Summer 2013

[Costa Del Fal]

Nowhere near as good as 2006 here, it's been nothing special save those 2 weeks in July.

 

June far too cool despite being dry and at times sunny, highest max 22.5 which even June 2012 bettered. Felt like a good April.

 

July had that spell which was better than anything since 2006, but was disappointed it didn't hit 30C when all the conditions seemed right. The month was however wetter than average here thanks to its monsoonal last 9 days, which infuriating didn't produce any overhead storms here either.

 

August had a cracking first 3 days, 29.5C on the 1st (would surely have hit 30 if the sun had come out before 2pm though....) then the first overhead storm since 2011 on the 3rd. All downhill then until yesterday, far too cloudy during the day and will struggle to make average sunshine now.

 

Overall about equal to 2005, with the best bits not as good (19th June 05)  and the worst bits not as bad (that appalling dull cold end to July 05) as that year.

I think you have vastly overstated it there.

Those last 9 days of July were not Monsoonal. It turned a little cooler in the last week but it remained very warm with some occasioanl rain. You make it out to be 2007 esque. Careful with your wording. Im amazed you never reached 30c if here almost touched 33c though I am in an urban area and in a bit od a dip so we get to trap the heat more. On the 1st August it was 30c pretty much all over the Midlands. It always seems to be except Shrewsbury. Get out of the place man! :lol:

[cheese]

I don't know why you always insist on making sweeping statements and trying to score points in your posts which are often otherwise well put-together. Sunshine averages can be very varied over quite small areas and coastal areas of the west are often as sunny if not sunnier on average than many places in the east. For instance Robin Hood Airport averages 1477 hours over the year, Blackpool averages 1566 hours. Morecambe 1507 hours. Dishforth Airfield in North Yorkshire averages 1438 hours over the year with no month reaching 200 on average. Pershore which isn't too far from Blizzards gets 1537 hours in a year.Compare to 1573 at Church Fenton. Only a couple of hours in it if you compare the sunniest month at Pershore with the sunniest month at Church Fenton and Pershore is clearly warmer.

 

There really isn't a lot of difference over the year between the stations in the west and the east. You picked out a particularly dull station in Coleshill- not sure about the location of the station but a lot of the stations around it are sunnier and very close to your average in Church Fenton. Sunshine is related to topography as well- the west is generally hillier but the flatter areas in the west away from high ground will compare favourably with those in the east. Church Fenton couldn't be much closer to sea level at just 8m.

I think Blizzards is a little too happy that the east has fared worst this summer. His posts seem to celebrate it - rubbing salt in the wounds, I guess you could say. That's very naughty.

 

But no, you're right - there isn't much difference, but that small difference between Church Fenton and Pershore cannot be forgotten - don't you forget that extra 37 hours!

 

Oh, and I'm surprised by Doncaster Airport's figures, it's no sunnier than Sheffield, and is at a similar elevation to here. Must be more fog-prone, I guess, and we're very fog-prone.

Edited August 27, 2013 by cheese

[feb1991blizzard]

I didn't enjoy this summer up until a few weeks ago, I have preferred it ever since, last year was my most enjoyable summer ever.

[Summer of 95]

I think you have vastly overstated it there.

Those last 9 days of July were not Monsoonal. It turned a little cooler in the last week but it remained very warm with some occasioanl rain. You make it out to be 2007 esque. Careful with your wording. Im amazed you never reached 30c if here almost touched 33c though I am in an urban area and in a bit od a dip so we get to trap the heat more. On the 1st August it was 30c pretty much all over the Midlands. It always seems to be except Shrewsbury. Get out of the place man!

I really wish I could sometimes, or perhaps all the S Midlands/Eastern people who doubt the existence of the Shropshire Sunshield should spend a Summer here  Easterlies- we get North Sea Muck often till 3pm and beyond, even though the North Sea is over 100 miles away and Cheshire/Manchester escapes. Westerlies we get the cloud when the rest of the Midlands is fine and the SE bakes. Cloud bubbles up here in dry spells when Birmingham/Words/E Mids stays sunny. And there are those bloody Cheshire Gap breezes that get here 50 miles inland and keep us 2-5C cooler than everywhere else in the Mids- sometimes blowing as strong as F6-7.

 

It was like a monsoon when we had 35 mm that one Saturday night and 30-odd more the rest of the week, if that kept going over a month would be close to 200mm. 

[Costa Del Fal]

I think Blizzards is a little too happy that the east has fared worst this summer. His posts seem to celebrate it - rubbing salt in the wounds, I guess you could say. That's very naughty.

 

No not at all. I am very happy here as faired so well though. But there is no denying how much North Sea cloud you lot put up with though.   Yes the average year wouldnt have had such a high Easterly frequency. But this year the odds have favoured the west for a change. 

[syed2878]

the kind of summer weather i find crap is cloudy and humid and in winter i don't mind 4c as long as its sunny. How ever gray and mirky 4c with nothing happening is boring.

[mushymanrob]

re 2013 vs 2006

 

its pretty clear that locations play a huge part on how 'good' your summer was... people in the west fared much better, having a warmer sunnier spell in early june and sheltered from the nagging east/northeasterlies that were a huge spoiler for those of us prone to an inclemant north sea.

 

june 4/10 .... (due to no days of 25c)

july 7/10....... (due to the cool, cloudier interruptions)

august 4/10... (too cloudy, not enough sun though temps were nearly great)

[Bottesford]

I didn't record 30c either - in fact we only got 4 (I think 4 but I'm not far out) days I'd call 'hot' (i.e. >28c) during the whole summer. August 1st was our hottest day at 29.4c.Plenty (in July) or 'very warm' (25-27c) days and plenty of warm (22-25c) days in July & August. June didn't make it to 25c and was terribly cloudy & cool at times.

 

One thing that was superb this year - storms! Lots of them in July with us scoring near direct hits coupled with very heavy rain.

[Lettucing Gutted]

Summer 2013 1/10 whats the point of all the heat humidity and warmth without a run of storms to compensate!

June 2013 10/10

July 2013 1/10

August 2013 1/10

[cheese]

To anyone complaining about cloud this summer - be thankful you're not in Lerwick: http://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?lang=en&ord=REV&ndays=30&ano=2013&mes=08&day=28&hora=06&ind=03005

[laserguy]

To anyone complaining about cloud this summer - be thankful you're not in Lerwick: http://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?lang=en&ord=REV&ndays=30&ano=2013&mes=08&day=28&hora=06&ind=03005

 

Y'all know what's coming - but I'd lurve to be in Lerwick....

[Thundery wintry showers]

This summer has really been one of two halves for thundery activity- very little until around 22/23 July, then a pretty high frequency of it.  Here in Sandhutton there's been a lot of distant ones, mostly to the S and SW, but only one day with a couple of overhead ones, though some of the distant ones have produced quite spectacular lightning displays.  I picked up another overhead one while on holiday, in Dumfriesshire on the morning of the 23rd July.  So overall, probably about average for storms with the two halves cancelling each other out.

 

I think from a personal enjoyment perspective Summer 2013 has fallen behind those of 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2006, but has beaten the other summers that I've experienced since 1993.  There hasn't been a lot in it between 2013 and 2006 either- 2006 has to get the nod becasue of that phenomenal July, but it's easy to forget that much of August 2006 was cloudy with cool daytime maxima which, combined with a fairly cloudy phase in northern England in the second half of June 2006, will certainly have dented the Manchester summer index score.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Thundery wintry showers

[BlueSkies_do_I_see]

This summer has really been one of two halves for thundery activity- very little until around 22/23 July, then a pretty high frequency of it.  Here in Sandhutton there's been a lot of distant ones, mostly to the S and SW, but only one day with a couple of overhead ones, though some of the distant ones have produced quite spectacular lightning displays.  I picked up another overhead one while on holiday, in Dumfriesshire on the morning of the 23rd July.  So overall, probably about average for storms with the two halves cancelling each other out.

 

I think from a personal enjoyment perspective Summer 2013 has fallen behind those of 1994, 1995, 1996 and 2006, but has beaten the other summers that I've experienced since 1993.  There hasn't been a lot in it between 2013 and 2006 either- 2006 has to get the nod becasue of that phenomenal July, but it's easy to forget that much of August 2006 was cloudy with cool daytime maxima which, combined with a fairly cloudy phase in northern England in the second half of June 2006, will certainly have dented the Manchester summer index score.

So for some parts of the UK, especially the west, could 2013 have surpassed 2006 for the superior August we have had?

[cheese]

The storm of the 22nd makes up for the lack of storm activity in general here..

 

 

(ignore the still image - nothing like that occurs unfortunately! Still pretty good though)

Edited August 28, 2013 by cheese

[mushymanrob]

One thing that was superb this year - storms! Lots of them in July with us scoring near direct hits coupled with very heavy rain.

 

... and ive not had 1 ! ok, theres been thunder in rain, but the great storm on the monday of the breakdown missed us by a few miles...it looked fantastic though 'over yon'...

 

i think from my perspective, august has been poor due to the rain we had late july/early aug... that spurred the grass on to grow, and its still growing... its nast soft fleshy growth that doesnt mow/collect easy. the moisture also aided dew, and i hate dew when im mowing!

 

so maybe IF we hadnt had so much rain, the grass would have been drier/shorter and my opinion of august might have been better..

[Bottesford]

Yes its rained a fair bit but very often its come at night or in short very sharp bursts. Not good for mowing but good for keeping things growing but not wrecking outdoor fun!

Either way - this is a good base for how summer should be the majority of the time - dryish, warmth, a little heat, some coolness... Then mix in some proper hot/sunny ones too and we're sorted!

[Summer of 95]

Will be interesting to see August' s anomaly maps: my impression is that it's been a cloudy month here whereas many others seem to be saying the opposite. July was certainly sunnier than average, but some way short of 2006. June was fairly near average, so summer I think will come out close to average as well. Better than the last 7 years but certainly not in there with the best.

[Bottesford]

It has been pretty cloudy here too but its been the bits of sun and haze rather than the solid thick cloud we got earlier in the season off the North Sea. It's also a damn sight warmer!

[Thundery wintry showers]

So for some parts of the UK, especially the west, could 2013 have surpassed 2006 for the superior August we have had?

Quite possibly- indeed Kevin's Manchester summer index (which generally tends to be closely correlated with my own thoughts) has 2013 slightly ahead of 2006.

[hillbilly]

I really wish I could sometimes, or perhaps all the S Midlands/Eastern people who doubt the existence of the Shropshire Sunshield should spend a Summer here  Easterlies- we get North Sea Muck often till 3pm and beyond, even though the North Sea is over 100 miles away and Cheshire/Manchester escapes. Westerlies we get the cloud when the rest of the Midlands is fine and the SE bakes. Cloud bubbles up here in dry spells when Birmingham/Words/E Mids stays sunny. And there are those bloody Cheshire Gap breezes that get here 50 miles inland and keep us 2-5C cooler than everywhere else in the Mids- sometimes blowing as strong as F6-7.

 

It was like a monsoon when we had 35 mm that one Saturday night and 30-odd more the rest of the week, if that kept going over a month would be close to 200mm. 

I suffer a similar fate here Manchester and leeds get much better weather than here in the hills just 20 miles away,we get all the low cloud ...in fact just like today been cloudy all day ,just trying to brighten up now....another day again ...pretty much the story of this summer

[cheese]

Quite possibly- indeed Kevin's Manchester summer index (which generally tends to be closely correlated with my own thoughts) has 2013 slightly ahead of 2006.

Well, August 2013 is better than August 2006 by far for warmth, but June and July were no match, so 2006 is better here.

[Milhouse]

Bridlington August 1995 mean max 19.9c

  July 2013 mean max 20.3c.

 

The widely acknowleged fantastic summer month of August 1995 was cooler than the supposed 'west is best' month of July 2013.

[Bottesford]

Didn't Aug '95 have cooler nights? I seem to remember is being hot & sunny (with clear skies) by day then cooling off at night. This July was perhaps more humid thus higher night temps?

[Weather-history]

Bridlington August 1995 mean max 19.9c   July 2013 mean max 20.3c. The widely acknowleged fantastic summer month of August 1995 was cooler than the supposed 'west is best' month of July 2013.

Bridlington is on the east coast, I seem to recall that there was an easterly flow during the height of the heatwave of early August 1995http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZMMgawYgy0

[Jax]

I will miss this summer when it comes to pass, it has been one of the better ones in recent years that is for sure.