From my experience, I'd say sunlight and warmth were the real culprits.
Down here in Tennessee, it's impossible to predict in advance when the roses will stop blooming in fall/winter.
Some years, a November cold spell will stop bloom.
But there was one year when the cold spell didn't happen. But mid November it got cloudy and stayed cloudy and the bloom buds stopped making. It wasn't cool temperatures that fall, it was lack of sunlight as the days shortened compounded with fairly heavy cloud cover.

How about length of daylight, even if it's coming through clouds? At the same distance north of the equator that I am, there are folks in California in a complex of climates that seldom hit cold. Some of them have blooms year round. I don't know if they have hours of sunlight or just bright skies, and they do have warmer temperatures through December... but a part of the answer would come from out there.

If it's cloudy all the time, then it's as though the roses were growing in dappled shade-- they have less energy for growth and bloom.

Then, some like it hot. Others don't.

My neighbor Jannie and I were talking about this very subject yesterday while we were in my rose garden.

When I compared the size of the bushes with last year's, I noticed they were about 1/2 to 1/3 smaller. It's almost August, and they should be pretty hefty bushes by now. They appear to be almost one-two months behind in growth rates. I haven't even had to prune Gertie but once and she's a good indicator of a growth thermometer.

There's very few new basal breaks, and in many cases, some of the roses didn't even break dormany until June or mid-June. Jannie also commented that her mom's raspberry bushes are very small in size compared to last year.

Our weather here has mimicked that of the northeast; cloudy with abundant rain, and below average temps. This week, we broke a record for the lowest HIGH temp recorded in July..believe it was 73F.

While the rain has been great for the plants, I also believe it is the LACK OF SUN and warmth that is responsible for the small rose bushes this year. They just aren't getting enough sun to promote growth. It's rare that the sun even breaks through the clouds some days; it's so gloomy and it's been that way since spring like Phyl mentioned.

BTW, the extended forecast for the next 90 days calls for the same weather...rainy, below average temps. Great for my electric bill, but I miss the sunshine. The mantra for our local weatherman anymore is "When will we dry out and see the sun"?
-terry

How about comparing similar roses with different amounts of sun/day? How do roses that get sun from morning until evening compare with those that only get a few hours of sunlight a day?

While we have had cooler temperatures and lots of cloudy and wet days, we are still getting plenty of blooms. In fact, we are getting more high centered exhibition quality blooms than we usually get.

Thanks for the input....yes, it makes sense I guess (that they have less energy)....we've had SO many cloudy or partly cloudy days w/rain & temps under 75 degrees-it is ridiculous! All of our roses in all day full sun seem to bloom better than those few with just morning sun. Maybe it would be different if we lived in a normally very hot climate.
I'd just love it if this weather lasted all winter long (instead of 6 months of snow!) :0) Phyl