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Alex

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Alex last won the day on July 3 2011

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    Chelmsford
  • Weather Preferences
    Hot and dry summers with big thunderstorms.

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  1. Small steps but I definitely can see a trend for the jet stream to slowly relax north - unfortunately not enough next week to prevent influence but over time into week 2 this could allow a ridge across the far south /SE.
  2. This summer started off wet and cool but July has been dry and mostly warm/sunny here in Essex bar Thursday and a Friday last week. Average max is 23c here currently for July. Moving onto this week, I still can’t understand why there is a reluctance for Met Office and BBC to discuss potential of some very high temps. Models now firming up on mid to upper 30s - yet both saying 33-34c, maybe they will be right but they have been burnt quite a few times in last few years - 1st July 2015 comes to mind! I understand they need to exercise a little caution. Then there is that EURO4 model that met office uses for automated temps - only 30c in Chelmsford according to met office whereas models (even GFS saying 36c for Thursday here!).
  3. I visited a local boot sale this morning and bought what I thought was a bargain an unused Maplin N23DQ professional solar powered weather station. Unfortunately I came home to set up and everything works other than the display unit which makes the whole station a bit redundant. Therefore I would love to get it working, any ideas ? Also does anyone have a spare that is working that I could buy? Thanks Alex
  4. Yes that would be right for more western districts but cloud cover in the southeast is looking less of a problem.
  5. Interesting times ahead. The GFS 12z has backed a slightly different scenario to the ECM. If tonight’s GFS comes off it may actually end up warmer in some places even without the higher uppers as the air is sourced from a more southerly direction whereas modification would happen more with the ECM. The UKMO run looks more middle ground between the two. I still am a bit perplexed that the automated apps and national forecasts aren’t as buoyant about the really high temperatures.
  6. My recent experience/knowledge of sunspot activity is that there is often a delayed response in the atmosphere so I would prob say this year is more akin to 2006/2007. Difference is though that this cycle is lower than the last so I would expect some colder winters to come in the next few years and with the summer as someone has said its a roll of the dice with a meandering jet that is difficult to shift!
  7. When you say the east I assume that doesn’t include the southeast I.e. Essex and Kent as Summer 2018 here in Chelmsford will go down as a memorable one. We don’t often suffer from sea mist with the relatively short sea track to the continent. It started really in April, I ran the London Marathon in record breaking marathon temps for London and this was followed by up a record breaking May Bank holiday. Most of May was fine, dry and sunny here and the 2nd bank holiday was another hot sunny one. The first week of June was mostly dry and warm but we had a couple of cloudy days although I enjoyed a week in the Lake District which was also mostly fine, dry and warm. When I got back it was relentless all the way to mid August. Most days were above 25c and we had one week where everyday recorded 30c+ (recorded at the local weather station - Writtle) the last day of this spell had 34c. I do though concur that thunder was almost non existent. We had one maybe two weak thunderstorms. The second half of August was more mixed and a little disappointing compared to what we had just encountered! Most people were talking about installing air con as it was warm at night, I’m sure a cooler wetter summer will make people forget about that.
  8. Having been in the background for a while, I feel it is time to post with this extraordinary spell upon us. Re the next 48hours, the GFS has been correcting itself each run, steadily coming into line with the other models in regards to the high uppers and stalling of the front to the west. My gut feel is that the July record is under threat but I doubt the August one is yet! With potentially thunderstorms breaking out and some cloud around, I expect 36c is most likely across East Anglia and the Southeast. Favoured spots must be places that have done well this week like Central Suffolk but also Essex and Kent could also be a challenger. Re this weekend, my thoughts are that it will get cooler but I expect temps to hold up to the mid 20s across the far SE, elsewhere early 20s with some showers around. Going forward, I expect some more heat plumes but also sense that August will be wetter than June and July as thunderstorms will likely become more apparant in a more unstable setup. Looking back at analogues, September could well also be interesting - further plumes and stalled lows look more likely than normal at first and when the Atlantic does break through we could see some very eventful weather!
  9. This situation is actually much more common in the SE. Here in Chelmsford in Essex we have not even had 1mm in June, last measurable rain was in May. Normally here we get a very dry spell in the summer, during 2010 we went through a similar spell and then August was wet. I think it’s obviously much more unusual elsewhere and there probably is more panic than is necessary from the water companies.
  10. I live in the Southeast and the weekend just gone was brilliant, three days of sunny warm weather so before I start discussing my own thoughts, not all eastern areas fare badly with an onshore wind. Essex does relatively well with the shorter sea track. Today wasn’t as good but that was more to do with residual cloud from the overnight rain/storms rather than low cloud. Moving onto my own observations, as Tamara and others have said earlier today the pattern looks like sustaining for a while longer, AAM looks like staying on a steady upward trend for the coming days which should sustain the current pattern for at least the next 10 days. The earlier GFS output looked far too progressive in eroding the heights to the NE. Going forward it’s all to play for, even a downward trend in AAM (as long as it’s not a sharp sudden drop) should allow for at least 2/3 days of heights being pushed to the east allowing potentially a plume of hot air before the Atlantic breaks through and any recovery in AAM could see heights recover. I notice the MJO moving into phase 4-5-6 which would enhance the potential of some real heat around ten days into June. Many of the best summers have come from when the ENSO is in a neutral state and this year we have the right ingredients for some good weather at least! Let’s hope it continues.
  11. As most have said winter and early spring weren’t particularly dry and in fact quite wet! It was only a few weeks ago that the fields were crying out for some prolonged dry weather. The current dry spell although is affecting the whole of the country is very common in the southeast and we get away from droughts most years these days. Unless there is a very hot summer I don’t expect restrictions to come into force or anything.
  12. Interesting model watching for the London marathon runners on Sunday. Interestingly the models have slowly been revising the pattern more east. Earlier in the week a ridge was expected to be sitting over the south and now it’s quite far East. I wonder if this continues whether the cooler air will reach all areas earlier than thought and give some welcome relief to us runners.
  13. For me living in the southeast, I probably do expect more. I holiday most years in the Lake District and a good day up there would probably be a disappointing one down in Essex so it is subjective. Saying all that last summer started really well, although 2nd half was poor. 2016, 2015 and 2014 were all ok summers with hot spells and some decent thunderstorms. 2013 was very good especially July. June was a little cool but dry from memory. 2012 was poor but August was satisfactory with a local hot spell on V weekend (32c on both Sat/Sunday from memory). 2011 was also poor. 2010 was mostly good other than August. I remember a long period of dry sunny weather for 3-4 weeks in June into July during the World Cup and beyond. Best summers from memory though have to be 94/95/96/03/06/2013. 2005 wasn’t bad either. Worst summer is reserved for 2007 although even then there was some better spells of weather at times and we had that fantastic April!
  14. Yes I do remember well the first half of summer 2010. Most of it was the pronounced NW-SE split. Most days my local station was the hotspot (Writtle) and one of the days had an outrageous split where I was driving back from the Lake District and it was 18c and when I got home 31c in Chelmsford. It steadily went downhill from the end of July rather than any marked change overnight and by August it was very different - often wet and rather cool. Yes reminds me of this year a bit so far, although I am sure some of the days in 2010 around mid June although dry were a little cool before it warmed up around the 20th significantly.
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