Weather In 2011 Your Thoughts

[Zenarcher]

How have you found 2011 weather wise? Has it been better than previous years and more going on? Or not what you would have hoped for.

For the me January was more calm than normal with high pressure over the UK for most of the month it was cold for me at times and mild. Spring was unsettled with Atlantic lows passing by which we would normally get during the winter. We had only one severe storm at the start of February compared to two or three we usually get at that time of year. Summer however was great it had long lasting periods of settled weather more than what the previous summers have been like. Near the end of Summer EX Hurricane Katia made its way over the the UK bringing strong winds for most of the UK although the storm completely missed me. It was a rather over hyped event but mainly because it was a ex hurricane and was coming at a strange time of year. As for Autumn again for me its normal to see wet and windy weather but this year it was settled and mild with no storms at all. December has been a very unsettled month for me at the start a very bad storm hit Scotland it brought wind speeds over 100mph where I live the highest its been in some years. Also just a few days ago we got hit by another storm not as severe but comes second overall for the biggest storm to hit me this year.

Overall winter last year was very cold with 2 weeks worth of lying snow which is rarely seen here. Spring was unsettled and colder but April was very warm and settled. Summer was great and Autumn mild and calm. Winter so far very unsettled but I hope that changes soon.

Forgot to mention I've had about 5 thunderstorms this year which is active for me I mainly only see one at least a year. Overall I've experienced 12 thunderstorms this year with the other 7 coming from my holiday in Switzerland we had four in one day!

[leicsnow]

January - pretty average

February - mild and more Atlantic driven than normal

March - very dry

April - very warm and dry

May - very unsettled

June - very unsettled with one potent but very short heatwave

July - alternating warm dry spells and mild wet spells

August - very wet

September - Quite stormy (shades of Katia) with a major heatwave at the end

October - After a hot start very warm and moist with warm nights

November - very mild

December - cool zonal before mild zonal

Edited December 30, 2011 by Tellow

[cheeky_monkey]

January - Cold and snowy

February - Very cold and snowy

March - BItter cold (coldest for 90 years)

April - Cold

May - Average

June - Cold and wet

July - Cold and very wet

August - Warm and dry

September - Warm and sunny

October - Warm and dry

November - Mild and dry

December - Very MIld and dry

Weather seemed to flip from cold and changeable at the end of July to warm and dry..not sure why???

[wimblettben]

Overall I think 2011 has been better then last year in terms of there being more thunder activity and more windy days.

The majourity of Spring was amazing weatherwise and this was definately one of the majour hieghlights of the year in terms of how dry and warm it was. I would say the summer was average however and wasn't particularly memorable. The Autumn was ok in the beginning with the arrival of Katia but after this we had another amazing heatwave at the end of September and Early October.

I think my most disliked month of the year would probably be October because not much was going on weatherwise. However November and December thus far have been pretty good as there have been many days of strong winds but winds which you can enjoy and aren't too damaging. The only dissapointment thus far this year would have to be the lack of snow or proper cold conditions.

[J10]

Winter 2011 (Jan and Feb) was rather disappointing to say the least, Spring had some really unseasonably warm and sunny weather. Not the best summer in the world, but it seemed locally that we did pretty well for sunshine and dry weather although August was a bit disappointing. September wasn't too bad, and ended very well. Spring as a whole was pretty mild, while December had a bit of a mix but a least a few wintry days. Overall a complete lack of lying snow this year.

Hopefully 2012 will be a snowier year and will see a good summer, as opposed to the average ones (at best ) of recent years) and that we get Northern blocking when we want in the winter rather than when we don't in the summer.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I thought April was the highlight of the year, with lots of unexpected summer-like weather, and I'll also remember it for that hazy spell in the third week when there were smog warnings for the major cities. Other than that, January and February were forgettable. The spring was exceptionally dry overall but I got rather bored of the consistent but unremarkable warmth and dry settled weather of March and May- for instance there were no days with sleet or snow falling and no days with thunder at either Cleadon or Norwich during the spring quarter.

Summer 2011 got off to an average start then had a memorable thundery spell in Cleadon from the 26th June to 13th July, with 6 thunder-days, 3 days of hail, and also a couple of dry sunny interludes under weak anticyclones. However the second half of the summer was persistently cloudy with daytime maxima consistently around 17-19C and few notable events. The autumn consisted of consistent but unremarkable warmth, giving Tyneside its warmest November on record (even beating 1994). Like in the spring, there was one very memorable hot sunny spell, but in this case it spanned a few days (27th September to 1st October) rather than most of a calendar month. December has provided a few weather events of note here including a couple of gales and an unexpected snowfall on the 17th.

Overall a pretty unremarkable year but I preferred it weather-wise to 2002.

[reef]

In a word, very dry indeed. We're on course for a finish of around 350mm for the whole year, comfortably beating any year Ive ever recorded and lower than 1921 which gave around 400-420mm in this area. Unfortunately it has also been the least snowy year Ive ever recorded aswell, with no lying snow and just 3 days sleet/snow falling compared to the previous low of 7 days in 1992.

As expected January and February were pretty disappointing, but especially so after that brilliant December. Spring was the warmest, driest and sunniest Ive ever recorded and April was exceptional, but like TWS I grew tired of how homogenous is was. There were very few frosts and no snow or cold whatsoever. Summer wasnt so bad here, temperatures, sunshine and rainfall were all almost exactly average and for someone like myself who hates heat it was very welcome indeed. The weather was again pretty boring though, with few extremes of temperature and little thunder. Autumn like spring was very warm, dry and sunny with the highlight bring the heatwave at the end of September into October. Even though Im not a fan of heat I always wanted to experience a setup like October 1985 as I was too young to remember it and if anything 2011's attempt was even better. After this though the Autumn quickly went downhill. November was exceptionally dull and the lack of wind, frost, fog and anything remotely cold got very tiring. In a way this then continuted into December, with the first air frost of the season being on the 5th latest date in the last 31 years and so far being completely snowless.

Quite a few records fell in 2011: warmest April, spring, driest March, Septmeber, November, Spring, Autumn and year. The high maximum also fell in April and October, however these were the highlights in what was a pretty dull year.

[Rollo]

January was not too bad as we had a snow cover that did not totally disappear until the 15 th of the month.Thereafter Februaryn the end allthough it did snow quite a few times it never accumulated was a disappointment as we so nearly had a cold month but in the end we had no accumulations wharsoever.

March was a fairly nondescript month but April was so to speak our summer because after that we had nothing but Atlantic driven weather with settled warm days at a premium

September and October were certainly more to my liking than June and July as there were many pleasent sunny days. November was dominated by the euro high and was as far as snowfall was concerned a total write off but with many relatively warm days was more than acceptable.

December? As far as I am concerned very windy mild months are an anathema and I shall be glad to see the back of it and hope January conforms to GP's winter forecast and the Atlantic takes a holiday. All that remains is to wish one and all a very Happy New Year.

shall be glad to see

[snow drift]

In a word, very dry indeed. We're on course for a finish of around 350mm for the whole year, comfortably beating any year Ive ever recorded and lower than 1921 which gave around 400-420mm in this area. Unfortunately it has also been the least snowy year Ive ever recorded aswell, with no lying snow and just 3 days sleet/snow falling compared to the previous low of 7 days in 1992.

As expected January and February were pretty disappointing, but especially so after that brilliant December. Spring was the warmest, driest and sunniest Ive ever recorded and April was exceptional, but like TWS I grew tired of how homogenous is was. There were very few frosts and no snow or cold whatsoever. Summer wasnt so bad here, temperatures, sunshine and rainfall were all almost exactly average and for someone like myself who hates heat it was very welcome indeed. The weather was again pretty boring though, with few extremes of temperature and little thunder. Autumn like spring was very warm, dry and sunny with the highlight bring the heatwave at the end of September into October. Even though Im not a fan of heat I always wanted to experience a setup like October 1985 as I was too young to remember it and if anything 2011's attempt was even better. After this though the Autumn quickly went downhill. November was exceptionally dull and the lack of wind, frost, fog and anything remotely cold got very tiring. In a way this then continuted into December, with the first air frost of the season being on the 5th latest date in the last 31 years and so far being completely snowless.

Quite a few records fell in 2011: warmest April, spring, driest March, Septmeber, November, Spring, Autumn and year. The high maximum also fell in April and October, however these were the highlights in what was a pretty dull year.

In a word!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your like my Mrs she uses hundreds.!!!!!!!!!! Joke honest.

I loved April. The rest of the months will not live long in the memory from a weather perspective. Come on 2012, you can do better.

[blitzen]

I can honestly say that I was astonished to hear on the News today that 2011 has been the second warmest year recorded? From a totally IMBY point of view, I don't think that this applies to east central Scotland. Spring was really cold but dry in this area because we have done nothing but suffer from cloud, cloud, cloud for the last two years! I am sure that it must have something to do with pollution from the Icelandic volcano eruption? As I have said, this summer once again has been so cool and cloudy here, that the only decent weather we saw was down in Kent for 2 weeks at the beginning of August. It actually felt like we were abroad! Definitely been an east/west split up here as I believe the west coast has had some really nice weather. Autumn did feel a bit warmer however, but still cloudy. As for the winter so far? even when the west had snow a few weeks back, only a few showers which accumulated 2-3cms was the best we got here! Ver bored and very fed up!

Edited December 30, 2011 by Blitzen

[A Winter's Tale]

January - Cool and wintry (particulary in the first half) - MARKS [6/10] - Pretty Decent

February - Mild, but some wintryness around] - MARKS [3/10] - Dull and uninteresting

March - Wintry and cold start, warmer and more settled end - MARKS [6/10] - Nice

April - Warm and Sunny - MARKS [8/10] - Amazing

May - Good start, massive storm, rubbish end - MARKS [3/10] - Not Great

June - Incredibly dull and cool - MARKS [2/10] - Rubbish

July - Dull and cool - MARKS [2/10] - Rubbish

August - Some sunnier and warm spells aswell as cool and wet - MARKS [4/10] - Average

September - Mild Start and Warm End - MARKS [4/10] - Average

October - Warm start, no frost and dull overall - MARKS [3/10] - Not Great

November - Good start and end, rubbish mild elsewhere - MARKS [3/10] - Not Great

December - Snowy, stormy and varied weather conditions - MARKS [8/10] - Great

All in all, despite the good wintry weather at the start and end of the year, the decent Spring and exceptional warmth in Spring and Autumn, the year could have been better as it was mostly controlled by an endless period of similar temperatures in the teens between February and November with little interesting, active weather in between aswell as Summer warmth, frosts, storms and sunshine being almost non -existent. Although this was exceptional, it certainly wasn't the type of weather that makes anyone happy. Although the October warmth was exceptional in some parts of the country at the start of the month, I didn't enjoy the dull and continuos mild and wet conditions in that month. It just didn't feel right. The Summer was incredibly disapointing, particulary June which was so dark, wet and cold that Spring and Autumn was warmer. July wasn't much better either but of course at times there were some decent sunny spells, but they never last that long and certainly didn't have the heat of all the other years. August was slightly better but I've seen far greater summer months than this. Spring had a fantastic start with snow in March and 2 feet in the highlands, and the middle third of the month felt Seasonal. However from the end of March right into May, we had an incredible hot and sunny period that brought some amazing weather, great sunshine and unusual things in the area. It felt like Summer, the only down point would be that the easterly wind made things cold and if it were summer it would have been warmer. May started off fine, then we had a spectacular Storm which ripped off the roof of my relatives in Fife. Although there were some nice days of sunshine and interesting periods of wind, sunhsine and showers (with hail), it was also pretty dull and cool and wet at times. November, I loved Bonfire Night with dense fog, frost and -5C temperatures for a few days aswell as great, settled, cool autumnal conditions and clear skies. The middle part was boringly mild and dull. The end was cooler and more interesting which lead to a great December. January had plenty off wintry spells and one great one which saw one snowfall dump 2-6cm which lay for a few days. We also had anti-cyclonic period that brought hard frosts. February had it's wintry moments but the end was unusually mild (aswell as sunny) which saw the bees come out. December has been very wintry with two great periods of winter weather with both periods dumping 3-7cm of snow that lay for many days (better than the one in January) and plenty of wet snow has been common throughout. The cool zonality has allowed for thunder, hail, wind, snow and interesting unsettled weather. It has felt seasonal overall with plenty of frost, ice and a mixture of fantastic clear crisp, winter weather to windy, wet and mild atlantic dominated. The storm was exceptional earlier in the month and the mild Christmas was noticeable too.

[Evening thunder]

2011 did have some moments, but overall I would say it was a more boring and dull year than normal (if there is an average of such a thing).

Stand out moments include:

April 2011 having the top spot, I've heard people say that was the majority of our summer, with it coming back a bit in Autumn. April was the driest month of a very dry spring with the soil dry down to about 1 foot in our garden! (April had about 8mm of rain). The mean max temp was 17.4C (probably slightly higher further inland), about 5C above average!

After that it's hard to think of much, though the warm spell of late Sept/early Oct would be one (I say warm spell as the temps were moderated by the sea to the south like usual with southerly winds, still comfortably into the 20's though and it was about 25C when I went to Mid Devon one day). April and May actually had a few thunderstorms around, with a decent one on the evening of the 6th May.

I thought January wasn't too bad - some decent frosts. February was mild and quite disappointing. March had some nice spring like weather mainly in the 2nd half, leading into April which is described above.

May was quite unremarkable I thought, quite a lot of quite cloudy, breezy and at times drizzly weather, highest max a disappointing 19.9C.

Summer was overall unremarkable, there was a few warm/warm + sunny days scattered through the summer as you'd expect in any summer (2nd-4th June having the highest temp on the 3rd, and a generally warmer/better spell in Late July/ Early August perhaps being the main ones), and only a single rumble of thunder heard!

September + October weren't too bad. Much of November however was dull, in being seemingly endlessly mild and usually cloudy with a seemingly endless Euro high giving mild cloudy SE-SW winds which was probably the longest most boring spell of weather I can remember. There were a few flashes of lightning to the SE early on and some strong winds at the end though.

December has been more changeable and interesting than November for me, I'd far rather changeable active Atlantic weather than a Euro high/Bartlett situation (As long as it isn't mainly prolonged TM SW'erly flows)

One thing I'll remember late spring/summer for is quite a bit of cloudy boring cool and sometimes drizzly weather (the least interesting type for me) For example July was quite dry overall but had above average rain days due to drizzly days).

Overall 2010 was better, with its snow (20 snow lying days v's 0 in 2011, and nearly a foot by the 20th December), and warmer summer temps in May, June and July. 2011 only beats it on thunder and the warm April, Autumn 2010 was quite variable so more interesting. I don't think there's been any falling snow this year either! (some sleet showers)

Thought I'd add this BBC forecast for Exeter which I saved this summer, which I though might deserve some kind of prize?

Edited December 30, 2011 by Stormmad26

[lorenzo]

I enjoyed the sunshine in April this year earlier than Scotlands usual 4 day summer around 19th May..

Highlight for me was the long summer nights and continuous displays of Noctilucent clouds.

[Summer Sun]

It's been a decent year a nice mild end to last winter followed by a great spring then we all had a crap summer a very warm spell late September / early October and so far its been a decent winter with very mild day's and some colder days and no disruptive snow like last year.

Hopefully 2012 will deliver a long hot summer.......

[Aaron]

January - average, maybe slightly below, a lot of frosty nights and cool sunny days with a good snowfall on the 7th.. not bad

February - wow, very cloudy and very foggy.. a bit wet and of course quite mild.. still a good snowfall on the 19th similar to January.. a crap month though overall

March - dull and foggy start but temperatures approahcing 20C later on... quite sunny and very dry.. not a terrible month but not what I'd want in March

April - mild, sunny and very, very, very dry.. reached 23C on one or two days.. too mild for me though and no air frost.. odd

May - average, nothing to note weatherwise..

June - average again

July - cool, cool nights down to 7C

August - cool, nights down to 6C

September - warm, warmest since 2006, reached 28C later in the month

October - mild again, 28C on the 1st and rather dry

November - dry and mild

December - cool start, mild end

Overall a horrible year

[Uncle_Barty]

Almost entirely unremarkable here bar a lovely April and end Sept/Beginning of Oct, and the amazing rainfall of 18th August in these parts.

Not a single flake of snow, and no air frost since early March. A rather poor summer with a lot of northern blocking, with little in the way of reliable good weather. On the plus side, winter has been pretty mild so far.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Jim_AFCB

[damianslaw]

Apart from the glorious April and first week in May and the exceptional warmth of late sept into early october, 2011 for me will go down as a very uninteresting year weatherwise with very little to note. Here is my summary -

January - Not a bad month overall, yes a far cry from Dec 10, but we did see some snowy conditions early on thanks to a cold NW blast, the remainder of the month was very quiet but with a decent frosty spell mid-late month.

February - a very trying month devoid of anything wintry apart from one morning of snow cover on the 19th, endless cloud and mild westerlies.

March - struggling to remember anything of note, no can't think of anything to say about March.

April - Glorious, best month of the year by far, wonderful warm sunny days felt like summer - exceptional!

May - started of very promising with sunshine and dry warm weather, but quickly degenerated into tedium with cloud rain and averae temps.

June - One or two decent thunderstorms and some nice pleasant days interspersed with dissapointingly cool wet days - I've known many better Junes but also quite a few worse ones. Not a great month has to be said.

July - Better than recent July's with a good first half with dry sunny conditions but very chilly nights, second half saw lots of cloud and return of rain - not a washout but hardly high summer.

August - like March struggling to remember it, lots of cloudy dull drab average temps - forgettable, another dissapointing August haven't had a decent one since 2005 now.

Sept - quite a seasonal first half with some dry sunny warm weather but also some wet cool days, second half very good felt like late summer as opposed to early autumn and the end was remarkable with summer heat felt like July. Quite a good month one of the better ones of the year.

Oct - After a remarkably warm start, it quickly turned unsettled with some chilly conditions mid month thanks to a cold NW flow which brought first frosts around 18th, but then it turned very mild with drab dull drizzly weather - preety miserable end.

Nov- Too mild in my book, lack of sunshine, too many cloudy dull damp days - probably my least favourite month of 2011 weatherwise, no snow and frost.

Dec - first half very decent with lots of wintry weather thanks to cold NW flows lots of snow on the fells and some decent frosts with a very good frosty dry spell 16-18th, but from the 19th a very torrid affair with unseasonably mild weather, no sunshine and lots of rain and cloudy gloomy conditions. Up to the 18th it was turning out to be a very decent month in my book, but the last 12 days have led me to describe it as half decent only.

I do hope 2012 sees a much better summer than the last five, that we don't use up our sunny dry quota in April, that we see lots of frosty snowy weather during Jan and Feb, and autumn sees more in the way of cold frosty weather with some earlier snowfall compared to 2011 with a decent wintry end to 2012 unlike 2011.

[Derp Patrol]

A pretty good year, with an unremarkable summer and end of winter.

Spring was perfect for me - April was just brilliant, temperatures mostly above 20C and for a week we had temps of 25-28C

Summer was ok but ended pretty badly as usual. June was decent and we had our highest temperature since 2006 at 33C

July and August were pretty average with temps between 22-25C most of the time

September and October were great, so close to 30C on the 1st of October

I liked the mild November, in fact even recently on Christmas Eve when it was 14C I was out wearing just a T Shirt and it felt pleasant. So all in all, a decent year, but I really hope that 2012 can deliver a great summer. If we can get the same Spring as this year and the same Autumn as this year to go with a great summer, it will be brilliant.

[AderynCoch]

Hardly what I'd call a vintage year, but certainly not as uneventful as many have made out (though I suppose that depends where you live). From a CET perspective we've had the warmest April and spring on record, a new record high for October and the second warmest November and autumn on record. So there are certainly things to look back on in the future.

All the same, 2011 has been a massive cold hangover following 2010 - if last year showed us that severe cold spells, sub-zero Decembers and sub-9C annual CETs are still more than possible, then this year brought us right back to the M*dern Era. To be honest, if we'd had a good summer I'd be less disappointed but instead the warm anomalies congregated elsewhere in the calendar.

Anyway, here's a breakdown with regards to what I would term "interesting weather":

Snow and cold - generally poor with a frostless February and exceptional mildness during spring and autumn, but January and December could have been a lot worse. Two days of lying snow is below average, but it's better than nothing (which is what many others have had).

Heat - a very disappointing summer for high temperatures, really only salvaged by exceptional warmth in late September/early October. Repeated NW/SE splits ruined most chances of warmth, with only the aforementioned Indian Summer bringing warmth from the right direction. April also had some very nice days, but the month as a whole wasn't that summery for me - yes it was the warmest April on record, but it was still only April. My one chance to breach 25C in April was ruined by a horrible cold front, which left me with 14C under overcast skies. Above-average temperatures outside these times were essentially useless for me (especially February and November).

Rain - nothing too bad. It hasn't been as anomalously dry as parts of the Midlands/East Anglia, but nor has it been as anomalously wet as much of Scotland. Each of the three summer months contained one complete washout day, but thankfully there were no extended periods of wetness like those which have ruined recent summers. December has been rather wet here.

Sunshine - again, not too bad. There have been some wretched periods over the autumn where the sun hasn't come out for days, but the year hasn't been that terrible overall.

Wind - a fair number of wind events this year. Early February (just about the only notable thing that happened that month), late May, ex-Katia in September and a lot of strong winds in December.

Fog - there was some good fog in the second half of January, but not much else. Autumn has been very disappointing for fog this year.

Thunderstorms - decent. Had a good thunderstorm in late August which brought a lot of cloud-to-ground fork lightning. There was a fair bit of thundery activity in late April/early May, but the main events missed me.

Hail - no big hailstorms or anything, but there's been an unusual amount of hail during the cold zonal spell of this December.

Edited December 31, 2011 by AderynCoch

[AderynCoch]

6/10

Ups and downs. Got about an inch or so of snow on the 16th, which was nice (especially leading up to Christmas) but for the most part the cold zonality was too marginal and then it turned mild just in time for Christmas. A pretty horrid New Year's Eve to see out the month too. Better than having mild zonality all month though.

[Isolated Frost]

Atlantic trough too far west so the main strong winds and heavy rain was wasted in the atlantic... Euro high too far east so the main sunshine wasted in continental europe. Britain stuck in the middle with generally mild, cloudy weather from the south-west and south. The summer was more cyclonic and was therefore less mild... but autumn definitely followed this rule. Especially that dreadful autumn.

Best spells would be

April 2011's warmth and sunshine- fantastic month,

the heat and sunshine of early july,

the heat and sunshine of late september and the 1st of october... stunning,

december's variety, storms with heavy rain, impressive cold fronts and very strong winds at times... coupled with a nice snow event.

Overall not such a good year though... but some sunshine and heat... as well as december's variety has saved it from the deepest dankest weather years.

[Costa Del Fal]

2011 has been remarkable for its constant dry weather which although December has been fairly wet, the problem is far from over imo. April was a superb month and the end of September and early October was exceptional. Here has enjoyed some fantastic Night lightning displays also. However other than that, my word has 2011 been boring and bland. Apart from 5 minutes of snow a couple of weeks ago, weve had just 1 hour of snow in 2011 on 7th January. January and February was boring and so was many of the other months of this year. Summer was decent enough here and better than most other regions Id say but very little exciting weather has happened. I really hope 2012 delivers something good as 2011 has been a right snoozefest really.

In summary, I must emphasise how dry things have been for so much of 2011 here in the Midlands, East Anglia and South East. So much rain is zapped by the Welsh Mountains and we have seen less rainfall here this year than the Average for Madrid! I can only see a proper drought ris occurring in 2012. Something has really changed about precipitation in this part of the world. For 90% of the year its been damn hard to get any rain.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Blizzards