Gord

There it goes, blowing up again as it pushes past Walsall. Lichfield and Tamworth next if it can keep going.

That really isn't far away. I'm behind the Spills Meadow near the Maccies. Talk about being right on the edge. Lots heard here...not a lot seen. Seems to have quietened down again though.

Yet bone dry here just a few stops south on the number 1 route!

Looks like it's fired up again over Walsall...although the radar showed it weakening on the last frame. The next frame might show it's built up again. They've been ebbing and flowing like that all evening.

It's just skimming to our north. Must be good up near Penn and Ettingshall.

Can actually see the top of the storm near Leicester from here. Impressive stuff.

I've been in Derby for work today...they're further east than that even, (when I was there, back home now.) Busy skies there but not a thing seen or heard.

Emphasis seems to have shifted slightly more north east now. Looks like a lively little one has kicked off out near the Airport to the east of Brum. I reckon East Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire would be good spots over the next hour or two.

Another fresh one brewing over Stourbridge way. Still bright sunshine here...would be very surprised if something didn't come closer soon.

No doubt about it...storm happening to my east. Heard several rumbles now.

Roll of thunder heard to my east. (Edit: Need someone to confirm...neighbour is working on his van...might be him moving stuff around inside that! Radar suggests I did hear thunder though)

Brief but heavy shower just passed through. A very busy sky here in the West Midlands as they develop right over us. Looking like it could go either way at the moment, can they continue to grow before they move away?

Thunder and lightning in Hagley, just south of Stourbridge where I am right now. Quite a bit too. The rain is absolutely torrential.

I’m currently in Hagley. There’s been a lot of hail and quite a few very loud cracks of thunder.

I’m currently in Oulton Broad for the week visiting family (I’m from here originally). Can hear a storm off the coast right now. Very dark looking out that way and quite a few loud grumbles.

I’m currently at work. Raining heavily in Bromsgrove...but just as I was dispatching my train, it was really trying to turn to snow and doing a pretty decent job. But I had to leave. Let’s see what it’s like as we go up the line towards Lichfield. Was a pleasant evening when I was last there a couple of hours ago.

Almost as good an effort as the February easterly! Although that says more about how pants the easterly was rather than how impressive this is!

Almost Springlike today. Pleasant sunshine. Shower clouds bubbling up. And then you get under one of the showers and you’re reminded that you’re actually in the middle of a rubbish winter mild spell. And just like that, the illusion has gone.

Well, if anyone wants to queue for one more go on the rollercoaster before the theme park closes, then they're sniffing out some good charts for 2 weeks (!) time in the model thread. (To be fair, I don't think they're doing it with much seriousness!) For me, I think I might head to the car park to beat the traffic*. *I reserve the right to go back on my word if anything realistic does pop up in the next few weeks.

Hopefully it won't be lashing down with rain and blowing a gale throughout the entire mild spell. Because yes, that would be awful. We get enough of that kind of weather in this country at all times of year thank you very much. If it's dry I'll enjoy it. But there's nothing there that actually interests me in what's going on when it happens at this time of year (unless it starts breaking records or brings something highly unusual). Doesn't mean I won't make the most of it though. It just means I won't be looking at forecasts/models/radars/temperature maps etc...I'll just be taking it for what it is...it's almost like I blend back in with the general public when a cold spell ends and a mild spell begins. I've got other interests to follow...and a dog to walk. Until the next chase begins...

March 2013 made fools of us all after a false start to Springlike weather, can this March do the same? Like most others, I’d rather see snow and cold at this time of year, but if mild sun is coming, might as well make the most of it and enjoy it. There’s nothing we can do to change it so might as well make the most of it irrespective of what month it is. I’d rather it wasn’t coming...but it is...and it might feel pleasant once it’s here. I’m certainly not going to sit indoors and be a grump about it because ‘it shouldn’t be here yet and we’ve still got all of Spring and Summer to come.’ If it ends up bringing rain, then yes, full on turned up to 11 grump!

Light snow flurry here just now. You can see each individual flake settle and stick. The ground is absolutely perfect for it. What could have been this weekend ay? But...the conditions were perfect for it on the 24th January too...and it did happen that day. So c'est la vie.

Every year at this time when the first springlike spell arrives, I grumble and moan because I want cold and snow. Then it arrives...and I step outside...and then suddenly remember how nice it feels! And then I don’t want a return to winter. But then sometimes it does...and I get excited about cold and snow again! Never mind the weather, my mental attitude’s transition from Winter to Spring is a bumpy one! Then the first thunderhead appears in the sky in April/May and my brain settles again.

Beautiful but bitter dog walk this morning. If the mild air is going to bring dry weather with it, then I can get excited about that. It comes with getting older. Always felt this winter that we’ve been verging on something epic and on a massive disappointing near miss both at the same time. In the end, we got away with a fairly decent run with both lucky and brilliant moments alongside fairly underwhelming moments. Will I remember winter 2020/2021 in the years to come? I really don’t know, I suppose it depends on what the next few are like. But yeah, pretty decent overall. ??

Yeah melting quickly here. But a good learning experience for future easterlies. We need a good hard frost to get the ground prepared, not a sloppy transition day like last Saturday. And a longer fetch easterly too. Then the stronger sun won’t have so much effect like March 2013 and March 2018. Both were proceeded by frosty nights and both had Russia as their source. Lots of good lessons for the future.