Summer 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, B87 said:

Another insane stat; the years in which September was sunnier than August at Heathrow. 2021 looks like being added to the list.

1958, 1968, 1971, 1979, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2020

11, soon to be 12 occasions, and 7/8 of them have occurred in the last 15 years when the record goes back to 1957.

Let's hope September will indeed be sunnier than August at Heathrow.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

22 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Depends where you are I guess. In Southern Europe 17c on Christmas Day would be quite nice, as there's a good chance the air will be dry and not damp, with good amounts of sunshine and the sun not setting at silly-o-clock.

In the UK I am not even sure 17C is possible around Christmas (though with slightly longer days I remember it has occurred in January - 1998 and 2003 come to mind) but if it did happen, you can just guarantee it will be drizzly, damp, tropical maritime muck...

That would be even more of a feat to get 17C without the sun in any winter month. December 2015 could've hit 17C had it not been for the incessant cloud and regular periods of rain. We managed 15C a few times in the odd brighter breaks.

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, Alderc said:

Goodness, just looked at the models. What a complete mess once this weekend comes along. As fully expected the FI modelling being warmer conditions and a better positioned high have completed collapsed. It now a full Atlantic assault an outlook that’ll ruin my golf weekend 10-12th. 

When was the last occasion when each month of the extended summer, May to September, recorded below-average sunshine and above-average rainfall widely across southern England? Not saying this year definitely will but I agree the 06Z GFS seems to show a return to the pattern of early August.

Thinking back as far as 1978 I can't recall a previous occasion. 1974 perhaps? I have heard that year was 'legendary' for a mild wet winter and cool wet summer, kind-of an anti-1947.

[Summer8906]

23 minutes ago, MP-R said:

That would be even more of a feat to get 17C without the sun in any winter month. December 2015 could've hit 17C had it not been for the incessant cloud and regular periods of rain. We managed 15C a few times in the odd brighter breaks.

Mind you I think Tm is required to get unusually high temps of even 15C in December - I don't think any other synoptic type is capable of achieving such temps. Tc air for instance will be cooled by a land-track across France - if it ever occurs.

In my lifetime I think I can only recall one day of dry, mild, sunny, settled weather in Dec - which was in 2015 as it happens, Dec 7th. But late December, I suspect it will be just about impossible. Generally very mild AND sunny weather seems to occur at its latest around November 25th and at its earliest around January 10th, and is only at all common before about Nov 15 and after about Jan 25.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Guest]

Cool, damp and breezy. It’s really horrid. This sort of weather could easily ground the first two days of the Bournemouth air show.

[al78]

51 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Let's hope September will indeed be sunnier than August at Heathrow.

Oh dear.

UK weather forecast: Heavy wind and rain to lash UK during ‘unsettled’ September

UK.YAHOO.COM

---

Heavy wind and rain will lash parts of the country during an “unsettled” September for the UK, forecasters say. The Met Office has put this down to an area of low pressure set to move in from...

 

[Summer8906]

12 minutes ago, al78 said:

Oh dear.

UK weather forecast: Heavy wind and rain to lash UK during ‘unsettled’ September

UK.YAHOO.COM

---

Heavy wind and rain will lash parts of the country during an “unsettled” September for the UK, forecasters say. The Met Office has put this down to an area of low pressure set to move in from...

 

Oh well, here's to a dry, warm, sunny October? Surely we'll get one good month before winter?

Though to be fair, GFS 06z isn't terrible-terrible, just dull, damp and drab for about a week in the south, worse in the north - with pressure rising somewhat in the mid-month week.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Nick L]

I'll give this summer a 2/10. The only warmth was unpleasant heat, sunshine has been limited, and thunderstorms bar one decent brief storm have been few and far between. A truly wretched season that is only interesting because it has been unrelentingly tedious.

[summer blizzard]

Well I enjoyed this summer, only a single 8 day period of real heat to fight through. Completely unremarkable the rest of the time.

 

[dubmuffin]

Well there you go - just about to take my September annual leave and the weather takes a turn for the worse - at least this gloom is dry and not to windy. Was planning to take the motorhome to the Lakes as I haven't been there before - looks like it'll be a windy washout second/third week of September

[stainesbloke]

Another vile day here with no sun, just grey murk and some heavy rain overnight into this morning. A maximum temperature of 16°C. How very sad

[Bradley in Kent]

Well, it's the last day of meteorological summer, so here my verdict:

Daytime temperatures - 5/10

Evening and night temperatures - 7/10

Hot spells (1 lasting 7 days) - 2/10

Absolute max (31c here) - 4/10

Sunshine - 3/10

Humidity (I like higher DPs) - 8/10

Thunderstorms - 7/10

Greenery and growth - 10/10

OVERALL RATING - 5/10 (different parameters have different weighting)

It was never going to be a classic given the background signals and here in Kent we've enjoyed good summers in recent years (SE getting warmer faster), and many weren't expecting much! It was okay but am now looking forward to the next phase in our seasons: early Autumn!

Edited August 31, 2021 by Bradley in Kent

[Sunny76]

3 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Depends where you are I guess. In Southern Europe 17c on Christmas Day would be quite nice, as there's a good chance the air will be dry and not damp, with good amounts of sunshine and the sun not setting at silly-o-clock.

In the UK I am not even sure 17C is possible around Christmas (though with slightly longer days I remember it has occurred in January - 1998 and 2003 come to mind) but if it did happen, you can just guarantee it will be drizzly, damp, tropical maritime muck...

We had a very mild sunny Christmas Day in 1987. I remember it. Clear blue skies and something approaching 15c or maybe 16c, but was 11 at the time so didn’t really see the big deal. My family were complaining about how weird it was though.

For me Christmas Day 1987 consisted of watching James Bond and the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, uncut.

 

[markyo]

21 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

We had a very mild sunny Christmas Day in 1987. I remember it. Clear blue skies and something approaching 15c or maybe 16c, but was 11 at the time so didn’t really see the big deal. My family were complaining about how weird it was though.

For me Christmas Day 1987 consisted of watching James Bond and the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, uncut.

 

How on earth do you remember what you did on a certain xmas day nearly 34 years ago including what the weather was like??!! When you were aged 11!!

[Thundery wintry showers]

I was 11 on Christmas Day 1995, and in contrast it was a white one in South Tyneside and I remember having a snowball fight in the afternoon.  I also vaguely remember the rather non-descript Christmas Day of 1994, which was a dull mild day following a pre-Christmas frosty, sunny spell, and at 12:20 Tom and Jerry was being shown on the BBC, which for me at that time was something significant to look forward to.  I also remember that my parents taped Daffy Duck's Quackbusters in Christmasses 1993 and 1995, and as 1993 was also a white Christmas, it led to me associating Daffy Duck's Quackbusters with white Christmasses.  Also I remember that on Christmas Day 1993 I got an aneroid barometer.  It started off sunny and then snow showers moved in.  And that was when I was just 9 years old, and I still have vague memories of that day, too.

Yes, some of us do have wacky memories like that!

Incidentally Christmas Day 1987 wasn't really that mild, it would have just felt like it because of the sunshine, particularly as it was a one-off sunny day in an otherwise dull spell.  It was a returning polar maritime air mass with temperatures a couple of degrees above average for the time of year.

Somewhere in Scotland actually reached 18.7C in December 2019 overnight under cloudy conditions, illustrating the issue that in December, very high temperatures tend to be brought about via Tm air masses which are often cloudy.  There was a very mild spell with 15-16C in the aforementioned December of 1994 (around 10th-12th I think) which was cloudy, and also around 14 December 1998.

I have vague recollections of some western areas having very mild, sunny weather around 7-8 December 2001 before the continental air came in and brought frequent overnight frost.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[Northwest NI]

Hate very mild weather in winter. I like things to be seasonal at all times. 

[mountain shadow]

36 minutes ago, markyo said:

How on earth do you remember what you did on a certain xmas day nearly 34 years ago including what the weather was like??!! When you were aged 11!!

I remember Christmas Day 1984 when I was eleven as I got a BMX and it was lovely and dry to go out and ride it.

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, markyo said:

How on earth do you remember what you did on a certain xmas day nearly 34 years ago including what the weather was like??!! When you were aged 11!!

Some stand out more than others I think, in fact I remember one Christmas Day when I was well under 11 (1978, rain). As for 1987 - I was in Cheshire on that day and I can't really remember the weather, other than that it was mild and I think dry, and in general, that December was dull, wet and extremely mild, though might have been colder at the start. In fact, late December 1987 was really quite similar to late December 2015.  I do remember receiving Monty Python's The Meaning of Life for Christmas when I was still under 18, and while I appreciated it, I was surprised that my dad broke the law to buy it, as he always seemed like a very law-abiding citizen

I do remember a wet-dry-wet-dry-wet-dry pattern for quite a bit of the 80s and including 1990, with the even years being wet, and the odd years dry. The dry years were mild and nondescript: none of them were cold. First seasonal weather we had after that was 1992, the first time since 1981.

Back to the 'is mild and sunny possible round the winter solistice' I have experienced days with reasonable sunshine totals with temps in low double figures - but these were unsettled rPm days when we managed to avoid dodging the showers, so not proper settled sunny weather as such.

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Weather Enthusiast91]

So that's it, folks. Another season done and dusted as we now step into the season of mellowness. 

Here's how I would personally rate the summer we've just had in my neck of the woods:

Daytime temperatures - 5/10

Evening and night temperatures - 8/10

Plumes - (non existant) 1/10

Absolute max (30°C on 3 days in July on 18th, 20th and 22nd in the West Mids) - 7/10

Sunshine - 4/10 (if it wasn't for the settled first half of June and the odd day or two in July, then I would have rated it even lower)

Humidity (the higher the rating = the more comfortable it has been) - 8/10

Thunderstorms - (we had one in June, but nothing spectacular) 2/10

 

Overall rating - 5/10

Edited August 31, 2021 by Weather Enthusiast91

[BruenSryan]

4 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

When was the last occasion when each month of the extended summer, May to September, recorded below-average sunshine and above-average rainfall widely across southern England? Not saying this year definitely will but I agree the 06Z GFS seems to show a return to the pattern of early August.

Thinking back as far as 1978 I can't recall a previous occasion. 1974 perhaps? I have heard that year was 'legendary' for a mild wet winter and cool wet summer, kind-of an anti-1947.

1968 was the last time according to central southern England/SE England regional series.

 

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, markyo said:

How on earth do you remember what you did on a certain xmas day nearly 34 years ago including what the weather was like??!! When you were aged 11!!

It's just something I can remember. 1987 stands out for me, probably because I left primary school, and started secondary school. So, there were a few changes in my life at that time, and possibly why years like that stick out. Weather was also interesting that year.

We had the very cold snowy January, Warm sunny April, thundery summer, the October storm, and mild Christmas Day. 

I also remember some christmas days of the 90s, 2000s and early 10s, which are all a long time ago now.

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

I was 11 on Christmas Day 1995, and in contrast it was a white one in South Tyneside and I remember having a snowball fight in the afternoon.  I also vaguely remember the rather non-descript Christmas Day of 1994, which was a dull mild day following a pre-Christmas frosty, sunny spell, and at 12:20 Tom and Jerry was being shown on the BBC, which for me at that time was something significant to look forward to.  I also remember that my parents taped Daffy Duck's Quackbusters in Christmasses 1993 and 1995, and as 1993 was also a white Christmas, it led to me associating Daffy Duck's Quackbusters with white Christmasses.  Also I remember that on Christmas Day 1993 I got an aneroid barometer.  It started off sunny and then snow showers moved in.  And that was when I was just 9 years old, and I still have vague memories of that day, too.

Yes, some of us do have wacky memories like that!

Incidentally Christmas Day 1987 wasn't really that mild, it would have just felt like it because of the sunshine, particularly as it was a one-off sunny day in an otherwise dull spell.  It was a returning polar maritime air mass with temperatures a couple of degrees above average for the time of year.

Somewhere in Scotland actually reached 18.7C in December 2019 overnight under cloudy conditions, illustrating the issue that in December, very high temperatures tend to be brought about via Tm air masses which are often cloudy.  There was a very mild spell with 15-16C in the aforementioned December of 1994 (around 10th-12th I think) which was cloudy, and also around 14 December 1998.

I have vague recollections of some western areas having very mild, sunny weather around 7-8 December 2001 before the continental air came in and brought frequent overnight frost.

The very mild weather in december, doesn't always feel that mild, if that makes sense. It's often almost very damp, and if accompanied by rain, doesn't feel warm at all.

[markyo]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

It's just something I can remember. 1987 stands out for me, probably because I left primary school, and started secondary school. So, there were a few changes in my life at that time, and possibly why years like that stick out. Weather was also interesting that year.

We had the very cold snowy January, Warm sunny April, thundery summer, the October storm, and mild Christmas Day. 

I also remember some christmas days of the 90s, 2000s and early 10s, which are all a long time ago now.

Your very lucky then, i struggle to remember where i was last week, who i spoke to, which clients they where and certainly what weather i had!!. 

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, BruenSryan said:

1968 was the last time according to central southern England/SE England regional series.

 

Thanks - the notorious 1968 appears again....

(I'm surprised the LTA rainfall for Sep is higher than any of the meterological summer months. I thought September was drier on average than any month bar March or April - certainly seems more anticyclonic on average than August or even July.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Summer8906

[Guest]

I was Just looking at the satellite imagery and maybe the flow starting to turn a little more easterly so maybe a slightly shorter fetch across the North Sea certainly across the south so maybe a slightly more positive outlook from tomorrow for the south and certainly more western areas?