Evening thunder

Classic Devon thunderstorm yesterday, i.e. it managed 2 rumbles and a heavy downpour. The day before, I could tell the storms near Torbay weren't going to come/form here so I popped down to Exmouth with developments rumbling just offshore, and a defined rain shaft developed. Apparently thunder was audiable from home, but apart from that distant thunder and a couple of other 1-2 rumble days, this year remains rubbish for thunder (today again, the SW is in more stable air south of the main instability zone).

I think a more correct thing to say would be every time scientists discover something new, (some of) the media associate it with some sort of impending armageddon. The ozone hole was/is a man made thing. Mainly due to manufactured chemicals (CFCs etc), banned in 1989 under the Montreal Protocol (actually considered the most successful international environmental agreement to date), hence we've seen some sort of recovery. That seems quite a sensationalist/clickbait like headline, possibly surprisingly so for that newspaper, however I don't really read the Torygraph anyway. Edit: forgot to clear old quotes, sorry if anyone got a random notification that I had quoted them.

A bit of moderate rain here from the anvil/decaying cells related to torrential downpours with some lightning near Chard (a similar looking set up to when they got flooded in June... hopefully not so bad this time). They are drifting this way but due to the slow motion and how we're just getting rain cooled air here with nothing resembling an updraught within 20 miles, I think moderate rain is all we will get.

A bit of a disappointing lightning distribution for here. Despite the numerous rounds of very active storms in the channel etc, they all died to a couple areas of rain before they hit here. Dorset east, and north Devon/Somerset got some though. The first area of rain in the evening did have a few very occasional discharges of sheet lightning/distant thunder, but still a bit disappointing given the distribution of lightning on the map above. I bet the Channel Islands and paces with a clear view of the intense cells in the channel had a great view. Hardly any thunder so far this year here.

On Wednesday we had slightly more sea breeze influence than the Met Office forecast went for so we didn't get the 30C forecast here but saw 28.9C (inland did see 30/31C) Yesterday in contrast was forecast to reach 23C, but we had 26.4C, it's more normal for us to be 1-2C higher than the forecast anyway. Lovely spell though if a bit uncomfortable at times, yesterday was nice with 26C and a bit of a breeze blowing through the house so I wasn't getting sweaty when sitting indoors. Sea temps have responded well: This presumably helped the minima of near 20C in places like Western Cornwall, and DPs of 20-21C the other day. Cambourne also reached 28.3C yesterday even down there. Often a similar pattern to SST's develops during warm spells, I assume related to tidal mixing. Local SST's off Dawlish have been rising to 22C or just above on recent days and now staying mostly around 21C overnight despite more of a breeze and waves building now. A reading of 22.5C the other day appears to be the highest in the record back to 2010.

I'd say you can since that graph starts off more above average than it gets below, and the mean doesn't really drop below 8C there. It can simply be explained by averages.. obviously (anywhere in the world), the weather eventually balances out to reach it's climatic average. We are currently seeing temps 8/10C above average for many, so at some point, we have to balance that out. Of course we could just have constant average weather instead but that wouldn't be very interesting.

Yesterday reached 29.4C here with a light sea breeze. Today will be the 7th day in a row above 25C, not bad, a few summers in the 2007-2012 period only had a couple days above 25C! Yesterday and today originally looked cooler here with more of an SE/ESE breeze off the channel, but they upgraded temp wise over the last two days. The Met Office app was forecasting 23C for me, now forecasting 30C for my location today and 31C in Exeter (actually 32C at the airport)!

A notification just popped up on my phone about the warning so just checked it out. I understand the separate heat health watches we normally see, but people from abroad must laugh when they see an "Extreme heat" warning for temps of 27C (my local forecast). It's slightly hotter further inland, but even then its not that "Extreme". Also is Land's End really going to see extreme heat?

Some localised weather around here yesterday about 6pm. Virtually no rain here, but a torrential shower developed just to my east with a couple of rumbles, giving a downpour in Sidmouth with lots of surface water, manhole covers up etc. (borrowed from Facebook...) A weather station just over 2 miles from me recorded 22mm in under an hour. The tiny stream that runs just the other side of the road from me is only about a mile long and responded to the rain, the main road about half a mile away had muddy water running down it.. but I recorded nothing! Just enough to dampen the ground slightly.

Yesterday the sun came out and it was a better afternoon than expected, almost full sunshine and a clear blue sky. This afternoon is pretty rubbish though, moderate outbreaks of rain and just 14.3C at present. The maximum was 16.6C at 10:30am.

Just shows how different we all are. I'd choose to run early in the morning when cool, even in UK summers. If I chose to run at mid day on a warm/hot UK day many people I know would probably think I was silly. Can't imagine doing it at 43C. I'd go for 16C over 40C for anything other than meteorological interest (or a day in/by water). If that temperature was forecast in the UK, I'd probably egg it on for the rarity and experience/interest (for one day). I was actually comfortable enough working outside yesterday at 16C, and that was not intense labour. My colleagues even found it a bit above their ideal comfort levels at 23C and sunny last week. Favourite temperature of my boss is quoted as 18C and sunny. I'm sure most would choose 16C over 40C. However I expect many would choose 25C and sunny in summer if that was an option. Well there's the thing, most of us can't pick and choose when we work, and most work places (at least in the UK) don't have air conditioning.

Yes it's interesting how certain areas can be prone to particular features. I like the look of the Munich climate overall too, perhaps with a bit more sunshine in winter like you say. Average maxima ~24C, but with hot spell potential and rainfall averages suggesting plenty of thundery potential. I increasingly realise that although I often look forward to hot temperatures here due to them being not very common, and sometimes the thunderstorm potential, I wouldn't want to live somewhere that's usually 30C+ in summer. For me those temperatures might work for being near water on holiday, or sitting in the shade, but not for being active outdoors or working. Another nice day here today, actually near full sunshine after early low cloud, despite cumulus congestus build-up just to my east. Max 22.7C so a degree or so cooler than yesterday. Actually still a bit above my ideal temperature for working outside in the sunshine but a nice summer's day.

Not very warm across much of Germany this evening Appears it wasn't yesterday either, so not just the UK getting poor conditions at least.

Not a bad day here today. A sunny morning, some convective cloud built up (a few showers to my west) which then parted again for this area. Temp reached 23.6C, which is about 3C above average. Tomorrow looks warm too. It looks a bit rubbish for the east though. Unusual to be over 6C warmer here than in London in summer, and more like 9C warmer than East Anglia. It has generally seemed a bit poor here recently, but not as bad as it seems to have been further east in Southern/SE England.

I sometimes wonder if it would be better to have a general weather chat thread that is separate from the moans thread (there's no such thing if I want to discuss UK wide rather than regional weather), as this thread can be like wading through a self-loathing thread if you want to discuss something about UK weather.

Had a mostly sunny afternoon yesterday, so not too bad. CB's drifted to my north in the evening, but only a moderate shower with 0.6mm here. To my east the Chard area had ~3-4 inches of rain and the river River Axe flooded, and the tributary river Yarty recorded the highest level since the station opened in 1997. On a side note, I noticed that even during this record breaking heatwave in the pacific NW, the Oregon/North California coast is still cool. Eureka was 15C and overcast when I looked before going to bed last night, in contrast to temps like 46C in Portland. The average daily maxima there in July is 17.4C, with the average highest in the whole month being 21.3C! January still averages 13.1C with the average highest being 19.5C! That must be a boring climate and frustrating for those wanting heat.

Seems a little late being issued but we now have this: (Gauging site opened Jan 1997) In contrast Just a moderate shower here near Sidmouth adding 0.6mm to the daily total.

Ok, Environment Canada are also going for 44C in Abbotsford tomorrow, 42C in Squamish, even 41C in Whistler at 640m! 47C in Lytton on Tuesday!?! Lytton, BC - 7 Day Forecast - Environment Canada WEATHER.GC.CA Current conditions and forecasts including 7 day outlook, daily high/low temperature, warnings, chance of precipitation, pressure, humidity/wind chill (when applicable) historical data, normals, record values and...

40C there now (Wikipedia says their record is 38C). 39.7C at Squamish is impressive.. 43.4C at Lytton! Interesting how varied temps are near the water e.g. around Victoria ECM going for 42C around Abbotsford today, and 44C tomorrow... Down in Portland, Oregon (record 42C according to Wikipedia), it's 43C and the ECM is going for 44C today and 46/47C tomorrow!

ECM going for 44C around Abbotsford just inland from Vancouver According to Wikipedia at least, their record high is 38C... In contrast it may not get out of the 20's near the water in Vancouver. ECM's highest for Portland also 44C, NWS going for 109F there which is 42.8C. I imagine forests going for the high 40's must be over-doing it a bit.

From the ECM 00z, I believe that is 35C 850hpa temps in Canada on the second chart. The altitude and mountains make it easier to get higher 850hpa temperatures, and there is more of a diurnal cycle (the ECM 00z charts capture about 5pm local time), but that still seems very impressive. Up there with the whole of North America and potentially even the world at that time slot.

I don't understand that... Do they not get damp cold there in Autumn or Spring? Or sometimes these days in Winter?

It would be nice I know, then again in some of the 2007-2012 summers we only had a few days above 25C here. That's true but its just as bad in winter IMO.. if I joined that party I'd only be happy on about 1 day if lucky in this location lol. I find some interest in other weather, not that I particularly enjoy winter in the UK. I suppose there's more of a defined temperature cut-off which it has to be below, but in summer near average can be nice (at least for me). Hopefully we get rid of these slow moving systems and if we still end up with a light northerly drift the south coast may be the best area.

What's your idea of warmer temps? Those look like a very normal set of ensembles and the GEM ones you posted yesterday were above average. Mean touching 10C at 850hpa level (even on the GEFS mean) could be ~25C at the surface if there's enough sunshine. But of course you know all that, if you are only looking for abnormal conditions you will mostly be disappointed.

No rain here yesterday, mostly cloudy but not too bad. Moderate northerly breeze. Top temp 19.2C. The 9 days before that were all above average so can't complain really. Today looks like the first below average day of the month. Had a little rain the other night but not much so far this month. Rainfall over the last 2 months has been quite contrasting, although June's total will probably increase: April: 13.6mm May: 194.4mm June: 6.6mm