Phil UK

Can sympathise. (And hello again NetWeather! ) Solihull on all those dates mentioned... Morning of 27th May : Mesoscale Convective System over the SW of England. Reached the south Midlands and then died. Later on in the day, cells developed north of the Midlands so adding insult to injury. 19th July : Was a close but no cigar at stoopid O'clock in the morning even though I had seen distant lightning from a storm which according to Blitzortung mobile app was 53 miles away. But then came Saturday 5th August, the long wait for a Summer 2017 storm kind of paid off. Was two of them but not quite overhead which does take some of the fun element out of it. Still the rest of August and September to go but given the current long range forecast to date. It may just as well be Autumn come early already.

Not a problem PiggiePalace. Now, as for sleeping through night time storms. Unless you have a friend or neighbour nearby who can verify that a storm had occured overnight then that is your ticket out of here. It happened to me in May 2005 when I slept through an elevated storm about 2 or 3 miles away from me. My Brother and friend said to me the day after, those dreaded words... "Did you see and hear that storm last night?" I had to say no as I was grabbing my Zzzzz's. Although my Brother could have woke me up to let me know. The git!!

I can answer that for you PiggiePalace, although we get this question every year. So now, a nice couple of video examples taken in fact on Monday 29th July 2013. (And taken by moi here in Solihull! ) Overhead storm. That gets you out of the NSC in an instant PROVIDED it is more than just one flash and rumble. Even if intracloud lightning. This next one will keep you locked in here (muwuhaahaaaah!!) because as myself and my lovely boss Jane agrees, the storm needs to be near enough for visible lightning and audible thunder. This one had audible thunder but too far away to count as an actual nearby/near overhead storm. I only wish it were dark at the time. I'm sure this one would have made for some impressive night storm viewing. Hope this finally clears the T&C of leaving, or indeed remaining in the NSC. :-)

Solihull was hit quite hard. Amazing day. I thought near misses as per usual but nope. 4 storms in one afternoon. Been waiting years for a day like this. And even more so, waited almost 10 years to capture something like this... (Video still I know but it did happen!) For those who have missed out today, keep the faith. Still August/September to go yet.

I was watching the radar like a hawk watches its prey late afternoon/evening yesterday when I saw this MCS moving up. Then from out of nowhere, and to my east as per usual, I counted 4 intra-cloud flashes of lightning and 9 rumbles of distant but audible thunder here in Solihull. Came out of nowhere.The main MCS coming up from Le Storm Hogging Froggieland made land into the south east but then like that magician Dynamo somehow disappeared. But from about 10pm onwards, intense rain from the main front moving north east. Not one sferic detected. Which brings me to agree with TWS about the parallax shift (if any?) in our weather pattern. I'm old enough to remember when you had a Spanish Plume and a low pressure system (be it Atlantic or Bay of Biscay!) Storms would reach the mainland overnight and last for several hours. Gone are those days. More your half hour effort pulse storms and even if frontal ones, not what they used to be.

I was thinking the same Jane. Am quite surprised that we still have a few members here given how widespread these things were. Although I think much of Wales was unfortunate. I should be technically out of here but I'm the tea boy/beer provider for the NSC so here I'll stay. Not sure what time Solihull began to see the main early morning action but around 11pm/midnight on 21st July, I was watching distant lightning to my east from heat storms that had developed during the afternoon/evening. Then during the small hours, it all went BANG and especially at 07:58am yesterday morning when I was metaphorically thrown out of bed with one uber loud gunshot crack of thunder. Continued up until around 10:30am but not constant. Still technically a storm but not as intense as I would have thought given this long heatwave.

One distant flash of lightning in late April and that has been it thus far for Solihull. But going back to one year ago yesterday at around 10:20am, it all kicked off until about 12:30pm. Hasn't even come close since. Maybe the predicted hot spell in early July may produce something? The beer glass is still half full, not half empty metaphorically speaking where my optimism is concerned.

Blimey! 6 months since my last log in. I haven't died but the storm activity did after 25th August 2012 for my area. 6 months later... Bit of snow, cold. Becoming a little bored of it now so roll on Spring when the storm action begins.* * (Well one can but hope!)

Oh dear. The epitomy of sheer irony. Happened to me in September 2008. The floods that occured in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Now I hadn't seen a storm throughout that Summer here in Solihull. But on the day one DID arrive, I was either on my way to, or was already in Exmouth for a weeks holiday. I only found out when I came back and my youinger Brother said to me, you missed it? I said missed what? He said a thunderstorm on the afternoon you left for Devon. My initial reaction was, (and understandably...) "AAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!" So I share your pain there QuantumSnow. Fancy a beer or something stronger? I don't care if it's not quite beer o'clock yet but somewhere on the planet, it is. That's my theory anyway. Cheers. Phil.

Now call me cynical, Pottyprof. But the toxicology report said nothing untoward but a bit of alcohol. Now this is either a cover up or like I read in the Sun a few days later that she died from NOT drinking. I'm as confused as you with that. But around two years ago, I did a bit of the old Wikipedia and she was going through major stages of OCPD. (Obstructive Chronic Pulmonary Disease). It's what killed my Auntie Hazel just over two years ago. Lungs tighten so much that you suffocate. Causes are attributed to alcohol and drugs. My Aunt was in her late 50's and liked a drink or two. Amy Winehouse was only 27 and liked a bottle of drink or many, and other substances that you can't buy over the shop counter. So 'quélle surprise' there. Phil.

Maybe Osbourne-One-Nils self-proclaimed generator exploded? Phil.

Blimey! 20 years ago. Doesn't seem all that long ago really. Still quite fresh in my mind. What began as a front coming down from the north on the Friday afternoon/early evening produced heavy rain but with the onus being that it was expected to turn to sleet, then eventually snow as the cold northerly blast undercut to the rear of the front. I remember going to bed at around midnight on the Saturday morning and when I awoke at around 9.00am, I most certainly did not expect to see what I did. One foot of level snow in white-out conditions. The front and its associated PPN moving down from the north spent most of the day stuck over The Midlands, East Wales and East Anglia and as soon as the snow moved on and skies began to clear, I could see bright green flashes to my east. Figuring it was lightning, this was not the case as there are overhead power lines over that way so I'm guessing it was those and the weight of the wet snow. I didn't think I'd see anything of the sort again for a very long time but just two months later, and as mentioned by another forum member, February 1991. Pretty much the same in snow depth but spread over a longer duration. But since February 1991, nothing has even come close since. Memories indeed. Phil.

No real need to look North, Coldfingers. The display I saw in April 2000 was directly overhead, green towards the north horizon, pink and red curtain slow moving trails almost above. You need to see it to believe it. Puts a lump in your throat in a theoretical sense as to the beauty of nature. Phil.