[summer '85]

There was a short intense heatwave during the first week of June 1996, where maxima got as high as 33.1C in London on the 7th, however by that Friday evening, some really severe thunderstorms developed  and the worst affected areas was an area from Weymouth to western parts of Norfolk. Golf ball sized hail fell widely in this area and in an area from south Oxfordshire to west Berkshire, rainfall totals exceeded 40mm. Lightning was widely seen across England in one of the most brilliant and widespread displays of recent times.
In Manchester, the Friday was clear and not especially hot but during the evening heavy rain and thunder suddenly spread up from the south. Quite a turn around from during the day.

 7th June 1996 heatwave

St James's Park: 33.1C
Gravesend, Wattisham: 32.9C
Heathrow: 31.8C
Cambridge: 30.0C

 

 

[Steve M]

Yes I vagually remember those thunderstorms. Further north it wasn't all that warm was it? I think for the North West temps reached just 21C or 22C as a max. I might be thinking of another time, but the summer of 1996 stands out in my mind the most as that was the summer I started keeping weather records everyday. How time flies :-)

[summer '85]

Quote

Steve M - 31/5/2006 10:36 Yes I vagually remember those thunderstorms. Further north it wasn't all that warm was it? I think for the North West temps reached just 21C or 22C as a max.

 

Yes it wasn't that hot despite the brilliant sunshine. That what made it so surprising that we got any of these storms.

[Steve M]

Quote

summer '85 - 1/6/2006 11:27

Quote

Steve M - 31/5/2006 10:36 Yes I vagually remember those thunderstorms. Further north it wasn't all that warm was it? I think for the North West temps reached just 21C or 22C as a max.

 

Yes it wasn't that hot despite the brilliant sunshine. That what made it so surprising that we got any of these storms.

Yes, I remember I think it was on the Friday evening it went very cloudy all of a sudden and then came the thunderstorms. After the cold May that year, the warmth at the beginning of June was very welcome though, even though we didn't get no where near as warm/hot as the south of the UK did.

[London Calling]

I remember that Friday well, because it was a couple of days before my birthday, and we were out celebrating. I walked out of my office into an evening unusually hot and sultry for so early in the season. We had dinner at the People's Palace at the Royal Festival Hall (also, thankfully, air-conditioned). The restaurant has a long, deep window with views north across the Thames and over the city. From about 10pm, we were trated to a fantastic display of lightning, which I remember as being pink.

[Nick Verge]

June 7 1996 was indeed a remarkable day, when all the ingredients for the development of vigorous deep moist convection with a high severe weather propducing potential, were present across southern England by the late afternoon.

Below are some pictures taken from near my home village of the storm that developed over the London Basin and Chilterns during the early evening.

First picture taken at around 17.15BST looking east, shows the towering cumulus a short while after the capping inversion over southern England that day was burst in the vicinity of Slough, initiating explosive deep moist convection. Effects of strong windshear on the updraught are clearly evident.

Second picture shows the Slough cell at 18.40 BST looking NNE, This cell had by then developing into a large multicell - inflow from the right. The large hump of cumulus shows evidence of containing a large arched vortex from the ingestion of environmental horizontal vorticity within the storm inflow layer. At the time this picture was taken storm was over the Hemel Hempstead area (~60Km away).

[John Mason]

Cracking shots there Nick!

O/T but the most exciting bit when out after storms is when that first tower bursts upwards - the anticipation of what may happen is my favourite part of the day :)

Cheers - John 

[PaulKn]

Remember it well - positioned on the Downs of SW Oxfordshire, just north of Goring - watched an area of storms approaching from the SW, with a suspected supercell within the storms. Having seen such storms in the US since (but not this year!), has only bolstered my view it was of such.

[Nick Verge]

Soundings for Larkhill and Herstmonceux June 7 1996. Both show the presence of an elevated mixed layer creating potential "loaded gun profiles". However, it is important to realise that when the 00Z, 06Z and 12z June 7 soundings were shot, the boundary level was rather dry and so CAPE was negligable, it was not until mid afternoon that an elevated plume of rather moist air was rapidly advected N at low levels across the Channel via the Cherbourg Peninsular. It was the arrival of this rather moister air, below the capping inversion that created significant CAPE across southern England. This CAPE was released soon afterwards with the approach of a shortwave upper trough and deep lifting from south west. Thus, on the morning of June 7, in the absence of signifcant boundary layer moisture across southern England,  there was considerable uncertainty as to whether convective storms would develop across southern England. It was not until late afternoon, with the somewhat unexpected arrival of moisture from the continent, was it clear that some probably would.

The evening of the 7th was the only time i can recall that the BBC has interrupted its programme schedule to broadcast a Met Office severe weather warning for thunderstorms and severe weather (large hail and high straightline winds) across southern England.

 

Herstmonceux soundings

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060706.03882.skewt.gif

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060712.03882.skewt.gif

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060718.03882.skewt.gif

Larkhill soundings

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060800.03882.skewt.gif

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060700.03743.skewt.gif

http://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/images/1996060712.03743.skewt.gif

Incidently, the pattern forecast for the first ten days of June this year, is in some ways not unlike that occurred early June ,1996.

 

[Lightning Hunter]

Some good pictures there Nick, and as you say some clear windshear. I vaguely remember that day as it was particularly hot, and we reached 29°C here with an overnight min the night before of 18°C! The storms didn't really affect us (as usual) as I only measured 3mm in total that night, although I did note that there was spectacular lightning visible to the west that evening, and that golfball hail was reported in Dorset.

[AndrewJM]

I was in Loughborough, Leics that night and about 1930 a line of storms came in from the west with intense CG lightning. After the first line had moved through the storms seemed to become more widespread but less voilent. We were nevertheless treated to an incredible light-show around 2300 - it was the first time I ever saw anvil-crawlers which were amazing - before the system moved off around midnight. 

[Nigel Bolton]

Remember this day well as I took a 3 hour Business Studies paper on this day, and could hardly hold the pen as I was so hot. I do not know how the examiner could mark my paper as my normally appalling hand-writing was totally illegible. I god a good mark however. Thunderstorms that evening were not severe in my neck of the woods at the time (Hythe, Hants), though lightning was frequent to my west around 2000, with asharp squall moving through shortly afterwards. Later there was a short fall of pea sized hail.

Nigel B.

[PaulKn]

It was visual really Martin - it had a bell-shaped updraught, Beaver's Tail, wall cloud, and striations. At the time I was pretty certain, but having been to the US and seen quite a few supercells I am now in no doubt! I videod it, but it was pretty dark at the time, and the old 8mm camcorder didn't really do it much justice!

[Nick Verge]

Paul, when you saw this supposed wall cloud where did you see it from and in which direction were you looking (be as accurate as possible) - I have an idea about what you really saw :)

[PaulKn]

It was about 2135 - 2200, to the south-west...it was not Didcot power station (in case that's what you were thinking!), as that was to the north-west of us. We were on Catsbrain Hill, near Goring.

[Nick Verge]

Quote

PaulKn - 23/7/2006 08:37 It was about 2135 - 2200, to the south-west...it was not Didcot power station (in case that's what you were thinking!), as that was to the north-west of us. We were on Catsbrain Hill, near Goring.

I was thinking you saw the condenstation plume from the power station, rising into the base of the storm from the south. But i guess not.

[PaulKn]

I thought you might! As I mentioned, this was to the north-west - I was hoping to get video of lightning striking a cooling tower, but no such luck! I will attempt to get portions of the video onto my computer, but the imagery is quite grainy by today's standards.

[summer '85]

13 years ago!

Manchester Airport
Max: 17.6C (7th)

Nottingham
Max: 24.1C (7th)

London Gatwick
Max: 30.7C (7th)

Surprising, we got those storms in Manchester.