Scotland/Alba Weather Discussion 2019

[Quinach]

Ah, autumn came quick this year.  Max of 9.5c accompanied by a cold, light to moderate SE wind and sporadic pulses of rain (some heavy, particularly around teatime).

All the rain has made a difference in the garden, everything looking very lush now.

[Norrance]

A driech damp day here but a touch milder at 11.2C. No heavier bursts yet today unlike yesterday afternoon.

The thunderstorm mentioned by Kirkcaldy weather above in the early hours of the 2nd July 2015 was by far the best that I have seen here in Dundee. Non stop thunder and forked lightning for over 3 hours and being in the middle of the night only helping the display.

The only thing that comes close perhaps was the thundersnow event of 28th Nov 2010 which went on for 12 hours or so but was never as intense. 

[NUT]

Pouring with rain once again but a lot warmer than it was yesterday

[ciel]

1 hour ago, Norrance said:

The only thing that comes close perhaps was the thundersnow event of 28th Nov 2010 which went on for 12 hours or so but was never as intense. 

Yes, I remember that eerie event quite vividly.

[Norrance]

Quite a sudden change from cold and wet this morning as it had been for the last couple of days to warm and wet now. Temp rose from 11C to 16C this afternoon. Back down to 14.6C now.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Norrance

[Northernlights]

Another very dreich day with constant light to moderate rain.A bit less cool. Currently 12c

Fine day for doing VAT return and getting to grips with  the new software for digital tax.Lot more detail required for every transaction so more typing required  so increasing the time it takes to upload all the information. Add to this all the other paerwork needed on the farm and about 10% of your time is spent on administration.

We are too small a buisness to employ a secretary

[Quinach]

Mild with a max temperature of 16c.  Accompanied by a sometimes gusty westerly wind and copious amounts of rain on an off all day.

Birds seem particularly hungry just now, emptying the feeders within hours rather than a few days as is usually the case at this time of year.

Not many honey bees around but Bumble Bees were out in force between the outbreaks of rain, smothering the Cotoneaster bushes in the garden - never realised that this is now considered a invasive plant species (link).

[Polar Maritime]

Yes tis a wall Butterfly as Ciel identified for me the other day, Mine was actually on a wall though  Pheasants look like a breeding pair.. I have a white one that hangs around my back garden which I throw a bit of corn out for every evening. He's becoming pretty tame now.

Edited June 1, 2019 by Polar Maritime

[ciel]

1 hour ago, CatchMyDrift said:

OK, so I'm hoping this is a bullfinch?

I think the bird is a Chaffinch with quite a prominent white wing-bar? You can compare the features of the two species in the link below.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/bullfinch/

[Glaswegianblizzard]

Son poking through the clouds in Glasgow which is a massive improvement on the past few days. Some heavy bursts of rain have passed through which although probably needed and have topped the river level up here was pretty dull and dreich.

Today looks to be the best we will get for a while. Might need to be patient for some warm and sunny stuff this year. Everyone moans about the rain but we have to put up with it sometimes, we'd really miss it otherwise.

[NUT]

What GB said. Took a while to get going but a pleasant afternoon and quite warm................it's not going to last

[Polar Gael]

Recent weather: keech and dreich sums it up. Forecast for the foreseeable looks similar. 

And no harm to anyone, but I'm really hoping that the NW summer long-range forecast is as far out as its first sh*te...

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/uk/long-range/seasonal

[Hairy Celt]

The forecast for home today was no rain so we headed west into the hills for our daily fix. The last time I was up this way (north from Glen Affric it was full winter conditions - not so today..

       some trailing azalea - must be some of the smallest flowers of any plant I know;

 

and the burns were well up      

Tomorrow we get more rain at home, wahay.                                                               

[Norrance]

There must have been some heavy overnight rain in Perth  judging by the deep puddles across various roads in the area this morning.  Dull and damp back here in Dundee but feeling quite mild at 14C

[Hairy Celt]

14 hours ago, Polar Gael said:

Recent weather: keech and dreich sums it up. Forecast for the foreseeable looks similar. 

And no harm to anyone, but I'm really hoping that the NW summer long-range forecast is as far out as its first sh*te...

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/uk/long-range/seasonal

Lone ranger forecasts are almost always dog biscuits in my experience....

[Hairy Celt]

2 hours ago, Hairy Celt said:

Lone ranger forecasts are almost always dog biscuits in my experience....

Lone ranger? Wtf did that come from?

[Northernlights]

 

Just put the below on  a farming thread about the weather with reference to the very dry weather that UK has experienced this spring and which some areas in the south still are.

"Very wet here again this morning only about two and a half weeks since the soil surface was talcum powder. Lots of silage needing cut in the area and in our own case swedes still to sow. This is a symptom of climate change where locked and blocked weather patterns take hold resulting in periods of extremely dry or wet patterns.One of the main reasons is a weak jetstream which is very meridional (wavy) caused by the reduction of the thermal gradient between the arctic and the equator which in turn has been increased by the lack of ice in the arctic. Opposite of the usual UK summer weather three fine days and a thunderstorm now three wet days and dry one in our area."

Humid and breezy this afternoon,currently 19c.

 

[Mr Frost]

The rain can seriously do one now! Four days of heavy rain on and off! Woke up this morning to proper torrential rain for a couple of hours!

Dry now but it returns Monday and Tuesday here - miserable start to Summer! (Although it is currently 16 degrees so not cold)

We average between 200 and 265 days of rain per year here in the West of Scotland - if only the Winter precipitation always fell as snow!

Had another cruise ship pass through last night - once again I thought about swimming out and attaching myself to it for a few days in the sun! 

Anyways the weather can’t get any worse so it can only get better - again hopefully by mid June things start to look sunnier and warmer! 

Have a good Sunday all!

Edited June 2, 2019 by Mr Frost

[Glaswegianblizzard]

I'm not sure I go along with what you're saying there @Northernlights - here in the west the three days of rain and then a bit of sun is how many a summer has panned out. While we all tend to remember the warm and sunny summers the best, I can also recall times when it seemed like all of western Europe including much of England were basking, yet here in Scotland, and particulatly western Scotland, we were getting repeated soakings. Whilst the rain recently has been remarkable for how heavy it has tended to be - and there you may have a point - I'm not feeling anything entirely out of the ordinary about this year so far.

However, you working with the land and around the weather, and being in your location, may contribute to the difference in our perspectives here.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Glaswegianblizzard

[Mr Frost]

@Northernlights @Glaswegianblizzard both making good points!

I think the three fine days and thunderstorm relate more to the South East of England nowadays. 

Thunderstorms are a rarity here and the three fine days for us are usually reserved for May and June! 

It feels as though we are on a different planet when you compare our Summers to the South of England - again today for example it’s 28 degrees down there. 

Obviously due to the location they are more prone to heat than us but it seems to be happening more and more that we are stuck in a cooler airmass/under precipitation while they sizzle throughout the Summer months. 

This is a chart from the GFS 06z earlier and obviously this will change again on the latest GFS run but you would bet money on it actually happening - it just seems to be how it is nowadays! 

I love heat and thunderstorms so it is incredibly frustrating most Summers living here especially if we have also had to endure a crap Winter with barely any snowfalls.

So with regards to all of the above...roll on a hot/sunny Summer with some fantastic thunderstorms and a cold and very snowy winter! 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Mr Frost

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

purely for entertainment as hugely unlikely but this is definitely the highest CAPE value I have seen on the charts for here in my 10 years of model watching     I still think that a warmer / thundery spell of some kind is likely within the next 2-3 weeks (usually anything thundery / warmer before July is a bonus for my area), anything is better than days of relentless rain which we are enduring ATM. 

[Northernlights]

I think my perception of the three fine days stems from my childhood in the sixties especially when making hay   (need two dry days in a row to bale hay when it is ready) )in late June and July where the prevailing wind from the SW gave us the protection of the mountains keeping us dry betwwen slower moving depression which were probably on a more northerly track. The frequency of Northerly sourced winds has increased in our more recent wet summers and therefore our area catches a lot of rain off the sea. Obviously more southerly tracking depressions are part of this. As an example of climate change I always  refer to my college grassland  lecturers(early 1970"s) who said that because of  the almost certainty of drought in June in the Moray Firth area you always added Cocksfoot grass to a mixture as it was very drought reistant but produces very coarse feed in a wet year.Have reduced it in mixtures now but last summer proved its worth. Nairn has often been referred to as the Riviera of the north in the past because of its very dry climate but until last year it was losing thar title

[shuggee]

Here's Finn looking north to the brightness and even blue sky Edinburgh way this evening - with a pang of jealousy. High in the forrest on the road out of Skirling.

 

[Quinach]

Cloudy start then good spells of sunshine in the late afternoon raising temperatures to a respectable 19c.

Winds were light in the morning but strengthened as the day went on; now pretty strong going by the howl coming through the window vent!

[Huntforsnow]

It's like a winter morning here in Ayrshire, dark wet and windy