Abstract
AT the meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society held on December 20, Dr. J. Glasspoole read a paper entitled “The Exceptional Summer of 1933”. The sunshine recorded over the British Isles exceeded the average in each of the four months June-September, the mean excesses being 21, 17, 35 and 33 hours respectively. During this period many places in the south-east of England registered more than 1,000 hours of bright sunshine, nearly 200 hours more than usual. The total sunshine during these four months fell short, however, of that recorded during June-September, 1911. The mean temperature over the country generally exceeded the usual amount in each month February-October. July 1921 was as warm as July 1933 and these two Julys rank as the warmest on record. The mean temperature of August 1933 fell short of that of the Augusts of 1911 and 1899. The highest shade temperature recorded at, Greenwich Observatory since 1841, namely, 100 ° F., occurred on August 9, 1911, while August 1899 is the warmest calendar month on record for the British Isles as a whole. The outstanding feature of the summer of 1933 was the warmth of June-September. The total rainfall over the British Isles during the six summer months April-September was 13-8 in., which is less than that of any summer since 1870, except 1870 with 12-4 in., 1921 with 13-1 in. and 1887 with 13-7 in. Rainfall was abundant in February and many reservoirs were overflowing at the beginning of April. Afterwards the slightly deficient rainfall of each month April-July, culminating in an unusually dry August, together with the loss by evaporation, resulted in a steady lowering of the level of the water in most reservoirs.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Exceptional Summer of 1933. Nature 132, 997 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132997b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132997b0