An historical perspective of the climate statistics for Coventry during Summer 2022
Climatological overview
Britain's changeable summers are a result of air masses from the Atlantic dominating over more continental air streams from the east. Summer depressions are less vigorous than those of winter however, so gales in June, July and August are rare. Slow moving summer depressions result in the very worst cool, dull and wet weather persisting for weeks on end like 1912, 1954 and 1956.
Air in summer can hold more water vapour, and so rainfall is more intensive than at any other time of year. Thunderstorms are relatively frequent, featuring on at least 4 days in a typical summer.
For a hot, dry summer like 1911, 1921, 1976, 1995, 2003 2006 2018 & now 2022, we need anticyclonic conditions to prevail, with an easterly air flow.
Summers 2011-20 have been 1.0C warmer than a century ago, with 2% more rainfall and 10% more sunshine.
Summer Temperatures 2022
Looking at historical records for Coventry, the warmest Summer decade in the city was the 2000s at 16.7C, and the coolest in the1960s at 15.1C.
Summer 2022 has been the warmest summer (18.1C) in Coventry in over 130 years, 1.5C higher than 30-year Bablake averages 1991-2020.
WARMEST SUMMERS COOLEST SUMMERS
18.1C 2022 13.8C1907 1954
18.0C 2006 2018 14.0C1922
17.9C 1911 1995 14.1C1956
17.8C 2001 14.3C1948 1965
17.6C1893 1933 14.4C1920
Two days in Summer 2022 made it into the hottest days on record list:
HOTTEST DAYS IN COVENTRY SINCE 1892
38.9°C19th July 2022
35.2°C 25th July 2019, 31st July 2020
35.1°C3rd August 1990
34.4°C19th July 2006
34.2°C9th August 2003, 2nd September 1906
33.9°C1st September1906
33.4°C2nd August 1990
33.3°C18th August 1893
33.0°C3rd July 1976, 19th August 1932, 13th August 1911
32.9°C1st July 2015, 8th August 1975, 12th August 2020
We recorded the highest number of ‘warm days’ (>20C) for any summer since 1893 (78 days), though 8 summers recorded more ‘very warm days’ (>26C) than 2022 (20), with 1976 having had 31 such days.
Summer 2022 has recorded the two hottest days in Coventry since before 1892, with 10 ‘hot days’ in total over 30C, though this is fewer than in 1976 (13), 1893 (11) and 1995 (10).
|
Summer |
Review |
||||||
|
Warm |
Very Warm |
Hot |
Dry |
||||
|
Days |
Days |
Days |
Days |
mean T |
Rain |
Sun |
|
|
20C+ |
26C+ |
30C+ |
|||||
|
1893 |
78 |
25 |
11 |
46 |
17.5 |
116.7 |
|
|
1911 |
70 |
30 |
8 |
64 |
17.9 |
91.6 |
685 |
|
1921 |
60 |
19 |
4 |
66 |
16.8 |
102.5 |
600.6 |
|
1959 |
68 |
8 |
0 |
63 |
16.9 |
84.3 |
626 |
|
1975 |
75 |
22 |
4 |
52 |
16.8 |
89.4 |
674.5 |
|
1976 |
75 |
31 |
13 |
73 |
17.4 |
90 |
730.7 |
|
1983 |
68 |
18 |
5 |
70 |
17.4 |
103.2 |
663.7 |
|
1990 |
59 |
20 |
4 |
60 |
17.1 |
104.0 |
638.0 |
|
1995 |
67 |
29 |
10 |
69 |
17.9 |
46.8 |
731.1 |
|
2006 |
69 |
22 |
5 |
49 |
18.0 |
185.7 |
650.7 |
|
2018 |
69 |
26 |
2 |
72 |
18.0 |
99.2 |
688.0 |
|
2022 |
77 |
20 |
9 |
62 |
18.1 |
74.0 |
651.4 |
Summer Rainfall 2022
The wettest Summer decade in Coventry since the late Victorian era was the 2000s with 210.2mm rain, with the 1940s the driest with 149.8mm rain.
So with 74.0mm rain, it has been rather dry this summer in Coventry, with just 39% of long term average rainfall at Bablake (1991-2020). This compares with 275.6mm of rain as recently as Summer 2019.
Only two Summers have been drier than this year in the past 152 years, since rainfall records began in 1870; these were 1913 and 1995, so it has been the driest summer in 37 years.
There were 62 dry days during summer 2022 in Coventry, the highest number since 2018 (72), the record being 73 dry days in 73. Overall, 8 summers have recorded more dry days than 2022.
DRIEST SUMMERS WETTEST SUMMERS
46.8mm 1995 364.6mm 2007
60.4mm 1913 360.2mm 1912
74.0mm 2022 305.1mm 1922
83.3mm 1942 299.6mm 2012
84.3mm 1959 289.3mm1958
Summer Sunshine 2022
The sunniest decade in Coventry was the 1990s with an average of 595.7hr sunshine, with the dullest the in the1950s and 1960s with 481.0hr.
So with 651.4 hours of sunshine in summer 2022, 116% of long term Coventry averages, it has been the sunniest Summer in the city since 2018 (688.0hr).
Only 12 Summers have recorded more sunshine than 2022 in Coventry since 1895, with the record being 769.6hr in 1989.
There was an 8% reduction in summer sunshine from the1990s to the last decade (2011-20), though this might just have been redressed this year!
SUNNIEST SUMMERS DULLEST SUMMERS
762.1hr 1989 340.6hr 1954
733.6hr 1984 355.9hr 1956
731.1hr 1995 359.3hr 1912
730.7hr 1976 379.4hr 1958
699.5hr 1996 379.8hr 1948