Summer 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter

[Guest]

Bad news, In the short term looks like GFS is way too aggressive in clearing the cloud through the next few days. ECM and ARPEGE much more on the money keep the low cloud right though into the weekend without a hint of it breaking. 

[Mac_SE]

1 minute ago, Alderc said:

Bad news, In the short term looks like GFS is way too aggressive in clearing the cloud through the next few days. ECM and ARPEGE much more on the money keep the low cloud right though into the weekend without a hint of it breaking. 

Cheery news, thanks mate 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Mac_SE said:

Cheery news, thanks mate 

It’s rubbish, I’m off on Friday to spend the day are the air show, don’t really want to walI about in jeans and jumper all day. Want to be shorts and T-shirt!

But as others have pointed out under a sunnier high with days on end of 850s in the 10-13C we should be looking at day time highs of 24-28C.

[Sunny76]

3 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

 

I can't remember them specifically; I think they must have been while I was out of the country (approx 1st-12th) as I am about 99% sure that there was nothing remotely thundery after that (West Sussex) and the weather was completely dominated by cool, cloudy airmasses.

However there were two quite severe thundery episodes in western Germany (Black Forest) in the first 12 days, about a week apart, and it was also generally warm there. Certainly possible that the warm air got into SE England for a while as it's not all that far away - the first set of storms was definitely a weekend (Sunday 3rd/Monday 4th overnight) and the second was around the second weekend, so that might tie in with the same event.

As an aside, there was also an extraordinary all-day summer fog event around the time we returned, covering large parts of western Germany and eastern France, and persisting for about two days. It only cleared once we got into the Reims area.

Don't think I can recall storms in July either, though I do remember the first half, as well as much of June, was warm-hot and sunny: 1986 seemed rather like 2017 in some ways as a summer of two contrasting halves, though the latter year had no 'Charley'. I do remember some evening storms on Saturday June 21 due to a temporary incursion of a Biscay low which then retreated again.

The overnight storm was definitely a Sunday night into Monday morning affair. I think it was early August, so the storm system could well have been the leftovers from Germany.

There were two storms that night, because I remember as one was fading, another distant storm was approaching. 

As a child, I was always under the impression the same storm was returning, but my mum had to explain to me 'no, its another storm on the way' lol.

 

[Sunny76]

3 hours ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

Well on the positive side...Next year has got to be better summer wise and an end to these draconian rules we've been living under, travel should be easier too....It's no wonder this summer has been depressing even more so when you think of the rules we've been living under and the fact that in the south overall it has got to be one of the poorest summers in decades, really really bad timing.

Next week looks like it's going to be lovely too

Next year will be a much better year for us all I'm sure   

Of course it will, and England will win the world cup. They will go one step further

2022 will be a long warm sunny summer, starting in late May, and lasting until early September. Daytime temps between 22c-29c, with one week or 30-33c. Sound good? 

[Summer8906]

28 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Of course it will, and England will win the world cup. They will go one step further

2022 will be a long warm sunny summer, starting in late May, and lasting until early September. Daytime temps between 22c-29c, with one week or 30-33c. Sound good? 

We've had three below-par ones on the trot, so I have the feeling 2022 will be at least average. On recent form I think it's best not to expect too much from August though...

[I remember Atlantic 252]

31 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Of course it will, and England will win the world cup. They will go one step further

2022 will be a long warm sunny summer, starting in late May, and lasting until early September. Daytime temps between 22c-29c, with one week or 30-33c. Sound good? 

Damn world cup though at Xmas! dosen't feel right at all, always to me a summer event

[Monkeypants]

just been in the "the world is over summer in the SE has been poor thread" never seen so much OTT posting and hope casting outside of the winter forum. it's been an average summer here in Midlands and a good summer further north and west, shame the IMBY posting regarding SE has ruined summer forum as well.

[Thundery wintry showers]

For England as a whole it's been the 7th dullest August in a series from 1919:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pub/data/weather/uk/climate/datasets/Sunshine/ranked/England.txt

However, June and July were much closer to average - indeed July had slightly above average sunshine for England as a whole despite the shortage in the SE, just making it into the top 30.  Maximum temperatures for June and July were warm overall, too, though for August it's been a case of cool days and warm nights - for England the mean Tmax for August was the lowest since 2011.

At nearby Waddington I note that as well as having only 104 hours of sunshine (even using the Kipp-Zonen sensor, we'd normally expect around 170 hours) and no thunder-days, rainfall was less than half of the long-term average.  I think "flat" is a pretty accurate description of the month just gone here, and certainly contrasted with July, when I recorded 7 days with thunder and there were quite a few contrasting episodes of weather.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[Summer8906]

3 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

Waddington came in at 103.7 hours.  An approximate K-Z to C/S conversion would place it at around 120-125 hours, which would make it the dullest August in this region since 1963 (which had 109 hours).  The only other duller August in a record from 1949 was that of 1954 (which also had 109 hours).

Regarding January 1984, it was indeed a wet and stormy month, and also unusually snowy in the north.  But in the south-east in particular, many of the fronts passed through overnight and the days were often bright and showery. 

Ah ok, still quite impressive to beat anticyclonic-northerly or anticyclonic-northwesterly Januarys though.

3 hours ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

December 1999 and November 1996 also spring to mind as wet months that were also exceptionally sunny at Heathrow (and I can see them on the list - 1999 ranks as the 2nd sunniest December and 1996 as the sunniest November).

1996 I do remember as wet but sunny - thanks to a pronounced NW-ly type (rather than straight W-ly or SW-ly). There were also significant frosty ridges between the lows. So it doesn't surprise me that Nov 1996 beat Aug 2021!

1989 was of course a different kettle of fish: dry, sunny, mild for much of the month but cold end, keeping the remarkable weather of that year going almost to the end. Part of a sequence of fairly settled Novembers, if I remember right, from 1987-90.

Don't recall Dec 1999 being especially sunny though.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Summer8906

[Mapantz]

On 01/09/2021 at 18:08, Monkeypants said:

just been in the "the world is over summer in the SE has been poor thread" never seen so much OTT posting and hope casting outside of the winter forum. it's been an average summer here in Midlands and a good summer further north and west, shame the IMBY posting regarding SE has ruined summer forum as well.

What on earth are you waffling on about?

It has been poor for many in the South and Southeast. What's so problematic about sharing that fact?

[Weather-history]

Manchester summer index finished at 238

1976 301

1995 298

1983 278

1955 277

1911 274

2018 272

1984 271

1959 269

1975 268

1949 267

1989 262

1947 255

1933 251

1901 249

1921 249

2003 247

2013 247

1925 246

2006 246

1996 245

1935 243

1994 240

1934 238

1940 238

2021 238

 

The two main seasons, a winter with an index of 120 followed by a summer with an index of 238. 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Weather-history

[LetItSnow!]

here’s my unbiased review of the summer. june was spent in edenbridge, kent, but the rest of the summer spent in islington. 

 

june: a month of two halves, distinctly different from eachother. the first half of the month was mostly warm, dry and fine with warm afternoons and pleasant evenings, bar an absolute washout on the 4th which was like a teaser for what was to come. the second half of the month was remarkably dull and often wet, with a very cool feel. the 17th/18th were both very wet days, as was the 27th. the 17th-30th was practically sunless bar the odd day. 

 

july: often changeable. felt quite unsettled and wet, but never overly grim, and despite the low sunshine totals it didn’t feel too bad. the heatwave was tame compared to recent years which was a bonus, but it still felt oppressive due to not being accustomed to it. the 25th featured some of the heaviest most prolonged rain i’ve ever seen. my partners workplace was flooded. 

 

august: at first it seemed changeable and wet, with another round of torrential storms flooding my partners workplace again on the 7th, but then it settled down. seemed to be cool, breezy and cloudy a lot of the time. despite feeling wet at first, it then turned pretty dry. the final few days of august were really very cold with raw breezes, thick leaden skies and drizzle. really felt like october. 

 

overall, a very dull summer but not a washout. the remarkable dullness of the second half of june and much of august was notable. yet i still didn’t find it that unbearable. probably due to the fact on a personal level it was actually quite a good summer. honestly, summer 2020 felt more gloomy than this one just gone, imo. though that’s probably a lot down to the fact i spent july and the first half of august up north that year, then returned home mid august. effectively missing all heat. summer 2020 was miserable  

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Mapantz said:

What on earth are you waffling on about?

It has been poor for many in the South and Southeast. What's so problematic about sharing that fact?

Agreed, some places a close to the dullest summer on record as well being up near 200% for rainfall. Considering the May that was experienced I’m not surprised many disgruntled. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, mb018538 said:

Apparently easterly winds are so powerful now that even sheltered western areas can't catch a break...utter filth

Not much change really after 10hrs 

 

I wonder what the sky will look like in the morning. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Alderc

[Andy Bown]

A few simple stats for August’s woe.

Absolute max 22.3c

17 of 31 days DID NOT REACH 20c IN AUGUST!!

In the South of England!

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Andy Bown said:

A few simple stats for August’s woe.

Absolute max 22.3c

17 of 31 days DID NOT REACH 20c IN AUGUST!!

In the South of England!

Those could be the worst stats I’ve seen so far! That max should be about average right? 

[Andy Bown]

1 minute ago, Alderc said:

Those could be the worst stats I’ve seen so far! That max should be about average right? 

Probably.

I didn’t really post much about how poor it was here as to be honest I needed dry and got as dry as could be hoped.

Plus we got genuinely lucky with our week near Poole the 7th-14th.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

40 minutes ago, Alderc said:

Not much change really after 10hrs 

 

I wonder what the sky will look like in the morning. 

Not unusual to see a partial/full clearance after 7pm, like now, be full mist/drizzle though in the morning

[hillbilly]

1 hour ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

For England as a whole it's been the 7th dullest August in a series from 1919:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pub/data/weather/uk/climate/datasets/Sunshine/ranked/England.txt

However, June and July were much closer to average - indeed July had slightly above average sunshine for England as a whole despite the shortage in the SE, just making it into the top 30.  Maximum temperatures for June and July were warm overall, too, though for August it's been a case of cool days and warm nights - for England the mean Tmax for August was the lowest since 2011.

At nearby Waddington I note that as well as having only 104 hours of sunshine (even using the Kipp-Zonen sensor, we'd normally expect around 170 hours) and no thunder-days, rainfall was less than half of the long-term average.  I think "flat" is a pretty accurate description of the month just gone here, and certainly contrasted with July, when I recorded 7 days with thunder and there were quite a few contrasting episodes of weather.

Your summation of July is of an average month.For you and the general public that may be the case but as a Farmer trying to make dry crisp hay in the height of summer i can tell you it certainly wasnt.Yes we had a great 9 days mid month but the rest of the month had nothing but cloud and showers.Yes nothing terribly wet but it is certainly not average when showers and cloud persist from the 20th of June until September except for 9 hot days and a few  good half days late August.

Edited September 1, 2021 by hillbilly

[Mapantz]

On 01/09/2021 at 19:24, Andy Bown said:

A few simple stats for August’s woe.

Absolute max 22.3c

17 of 31 days DID NOT REACH 20c IN AUGUST!!

In the South of England!

That is a shocker!

8 days failed to reach 20°C here.

However, August finished up 0.3°C below the average. The thing which doesn't show in my statistics, is at what time some of my 20+ maximums occurred, and  how they occurred.. A lot of days were below 20°C for most of the day, in fact a lot lower than that. We had many days where the sun made an appearance between 4 and 5pm, and for an hour or so, the temp rocketed. It doesn't paint the true picture for 90% of the days.

          Maxes           Mins

                           

[Airedalejoe]

14 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

Your summation of July is of an average month.For you and the general public that may be the case but as a Farmer trying to make dry crisp hay in the height of summer i can tell you it certainly wasnt.Yes we had a great 9 days mid month but the rest of the month had nothing but cloud and showers.Yes nothing terribly wet but it is certainly not average when showers and cloud persist from the 20th of June until September except for 9 hot days and a few  good half days late August.

Happens a lot in this forum, probably all forums!

What statistics say, or what it looks like from behind glass can, to put it mildly, be misleading.

It's been abysmal here for a week and a half now, bar one day of sunshine. Temps just making it to 13-15c as highs, and almost 100% cloud with frequent drizzle.

[Airedalejoe]

1 hour ago, Andy Bown said:

A few simple stats for August’s woe.

Absolute max 22.3c

17 of 31 days DID NOT REACH 20c IN AUGUST!!

In the South of England!

That would be classed as a heatwave up here!

[Bradley in Kent]

I'll very much be interested in the MO's actual maps of the UK. The North and West will definitely come in above average, but I wouldn't be surprised if the actual value of some sheltered areas come in warmer and sunnier than here in Kent! 

August has been terrible here (and when I was Oxfordshire) compounded by the incessant cloud. We've had a lot of ropey Augusts over the years, but they were the more NW'ly type with sun between the showers. 

Homosapiens need sun!

[Daniel*]

3 hours ago, Monkeypants said:

just been in the "the world is over summer in the SE has been poor thread" never seen so much OTT posting and hope casting outside of the winter forum. it's been an average summer here in Midlands and a good summer further north and west, shame the IMBY posting regarding SE has ruined summer forum as well.

Looks on poor side for Midlands actually…