Lettucing Gutted

Great update Summer Blizzard As we have seen since early April 2012 I always feel that those High Latitude North Atlantic cold pools can act as a wild card which means Britain and Scandinavia can experience decent early cold weather whist the rest of Europe remains in summer like warmth due to the highly amplified Scandi Troughs.

Classic cool zonality

August 2012 was the first August to achieve a Mean Daily CET below 11C in August since August 1978. http://www.metoffice...cetdl1772on.dat If we get locked into warm zonality or/and Indian Summer synoptic patterns it could be well into the autumn before we plunge this low again.

It's funny you should mention May. This August has behaved like May 2012 but in reverse with a slightly above CET masking a consistently warm and at times very warm first 3/4 in contrast to a much cooler last 1/4. On the other hand May 2012s near average CET masked a consistently cool and temporarily very cool first 2/3 offset by the warmest last 1/3 on record.

17C

Another noticeable feature about this August is that even with a CET below 18C it will still be in the top 25 of warmest Augusts on record. A big turnaround from this June and July and the near average/cool run of Augusts we saw from 2005 through 2011. It has also been one of the most southwesterly Augusts on record.

Going by BornFromTheVoid's trend we could have an August CET greater than 17C by mid-month. That will put us on target for the warmest August since 2004 or even 2003.

Certainly Stratosferric, Northeasterly Blast or Ian Brown wouldn't have expected it.

20C

20C

This quote from Simon Kelner sums up my reaction to warm/hot weather perfectly.

I think last summer especially July especially in the very dry midlands was a great example of this point. Maximum temperates in July 2011 were often close to 20C give or take a degree or two but with almost consistently cold nights below 10C. Even more amazingly July 2011 often had northeasterly winds which usually mean persistently low cloud over the UK and yet it was often sunny over most of the UK which helped keep the maximums way higher than the minimums which were very surpressed due to clear skies, low dewpoints and cool uppers.

It must be quite some time since we've had a consistently cold second half of April. I don't think there has been a consistently cool second half of April since possibly 2001.

15.5C

Indeed unfortunately it looks like another particularly cold April will be blown out of the water thanks to blowtorch nights in the last week ala Aprils 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2008. It will be ironic if people experienced less frosts in the relatively "cool" April 2012 than the blowtorch April 2011.

It looks like this year could see the biggest decrease in mean monthly temperature from March to April since 1989.

That's a beautiful cold run. If that 2.5C mean daily CET for the 15th April comes off that will be the latest point in Spring to see a sub 3C mean daily CET since 1966 which achieved a mean daily CET of only 2.7C on the 16th April 1966.http://www.metoffice...cetdl1772on.dat

Does the recent sst anomaly chart point to a cold North-Beasterly reload after the Easter mild period?

12C

In Kirkham Lancashire:- Summer 2006 - Hot, humid and sunny equals horrible! Summer 2011 - Cold, dry and sunny equals beautiful!

10C

If Rainbow Snow's 20C high comes that will be an all time record high for both February and whole meteorological winter.

February will be the 6th consecutive well above average month 8C

I read a textbook called "Atmosphere Weather and Climate" and it said the biggest differences between Arctic and Polar airmasses are in the Upper Troposphere with the temperature there been much more colder in the Arctic airmass than the Polar airmass. Also at the 500 HPA level the temperatures in Arctic air is -40C or even colder whereas Polar air has 500 HPA temperatures above -40C.

Well after after 3 lovely cracking cool/cold winters and all of them consecutively in a ROW as well all good things have to come to an end. It was all very good while it lasted... 8C