Spring 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter.

[Nick L]

Well we've managed some thunder at least! On the day I'd usually be flying out to the US to see some proper storms.

[Penrith Snow]

2 hours ago, damianslaw said:

That is a shocking statistic!

March 1965 was remarkable and the snowy spell at the start of the month gave Carlisle its deepest ever snowfall of 21cms, Carlisle isn't a snowy City and 20cms hasn't been recorded since.

The switch to summer conditions a couple of weeks later must have been fantastic.

Andy

[Downburst]

Only 3 of the last 12 months in Dublin Airport are above average for temperature. that was November, February and March. In fact the previous 3 years to 2021 have not exceeded the 1971 - 2000 or 1981 - 2010 yearly mean for temperature. 

[al78]

Yesterday the forecast thunderstorms were notable by their absence. A few flashes and bangs this afternoon in the Horsham district.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

7 hours ago, summer blizzard said:

Personally quite happy that we continue to eat into our heat window for the year. Euro has backed to a cooler late May outlook again.

Just as I will be quite happy if the period 1/12/21 to 28/2/22 is none stop mild south westerly winds. No snow. No ice. No frost. No fog. Great.

[Weather Enthusiast91]

If we don't have a warm spell at some point during this month, then this May will turn out to be worse than May 2012. At least that did deliver some warm weather towards the end.

[B87]

4 minutes ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

If we don't have a warm spell at some point during this month, then this May will turn out to be worse than May 2012. At least that did deliver some warm weather towards the end.

It'll be worse than May 1996. Even that had a warm spell. I'd say this May could quite easily end up the worst on record at Heathrow.

There is still zero sign of anything reaching 20c, let alone an actual warm spell.

Edited May 17, 2021 by B87

[Sunny76]

20 minutes ago, B87 said:

It'll be worse than May 1996. Even that had a warm spell. I'd say this May could quite easily end up the worst on record at Heathrow.

There is still zero sign of anything reaching 20c, let alone an actual warm spell.

May 1984 was just as bad as this. Only one warm sunny day I think later in the month. 

[B87]

3 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

May 1984 was just as bad as this. Only one warm sunny day I think later in the month. 

April 1984 wasn't icy cold like this one though. Only 1991 had a worse April/May combination.

[markyo]

32 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

May 1984 was just as bad as this. Only one warm sunny day I think later in the month. 

Are you just quoting records on this?

[NEVES SCREAMER]

As a person who dislikes cold weather with a vengeance this current period October to May is very hard to take. I was out and about this morning and the sun went behind a thick grey cloud and it started spitting with rain and it just felt like soulless cold. Like November. It must have been 10c/11c . So very sad. If the weather Gods are fair minded we will have a dazzling October full of low 20's sunshine and no cold evenings.

[Britneyfan]

Had plenty of heavy showers today I’m south Essex but managed to reach 16.1° which felt nice in the sun, and you can really feel the warmth in the sun! 
even shoeburyness reached 16 today and the mean is running 14.7° which is only slightly below average for May which is 16 

so actually not doing too badly in south Essex tbh, below average yes but not as bad as other parts of the country, only 1 degree below 

[Evening thunder]

It looked like most showers had missed here today but then a torrential shower with a couple rumbles brought the total to 9.2mm in 10 minutes.

We've now had 153mm this month, with 146.6mm from the 8th onwards.

Wettest days:
8th: 20.8mm
12th: 25.4mm
13th: 34.8mm
15th: 14.6mm
16th: 31.0mm

The 12th & 13th was persistent rain which brought about 57mm in 24 hours (barely stopped raining), with 60mm in total. That didn't cause too many problems, but quite high river levels and some rivers had their usual flooding on low lying floodplain areas.

However it left the ground saturated so yesterday's heavy downpours which saw 31.0mm here (40mm+ recordings a couple miles away), did cause flooding issues from surface water and smaller streams around here, with a few roads blocked. The 'flashy' River Sid also had a brief peak to its highest level since November 2016.

A torrential downpour at the end of the rain yesterday gave me 5.0mm in 4 minutes and 7mm in 10 minutes. Today I also had 4.4mm in 4 minutes and 7.6mm in 10 minutes.

May had been the only month in my 2008-2020 records not to see over 100mm, but this year it must already be one of the wettest on record, but I'm not sure what the local record is. I guess if the weather's going to be a bit rubbish it may as well do it in an interesting fashion. 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Evening thunder

[stainesbloke]

2 hours ago, Britneyfan said:

Had plenty of heavy showers today I’m south Essex but managed to reach 16.1° which felt nice in the sun, and you can really feel the warmth in the sun! 
even shoeburyness reached 16 today and the mean is running 14.7° which is only slightly below average for May which is 16 

so actually not doing too badly in south Essex tbh, below average yes but not as bad as other parts of the country, only 1 degree below 

16°C is average for the beginning of May though in much of SE England, by the end of the month it rises to 19°C. How long was it 16°C for today? Heathrow was more like 13°C for much of the day. So current temperatures are not good, especially with all the cloud and showers around. Nice to see convection and hear thunder but it needs to warm up now.

[Britneyfan]

5 minutes ago, stainesbloke said:

16°C is average for the beginning of May though in much of SE England, by the end of the month it rises to 19°C. How long was it 16°C for today? Heathrow was more like 13°C for much of the day. So current temperatures are not good, especially with all the cloud and showers around. Nice to see convection and hear thunder but it needs to warm up now.

Not according to the met office, 16 degrees is the monthly high for my part in Essex, it’s 14° at the start and 17° at the end taken from the met office website for my area, and the high at Heathrow was 16.5° you can check on meteociel 

[stainesbloke]

8 hours ago, Britneyfan said:

Not according to the met office, 16 degrees is the monthly high for my part in Essex, it’s 14° at the start and 17° at the end taken from the met office website for my area, and the high at Heathrow was 16.5° you can check on meteociel 

Ok, Heathrow may have reached 16.5°C, but only for about 2 minutes! And it’s just 7°C this morning, that’s cold 

Edited May 18, 2021 by stainesbloke

[AderynCoch]

Lashed it down for most yesterday and didn't get above 14C. If we're lucky we might hit the dizzy heights of 18C today.

Still nothing even average on the horizon. Day 7 might creep above 20C but even that's a big if at this stage (and would still be below average). I don't recall ever seeing such unremitting cold output in the models before. It's going to be the third poor May in a row for sure.

[Snowy L]

I'm so desperate I'll even take the cold high on offer this morning. 13C and sunny would be in the top 5 days so far this year.

[hillbilly]

18 hours ago, B87 said:

April 1984 wasn't icy cold like this one though. Only 1991 had a worse April/May combination.

Many of the 80s springs were cool and changeable,i would say 1986 was just as bad as 1991 overall.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Yes April 1984 was a very fine April, dry and sunny with warm days and cold nights.  But yes May 1986 was changeable, with an early hot spell followed by westerlies and low pressure, though some eastern areas managed close to or slightly above average sunshine.  And April 1986 was dull and wet as well as cold, with many areas seeing frequent sleet/wet snow falling but nothing of note on the ground, in contrast to the similarly cold but very sunny and dry April we've just had.

April and May 1983 were very wet and May in particular was cool and very dull as well, though for the storm lovers offset by a high frequency of thunder.  For those who don't like snow in mid to late spring 1975 and 1979 spring to mind as April/May combinations that would get classed as somewhat poor, though of course in 1975 it switched around in early June.

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[stainesbloke]

The sun is out at Heathrow which is nice, but it’s 12°C, which is pretty pathetic 

[al78]

How many years has the highest Spring temperature been recorded in March?

[Weather-history]

On 17/05/2021 at 18:45, B87 said:

April 1984 wasn't icy cold like this one though. Only 1991 had a worse April/May combination.

Trouble with May 1991 were the cloud amounts and as a consequence suppressed maxima but actually it was an exceptionally dry month. So was it that bad?

Edited May 18, 2021 by Weather-history

[Thundery wintry showers]

I don't think April 1991 looks that bad - most of the sites that I've looked at had near average temperatures, near average rainfall and above average sunshine (with respect to 1961-1990, the most recent 30-year mean for 1991).  It was June 1991 that was dull, cold and wet, rather than April.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[B87]

1 hour ago, Weather-history said:

Trouble with May 1991 were the cloud amounts and as a consequence suppressed maxima but actually it was an exceptionally dry month. So was it that bad?

It was exceptionally cold and cloudy. 15.7c av max and 139 hours of sun is dreadful for May here. June was equally terrible, 17.8c and 135 hours, though very wet.