Spring 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter.

[Thundery wintry showers]

In Lincoln I've managed 5 thunder-days out of the past 15 so am not complaining too much at the moment, though the upcoming wet and windy weather doesn't particularly appeal, nor does the longer-term outlook with high pressure in the "wrong" place.  The latter could still change though with the latest GFS 12Z run having the high further east than a lot of other recent runs.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[cheeky_monkey]

snowing in Edmonton for the last 18 hrs ..just saying

[al78]

I picked the wrong year to go on a backpacking trip in Scotland. At this rate I will need ice axe and crampons to get up any of the Munros in a couple of weeks. Freezing level still at or below 1000m frequently.

[Frigid]

I’d say before 2016, the May’s were pretty dismal. Only recently we’ve had pretty good May’s most notably 2018 and 2020. I guess we’re due a bad May and by the looks of it, it might not even reach 16c here for the remainder of the month which is quite unprecedented.

Can’t remember a May that has only had a max of 15c but here we are. Even May 1996, the coldest since 1902 had a brief warm spell at the end. 

[Britneyfan]

Been a nice day today in south Essex couple of showers popped up but lots of warm sunny spells and temps 18° which was lovely 

[weatherguru14]

This current set up that is about to happen Reminds  me of 2013.. we started off with a high to the west in June. it was nice for the western side of the UK. Including my location. Then the high drifted east and it lead to one of the hottest Julys I can ever remember. Obviously no two years are exact..so i don't know what 2021 will bring. 

[NEVES SCREAMER]

3 hours ago, al78 said:

I picked the wrong year to go on a backpacking trip in Scotland. At this rate I will need ice axe and crampons to get up any of the Munros in a couple of weeks. Freezing level still at or below 1000m 

Got a feeling this is gonna be the quintesenntial  English summer with ridging in from the Atlantic.  The Accuweather said no real heat in UK until July. The Eastern block fades away late summer. 

[damianslaw]

10 hours ago, hillbilly said:

It does seem if March this year has the highest temps of the spring it could indeed be unprecedented,certainly in modern times,however it is worth noting that in local areas it certainly is not the case.It is recorded that Whitby's highest temp of the entire Year in 1965 was in March and there are many other years where March could have been the warmest day of Spring but missed out by a couple of warmer days in Aptil or May but overall some of those years could have been worse than the spring we have just had.It certainly has been cool but the rainfall and wet days have not been really bad. March for instance i would take what we have had over a wet and warm one.Many are predicting a shocking summer after this poor spring but i for one would take this Spring every year if we had a very good summer.There have been many times in the height of Summer when we have had drizzle or rain at 12 degrees here in the Pennines,worse than what we have been having recently,that will be my time to Moan.

Despite the persistant chill since late March, thankfully we've been spared much of the dreaded SW airstream which whilst bringing very mild minima and mild maxima also brings clag, low cloud and drizzle or rain to these parts. It often goes into hibernation in April and May, then stirs in June, awakens in July and stays fully awake thereafter from August to March, well in some years it does. My expectations for odds of settled weather drop markedly from late July onwards, time is ticking - 2 months left, we've nearly lost 2 already now..

Shame we haven't been able to make the most of a very quiet atlantic with high pressure overhead instead rather than a position which delivers notable chill.

Edited May 19, 2021 by damianslaw

[The real Lomond snowstorm]

The last 4 days have been very sunny and quite pleasant locally, with maximum temperatures around or a little above average and feeling warmer in the strong sun.  Minimum temperatures have been as low as 4C but mostly around the average of 6 or 7C.

 We did have an hour of showers yesterday afternoon but this is the West of Scotland and otherwise it has been dry during the daylight hours since Sunday.

Personally, I'm quite happy if it is sunny and dry, even if the temperatures are not particularly high.

 

[Sky Full]

Well, I’m sitting here with the doors, windows and roof being rattled and shaken by this typical autumn Atlantic storm with copious rainfall to accompany it, and if it wasn’t for the flowers in the garden it would be hard to believe it’s Spring at all.....   Guess there won’t be too many flowers left by tomorrow the way they’re being battered about.  Please let this be the last of these storms before October, at least.....

[Nick L]

Will be in Bude tonight, looks like it's going to be very noisy. Quite an active October, this.

[Scorcher]

20 hours ago, summer blizzard said:

I must admit that I don't remember a worse May since perhaps 2010. It's the complete lack of warmth that has done it for me, most may-sep months see at least one stray spell.

2010 was much better than this in my opinion- there was a notably hot spell around this time in 2010. Also plenty of days above 15C which have hardly happened here this month.

[Evening thunder]

11 minutes ago, Nick L said:

Will be in Bude tonight, looks like it's going to be very noisy. Quite an active October, this.

Just said the same to a friend lol apart from every October I've recorded has been warmer by mean temp, mean max, and absolute max!

[Weather Enthusiast91]

I feel that this is turning out to be the worst May during my lifetime. I was only four years old in May 1996 so I don't remember it all that well, but according to reports it was a fairly poor month though it did manage a couple of warm days around the end with temperatures widely reaching 20 Celsius or above. I desperately need to sort my garden out as it is beginning to look like a jungle.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Britneyfan]

My current max mean for May is 15.1° last year it was 18.2° oh well not every year will be the same, it does look like high pressure moves in, so could be a nice end to spring if everything works in our favour, depends where the high ends up but if it can push east a bit then we could get low 20s to end May start June, would be a nice start to summer, so let’s see what happens 

april max mean = 11.2° 

may max mean = 15.1° (so far) 

south Essex 

[SummerShower]

Hopefully if we get an active Atlantic hurricane season kicking off it will stir things up and push this block away.  The way things are going I'd happily take a mobile pattern with a chance of brief plumes.

I suppose, on a positive, it is a fairly thundery may so far in relation to how cold its been.  Appreciate this varies by location but some places have had several thunder days.  

[al78]

5 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

Hopefully if we get an active Atlantic hurricane season kicking off it will stir things up and push this block away.  The way things are going I'd happily take a mobile pattern with a chance of brief plumes.

I suppose, on a positive, it is a fairly thundery may so far in relation to how cold its been.  Appreciate this varies by location but some places have had several thunder days.  

The Atlantic hurricane season doesn't really get going until August, and there isn't much activity before mid August in an average year, so we really need something else to break down this locked in pattern if we are going to have anything resembling a fair to good summer.

[damianslaw]

9 hours ago, Sky Full said:

Well, I’m sitting here with the doors, windows and roof being rattled and shaken by this typical autumn Atlantic storm with copious rainfall to accompany it, and if it wasn’t for the flowers in the garden it would be hard to believe it’s Spring at all.....   Guess there won’t be too many flowers left by tomorrow the way they’re being battered about.  Please let this be the last of these storms before October, at least.....

Yes a deep low pressure for the time of year, quite unusual. One feature of last autumn and winter was the lack of storms once again, we've had a run of years with just the odd storm or two.. not complaining. 

[stainesbloke]

Very unpleasant weather today, that wind is vile and already damaging the new spring growth. Has felt chilly all day, very November-like. 

[Eugene]

The mildies got their wish and a few weeks ago were celebrating the warmer 850 hPa temp profile this May, it's coming back to haunt them now with all the crap wet weather, hard to feel any sympathy for them. 

[Arctic Hare]

It's been a truly dreadful May so far. To the point where a day like a couple of days ago, ie with at least some warmish sunshine between all the showers, feels almost heavenly. I'd take going back to April's sunny chill over this, without a doubt. Yes I complained about the cold then, and I see no reason to be ashamed of that as most of us did the same. But I'm at the stage now where if we get largely dry, cloudy 18 °C weather by the Bank Holiday I'll be close to being thrilled!

I too have taken to having the odd sneaky peek at the NHC website to see what might be brewing in the Atlantic. As it happens there is currently a disturbance with an 80% chance of becoming a subtropical system in the next 48 hours. Admittedly in May it's pretty unlikely to become the kind of storm that can really shake things up, but you never know! And (as long as it avoided landfall, of course) I'd be all for that at this point. Roll the dice!

[danm]

The quicker we see the back of this month, the better. I can’t remember such a cool and wet May. How anyone can enjoy this weather at this time of year is beyond me.

[LetItSnow!]

why does everything have to be mildie vs. coldie? ah, the days when we'll stop that nonsense... dream on! 

1 hour ago, Eugene said:

The mildies got their wish and a few weeks ago were celebrating the warmer 850 hPa temp profile this May, it's coming back to haunt them now with all the crap wet weather, hard to feel any sympathy for them. 

 

[Weather-history]

Yesterday was poor.

 

[Weather-history]

From NOAA's climate predicition centre.

Rostherne's mean temperature near Manchester Airport since the 2nd April