Evening thunder

December 21, 2021

Another grey day in East Devon, with chilly-ish but uninteresting temps. We've had a couple clearer ends to the day but due in part to me changing location I've not seen a decent amount of sun for over two weeks (even if Lancaster had a few nice days recently).

If we aren't going to get crisp cold weather or snow, I'd rather the Atlantic breaks through properly so we get into a mobile/westerly pattern with sunshine between the fronts. I'd rather we didn't get slow moving bands of cold rain across the south with little sun still, but that looks to be what we're heading towards.

December 13, 2021

Very exciting

I think we've had about an hour of sun in the last week too...

December 8, 2021

On 07/12/2021 at 12:12, MattStoke said:

Dull, grey, drizzly and breezy. No wonder people get excited over Atlantic storms. Absolutely thrilling.

Cannot for the life of me see the appeal of such weather. It's just a boring, unpleasant nuisance.

On 07/12/2021 at 13:16, MattStoke said:

Really cannot see what’s exciting about grey sky, rain and a breeze. Tedious and an absolute nuisance for outdoor plans. I can’t believe people go to the effort of chasing such storms when they could get more thrill out of staring at a brick wall.

On 07/12/2021 at 13:22, MattStoke said:

It’s like an art enthusiast getting a thrill out of watching paint dry.

The most boring type of weather there is. It’s absolute rubbish.

Thunderstorms or hurricanes I can understand. Not persistent rain, grey sky and occasional gusts.

14 minutes ago, MattStoke said:

Fine for people to take issue with my dislike of boring, unpleasant and nuisance weather, e.g. Atlantic storms, but not fine for me to express my dislike for it in the moans thread. Got ya!

I don't care whether you do or don't dislike any type of weather, but your above posts appear to be taking issue with people who might find interest in Atlantic weather, not just the weather itself... Certainty suggests you think they are a bit odd or wierd or whatever.

Not that I'm particularly bothered, but it just surprises me a bit, that of all the things going on in the world, people apparently get offended by other people's weather preferences.. which comes across in posts which moan about other people e.g. 'I can't believe people...', rather than just moaning the weather itself.

December 8, 2021

1 minute ago, MattStoke said:

A bit of rain, grey skies and occasional gusts is all it was, like all Atlantic storms. No need to pretend it was exciting when it was a borefest.

Wow you're really going to town on this. What I don't get is when people appear to be actually offended by other people's weather preferences.

Personally, I like an active mobile pattern. A good low/storm often seems to see an active front go through in the SW followed by sunshine and good cloudscapes from squally heavy showers (with hail and thunder potential) that rattle through.. I love a good 'blow the cobwebs' away walk in such conditions, though maybe better if I avoid the showers. A stormy sea can be pretty good to watch too.

Although having lived in the inland SE there seemed to be less of interest from such systems, and living in Lancaster it seems to have meant 3 days of cold rain and it appearing to be getting dark by 3pm which leaves me a lot less enthused!

Anyway there's been far more weather (and snow for some) from recent conditions than the high pressure they are chasing in the MOD thread will bring.

December 7, 2021

Really hope we don't get a stagnant or 'mild' high set up in about 10 days like hinted. Don't want the weather to become a snoozefest just as I go back to Devon for Christmas, with little meteorological interest, little cold/snow interest, and little chance for me to get out kitesurfing which I can at least do with breezy mild or Atlantic weather.

Would be fitting though, I missed interesting weather events in Devon starting literally the night I left, as usual, and the weather turns off as soon as I get back.
Last year the Christmas hols were mostly just a cold and grey waste in Devon too.

And just for an additional kick in the teeth the pattern shows west Canada getting plastered, as typical with La Nina, where I might have got to do a ski season had COVID not closed the IEC visa until recently.

December 2, 2021

ECM this morning modelled winds to the west of Ireland that would make storm Arwen look like a fresh breeze... that's an average of 114mph with gusts to 144mph!

Some sting jet there.. thankfully it weakens to a more 'normal' strong wind event before reaching land.

November 28, 2021

Very very light snow in Lancaster for the last 10 mins or so, if you looked at the radar you'd think we were half way through the band of precipitation (radar beam is from a far away, very pixelated, so picking up higher up precipitation above a dry layer)

Just started getting heavier, nice fakes now but still light in intensity

November 16, 2021

A bit late posting but October was just about the wettest month I've recorded at home in East Devon (my records go from 2007 onwards), with 214mm of rain (manual gauge, Davis VP2 said 222.6mm). Yet at the same time it was slightly sunnier than average, and there a 13 day dry spell with some pleasant ~18C sunny days earlier in the month.

Rainfall was often overnight, and heavy, clearing to sunnier conditions during the day. There were two falls of over 50mm in 24 hours, and two additional falls with 15mm+ in 1 hour (peak rates of 167mm/hr and 135mm/hr). The River Otter reached its highest level since 2012 (just beating 2016)

Maybe turn down the flooding a little, but that seemed quite interesting as October can't do much else.

Unfortunately I was in Lancaster that didn't seem to have much of interest, and a lot more cloud. Just periods of moderate rain or drizzle during the day.I've been in Devon the last few days which seems to have been the one time it was sunnier in Lancaster lol.

November has seen just 3.6mm so far, with little sign of rain in the forecast, but unless we get a sunny end to the month, it will be cloudier than October.
This is a good example of why I often prefer proper mobile Atlantic weather than this tedium. Even the air develops a dirty look due to haze/pollution at the moment.

October 26, 2021

18 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

Yes I measured 17cm of level snow on the evening of 1 March 2018 in Exeter (I couldn't measure the snow depth on the 2nd because of the ice storm overnight). It's amusing to think that despite having lived in several relatively snowy areas of the UK, the deepest snow depth that I've measured where I lived since I started taking records in 1993 was in Exeter, but that's one of the quirks of Exeter's climate: mild, but prone to occasional extreme snowstorms.

I think around Hull has been extremely unlucky for snow in recent years. RAF Waddington near Lincoln had 13 consecutive days of snow cover in January 2013, 7 days of lying snow in the winter of 2014/15, and picked up a fair amount of snow in the easterlies of February & March 2018 (though not as much as Exeter) and there were several days of lying snow from the February 2021 easterlies albeit not more than 2-3cm. Perhaps surprisingly, around these parts winter thunderstorms are about as common as they are in Exeter on average. I agree that I'd probably find the winters in Surrey pretty boring (and often more so than those of Exeter).

I admit I was quite happy to be in Exeter during the very westerly winter of 2019/20 as well as the aforementioned 2017/18, as there wasn't really much snow in other parts of the UK (so living in Exeter I didn't miss out on much), and Exeter had a fair amount of dramatic Atlantic-driven weather including 3 days of thunder and several days with wintry showers in February. I found the winter of 2020/21 very frustrating there though, and I think it was especially last winter when I lost interest to some extent.

I saw similar totals in 2018 (actually slightly more off the second easterly). December 2010 saw even more, I measured 25cm of level snow on the 20th. However before January 2010 (6cm), there were several slight falls but I cannot remember more than ~2cm during my childhood (memory from the late 90s)! February 2009 gave several inches on nearby hills but at the bottom of the Otter Valley it was just a tiny bit too warm, with 1-2cm of wet snow by morning.

I wasn't a fan of last winter in East Devon either, maybe a more typical distribution of wintry events and we didn't see much of interest.

I guess Surrey isn't that prone to snow, but Atlantic interest also tends to lose its potency. One exception when living there was January 2013 which saw a week with several inches of lying snow (it was just a little too mild at low levels near the south coast of Devon). Ironically this was timed with my field trip to Spain! However at least I saw the snow fall before we flew out.

I have a feeling I'd prefer the greater thundery potential of eastern areas in summer though, even if I prefer living in the SW for the scenery/geography (although Egham didn't seem to get that much thunder, I missed more at home in Devon than I saw in Egham, although I wasn't there in July-August).

October 25, 2021

17 hours ago, Beanz said:

What I find odd when people suggest they hope for a warm, mild winter in the U.K. is that they’re posting on a weather forum. Surely you hope for something different than what basically amounts to a continuum of autumn weather in winter months and provides little in the way of interest for a weather enthusiast..

11 hours ago, MattStoke said:

Mild winters are mind numbingly boring and unpleasant. It just means continuous wind, rain and grey skies. Zero interest.

I can understand not liking being cold and not wanting disruption from snow and ice but to actually like that mild dross is just weird. Besides, wind and rain makes it feel colder than lower temperatures and calm conditions and can be just as disruptive as snow and ice.

For me 'Autumnal' weather can provide interest. I don't like days of mild overcast south-westerly winds, but don't mind an active Atlantic that brings all sorts, including sunshine and squally/thundery/wintry showers in the PM/RPM air between active fronts. Although that may bring 'nearer normal' temperatures as opposed to overly mild conditions.

It may not be my first choice in winter, I'd prefer snow (or sun and hard frosts), but living in the south you've got to find some other interest unless you're only satisfied once every 3 years haha.

I might be nit-picking but winter 2013/2014 was actually sunnier than average for large areas, including the south where it was the wettest on record. I'm not going to lie I also found the storms that winter quite interesting, not boring from a meteorological perspective.

My least favourite conditions are when there's a grey spell for days on end with no sun, whether that's delivered via long fetch SW winds and drizzle, anticyclonic gloom, or an easterly (unless it brings something else of interest like very low temps or snow). I didn't really like early January 2021 in Devon as it was often just grey and cold, as was March 2013 (that winter was duller than 2013/14 for most of England)

2 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

There are mild winter weather types that can generate a fair amount of interest - an unusual spell of mild weather accompanied by bright sunshine (e.g. mid to late February 2019), or those blustery, showery polar maritime/returning polar maritime air masses that can give hail and thunder, squall lines, unusually windy spells. I guess I'm rather more surprised at regular contributors preferring mild and benign/ordinary weather in the winter, but there are of course those who are mainly into summer and aren't too fussed on winter.

I'm rather like what Philip Eden said he was sometime around 2005 in an interview with Netweather, I'm a snow aficionado like most of the other members but I also enjoy other types of winter weather as well, and note that most days feature at least something of interest. It does partly depend on where you live though - I did lose interest at times in Exeter but I think here in Lincoln there's generally rather more variability. Philip lived in Luton if I remember rightly, along with (here's a blast from the past!) mr_crazy_snowfan.

that sounds very similar to my view too. Interestingly I felt Devon had more interesting weather in Autumn/Winter on average than where I went to university in Egham, Surrey. The reason being Devon is more exposed to those features that add interest (for me) to our more normal weather (e.g. thundery showers off the sea, active fronts, Atlantic storms), even if less favoured on the occasion we do get a cold spell. Then again, how often has the east seen decent snow cover off an easterly recently? I recall forum member 'reef' living near Hull had seen barely any lying snow since 2013 or 2010? (not sure how much they saw in Feb 2021) and hence Exeter saw considerably more in that period due mainly to March 2018.

October 16, 2021

Been lots of nice days at home in Devon recently, 7 of the last 8 have been mostly sunny... up here in Lancaster we've just had 1 sunny day (yesterday), and a lot of grey.

Tomorrow looks like a write off with drizzle the whole day while it looks nice at home again. I guess they do say it's grim up north lol.

September 21, 2021

Something odd I've noticed recently, the GFS seems to have incorrect sea temperature data around the UK.

It seems to use the same data as on these charts, up to 6C below average in the channel:

Whereas in reality, SST's are above average around the UK:

This seems to manifest in the GFS showing air temperatures too low over the sea and windward coasts. 3pm today GFS vs ECM:

tomorrow night:

If this is incorporated back into the model, surely this would affect the forward accuracy of the GFS?

September 8, 2021

After 27.5C yesterday it's not been below 20C all night here, 23.6C at midnight. A warm gusty breeze blowing. Lowest temp 20.2C.

Probably will go below 20C during the morning though.

Clouding over now, storms about but will probably miss here/die into a wet mess.

September 8, 2021

Wondering what trickery this lot is going to perform to avoid giving me any action. The big storm/MCS surely will die into a damp mess so I get wet at work without anything interesting.

I guess the line of cells ahead of it will just go to my west by about 30 miles (another common thing).

Quite possible is that it will then also flare up for Dorset eastwards with nothing for here (just like the plume like attempt in July).

August 20, 2021

This August is my most disappointing month this summer here, and the stats back that up too. Mean max 20.0C, highest 21.8C, only 63.6 hours of sun so far (probably slightly under the true value but still).

In the last week we had a bit of sunshine/brightness at times, but it's been mostly cloudy, and no sun today or on Wednesday.

No rain in 7 days until a heavy shower late yesterday afternoon either, so 'useable' but not quite what many would want in August. It feels more like September (often a bit boring), with September-like temperatures at times too.

August 20, 2021

10 days over 25C here this year. However when I think that all 6 summers from 2007-2012 only had a few days at best, it doesn't seem too bad.

2007: I have no data but apparently 0 at Exeter Airport if that rounded data is correct!
2008: 3 (+ 2 in May)
2009: 4
2010: 2
2011: 2
2012: 3 (+ 2 in May)
2013: 15
2014: 9
2015: 0 ! (yes, while Heathrow broke the then July record we only reached 24.5C with cloud (but we had been nearly 24C at 3am lol).
2016: 2
2017: 9
2018: 22 (+ 1 in May)
2019: 7
2020: 12 (+2 in September)
2021: 10

So we're actually 4th/15 in a 2007-2021 sample. Some years we get a lot of 22-24C days (not this year), like 2010, but only a few over 25C. That's a near the south coast of Devon climate with sea breezes for you I guess.

In my whole record, I've had 107 days above 25C, but 948 days above 20C. One of the better climates in the UK if you like pleasant warmth but don't like heat I guess.

August 17, 2021

I've defended this summer as not being tooo bad here for June and July, but this August is turning out to be poor. Often cloudy, highest temp 21.8C, and a boring generally cloudy forecast too.

Often north-westerly winds can at least have a decent amount of sunshine but not this one it seems. At least Saturday afternoon was nice and yesterday started sunny I guess.

August 6, 2021

4 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

you can see from this map the UK is one of the least sunny locations on the entire globe...

Interesting that parts of the tropics e.g. the Amazon get sunshine hours not too dissimilar to southern Britain.

4 hours ago, Stabilo19 said:

This is turning out to be one of the worst summers in recent years. Shockingly cool in London under the cloud and wind that has plagued so many days. We struggle to reach low 20s let alone 30s Winter on the way....

Low 20's is far closer to average than low 30's though of course.
The last 30 days at Heathrow don't look too out of the ordinary for summer to me, Just one day didn't reach 20C.

A hot spell in there and cooler more unsettled periods, I imagine it balances out to not far from 'average'.
I agree some poor periods in there for sunshine etc.

4 hours ago, Lord Grogon said:

Not disputing the graph, but I'm genuinely surprised the SE gets less sunshine than the SW of the country.

I was always under the impression that given most of our nasty weather comes from the West and the SE is the driest part of the country, that would equate to more sunshine. I suppose like many things weather related, the truth is more complicated.

It's a bit of a low resolution map. The Met Office one does show a slight tendency towards the SE over the SW.

1 hour ago, Alderc said:

I used to enjoy the weather in the UK. I don’t anymore. It frustrates me more than ever and it actually affects my mental health and the petty arguments i get into (and yes, absolutely participate in and occasionally stir up) don’t help.

Sorry everyone

Out of interest, has something significant changed with the weather or more your preferences?

August 5, 2021

2 hours ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

True. Maybe we were just spoilt last summer but I've never known it be so consistently average, dull, wet....We've had a few beautiful weeks of weather and a heatwave that lasted 5 days but otherwise it's been poor.

Yeah we've had our fair share of poorer/meh days to be fair. I think I'm most disappointed by the lack of thunder this summer here though. No plumes apart from that Friday night that broke down the hot spell where the storms all died off the coast of Devon/Cornwall, while Dorset east got them.

50 minutes ago, al78 said:

Take out the one week of hot weather and what does the mean maximum temperature anomaly look like for the SE?

If you have 75% of a month cool and damp, and 25% of it blazing hot and sunny, it will still be a poor summer month overall because most outdoor activities will be marred by the rain, just like if a month had zero rain for 29 days, then a severe thunderstorm dropped four inches on the last day, it would still be a dry month.

I don't know without digging deeper into the stats and doing some analysis. Obviously the rating would be lower, like if you remove any hot or cold spell from any summer or winter month. However I feel there's a tendency for our 'poorer' spells to last longer, balancing out heatwaves/plumes that deviate further from the average. Hence '3 fine days and a thunderstorm' (as if..).

Even July 2012, which was 3.3C colder here by mean max, had a very warm spell at the end reducing the month's negative temperature anomaly. Without that, it would have been even cooler.
Up until the 23rd July 2012 I had only recorded 4 days above 20C that summer, and loads stuck in the mid teens... That's a terrible summer.
This summer, I had 32 days above 20C by the 23rd July (I'm now up to 41 days).

I am not actually trying to argue that it hasn't been 'poor' for some in the S/SE, even if monthly means have come out near average (apart from being wet).
I just can't quite agree with posts suggesting this summer has been horrific, dire etc like 2012, for significant amounts of the UK.

August 5, 2021

5 hours ago, Alderc said:

One heatwave doesn’t make a summer, overnight mins propped up the CET big time. Locally we had 200% rain and less than 90% the LTA for sun.

5 hours ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

Not in the south it hasn't, I would go so far as to say it has been one of the coolest in living memory

It may be true that mins have held mean temps up a bit, However mean maxima (my preferred stat) were above average for most of the UK too, and near average in the SE. I don't like saying people are wrong as such, but it's not been even nearly one of the coolest down here.
For instance my mean max in June 2012 was 3.0C cooler, and July 2012 3.3C cooler.

Here is the mean maximum temperature anomaly for July 2021 and July 2020. Even down here in the SW mean maxima were slightly above average in July. For almost all of the UK, 2021 was warmer than 2020 which was a poor month for many.

Interesting how the the SE has had two near average July's temperature wise, while parts of the North/West have had two very different Julys, 4-5C apart in places.

June was also slightly warmer than average for most, sunshine ok for the UK as a whole in both months:

With those temps and near average sunshine here, I just can't put this summer in the poorest category.

True the hot spell balanced out spells of poor weather in the south, but then average summers feature that to various degrees. Maybe this is a more extreme example of that. I guess more consistently average weather would give more 'pleasant' days and less 'poor' days than this summer, but then people might complain our weather is samey/bland haha, and no heatwaves for those that like them. Maybe the only thing in it would be to change our climate averages.

August 4, 2021

The last two days haven't been great (but not terrible), a bit cloudy and bland. Though on both Sunday and Monday a torrential downpour bubbled up despite cloudy conditions, to give a little bit of interest.

Nice and sunny this morning though.

Min of 7.7C yesterday ,the lowest since June 23rd, but not unusual in this valley. July actually had the highest absolute min of any month in my 2008-2021 records - 9.3C, and the second highest average min.

Also...

Heatwave helps mark fifth warmest July on record | Official blog of the Met Office news team

BLOG.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

The mid-month heatwave has helped the UK to its joint fifth warmest July on record according to provisional Met Office figures, with Scotland and Northern Ireland recording their third warmest July, in a...

Better for the north (3rd warmest in Scotland and NI), 11th warmest in England, but even for the SE it doesn't look too terrible on these maps, apart from being wet, and averages are usually made up of good and poor periods.

July 31, 2021

On 30/07/2021 at 09:53, kold weather said:

I think you do need to remember that whilst the area is indeed small, that area that was average or above makes up something like 40% of the population so it will obviously skew the postings.

Besides it really is hard to explain just how dreadful the 2nd half of that month was if you didn't experience it. Personally that period was up there with the worst summer periods I've seen. For my location we had Average-cool temps, 200% of average rain in about 12 days, 6hrs of sunshine in over 2 weeks.

It really was utterly shocking compared to average. Its not been helped by having a really shoddy May and a outright cold April (though at least it was sunny).

Overall though June goes down as a very regional month for sure. July will be wet on a larger scale as we are already above average in the EWP upto 27th and its only going one direction.

Wow 6 hours in 2 weeks really is bad. Although the 2nd half of June wasn't good here it wasn't that bad.

21 hours ago, Man Without Beard said:

I see some saying summer hasn't been too bad for them, but aside that 8 day heatwave, it has been absolutely filthy on the south coast. Worst since 2012, and if this pattern doesn't break soon, it might even be worse than that.

An out and out dreadful year, virtually nil snow despite more easterlies than ever, springless spring and now this.

It's interesting, I still think this summer hasn't been one of the really poor ones here in East Devon, and think that's more due to different weather conditions than difference of opinion.

It hasn't been a great one either, but probably 4 or 5 out of 10. Average maxima slightly above average (1C+ anomaly for July).

2012 is absolutely leagues worse than 2021 here:
June average max 17.3C vs 20.3C, July average max 19.4C vs 22.6C.
June rainfall 186mm vs 74mm, July rainfall 149mm vs 96mm

Sunshine has not been far from average for me.
I only got my solar sensor in 2015 but June 2016, 2017, and 2019 were duller (2020 similar), and July 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020 were duller than 2021.

There is room for my rating to sink lower through August though...

April was also sunnier than 2020 here, and despite all the crisp frosty starts it had near average maxima.

Not trying to come across argumentative or anything if it reads like that, I just find it interesting comparing/sharing stats Interesting how even longer time-periods such as a summer can vary over relatively short distances.

July 30, 2021

16 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Who cares.

We all know its a fact, that life within the M25 is where all the important things happen.lol

Anyway, not sure the poor weather in the south is being ignored, in here we never hear the end of it!

In June, it was a pretty small geographical area of the UK that was wet, but it made up the majority postings in here.

I guess it is the 'moans thread', but also the only (non-regional) thread to chat about UK weather conditions.

July 30, 2021

30 minutes ago, Azazel said:

Funny how that works - not one person I know was relishing the return to the current dross and everyone I spoke to was enjoying the warm summer weather. Confirmation bias as its best.

I think that will be the case with both sides.
Most people in my family or at work will have said the heatwave was 'too hot' or at least above their comfort levels.. but also wouldn't wish for it to be stuck in the teens and grey/wet in summer either.

6 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Because they are deluded, and believe that everyone agrees with them lol.

Most people don't enjoy the cool damp weather. It has nothing to offer at this time of year.

I get fed up of hearing about how bad the heat is, yet, we barely get 3 weeks of it down south this summer so far. I would place summer 2021 and lump it with the worst summers of 85-88. It's been cloudy for too long, and many days it hasn't been sunny enough to feel like proper summer.

The north has fared well, as well as ireland, but the poor conditions down here seem to be ignored.

I guess that's what the north usually feels like haha

July 29, 2021

I don't think this summer has been too poor so far here... a bit of a mixed bag with periods of good and poor weather like recent summers (other than 2018 of course), i.e. 'typical' British summers (I know last July was very poor further north, but it was just a bit 'averagely-bland' here).

This is data from my weather station:

Mean maxima for June was slightly above average and July's is going to finish at least a degree above average, even with the next few days to add on. Sunshine doesn't look too far from average, perhaps a touch below in June and the 2nd half wasn't very good. My sunshine values are slightly under the true totals (a clear day gives 13.5-13.8 hours), in part due to early morning shading, so we will have exceeded 200 hours for July in reality.

We seem to be a bit west of the wettest/dullest areas this July. Rainfall was a bit above average in both June and July, though I don't think rainfall is a very reliable indicator as you could have a fantastic month and then a month's worth of rain from a thunderstorm one night. Rain days might be a better indicator.

Apart from 2015 perhaps, no real poor looking summers on the temperature front here since the 2007-2012 bunch.

(my 1981-2010 average maxima will have been about or just above 21C in July/August). A lot of recent Augusts have been below that of course, but the last 3 have been better.

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