eden did that very thing. Over about a decade he published an annual article in Wisden on the weather of the previous cricket season, and I think one year he looked at the historical data too, going back as far as WW2 IIRC,

Ah, here we are:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/154181.html

So in fact he went a lot further back than WW2.

[RWood]

Thanks Bruce. Sympathies re your uncomfortable complaint!

Nice to see the cricket point taken up, and Philip Eden's wonderful article. As a sunshine lover I think 1989 would have really  impressed me. My parents visited the UK in 1976's summer, so had a great break from NZ's winter.

I well remember the cricket news for the 1956 and 1958 summers, with the visiting teams having a very difficult time on nasty pitches. The "golden summer" of 1947, when Compton and Edrich prospered, must have been a cricket lover's dream.

In his autobiography Bradman comments on cold unseasonable conditions, backed up by Wisden comments - must look up its indices.

[Col]

How utterly horrendous!
What is really stiking about that is the tiny handful of days that managed a daily max above average. OK the mins weren't too bad but so what, it's daytime temps that have the most impact.
Looking at those pressure charts t must have been a truly miserablr time in the northern half of the country.