Moans, ramps and banter

[raz.org.rain]

 East Lancs Rain Spanish summer with an Irish winter just sounds like northwestern Iberia! Galicia and Asturias are much closer to our climate than to the typical Spanish climate.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

5 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

suppose the question is, which is better?

A July with 20 days of 19-20C max, 5 days of 22-25C max and 6 days of 28-32C max (perhaps the typical contemporary July or August), or:

A July with just 5 days of 19-20C max, 20 days of 22-25C max, and 6 days of 26-28C max, with 30 not achieved at all?

The latter is probably preferable, however, the main distinction remains - sunshine hours! 20c in July with a clear sky is very, very different to 20c in July with 100% cloud cover and a mizzle in the air. This is why the whole CET debate re our summer months are a bit of a moot point imo. 

Warmth in of itself does not a summer make, for me. Warmth *plus* sun - yes. And when I say warmth I do not mean 30c. I enjoy 30c, sure, but I don't need it. Especially if that 30c is cloudy...that's just Bangkok in monsoon season lol. 

I'm happy with anything above 20c honestly. It was 21-23c last year in June when I was in Cornwall for 10 days and it felt significantly warmer given the humidity and strength of the UV and I got more sunburnt that I imagined I would on the first day, considering I tan very well generally. 

My "which is better" question for summer would be more along the lines of:

A) June, July and August with only around average max temps but above average sunshine and below average rainfall.

B) June, July and August with above average max temps but below average sunshine and above average rainfall.

Option A is definitely preferable imo. I honestly couldn't care less of we don't get "35c el scorchio" 2 / 3 times in a summer season, as long as we get prolonged spells of sunny skies and dry weather. 

Edited February 14 by In Absence of True Seasons

[TwisterGirl81]

I just wish sunshine amounts were a bit fairer, it’s not rain amounts this country has an issue with, well not southern and eastern areas, it’s the amount of cloudy days, I really hope this coming spring and summer balance things out….So ready for clear blue skies and warmth for weeks on end rather than grey dullness. 
I dread if we have another late ssw event that delays spring like last year, can’t believe some people want that again.
 

[raz.org.rain]

 TwisterGirl81 the SSW wildcard probably isn't the saviour of winter that some people think it is. There's no real guarantee as to how it'll impact our climate if at all, or how long such sustained impacts will last. As others have pointed out, it's not an absolute guarantee of a particular weather synoptic, but rather a piece in the puzzle that may or may not be favourable to colder or even warmer conditions here.

[TwisterGirl81]

 raz.org.rain  agreed, I know many of us are just desperate for spring, sun and warmth now…it’s this time of year we have had enough of winter weather and I can feel SAD kick in, last spring was just torture ie it wasn’t until mid May that it came, hopefully this year we don’t have as long to wait for proper warmth 

[lassie23]

 TwisterGirl81 It is going to be 17c here tomorrow and the sun might come out for 3 seconds

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 TwisterGirl81 Definitely, the cloudiness is the real kicker.

Regarding the rain, it's moreso about how the rain is distributed. As is often stated on here, Rome has higher average rainfall annually than London, but that doesn't inherently equate to Rome's climate being "wetter" (louder for those at the back!) Because if most of your rainfall mm is accumulated in specific periods of the year through heavy bursts and the rest of the year is sunny and dry, well, it's not really a "wet" climate. Look at the Carribbean as prime examples too. Most of Britain on the other hand doesn't have particularly impressive rainfall statistics-wise, but our rainfall is spread out on a near consistent basis throughout the year, wherein, we will get days on end of drizzle that do next to nothing in terms of actually increasing our rainfall mm, but are nevertheless "wet" conditions to be put and about in, and manifests an overall "wet" climate from an experiential perspective. 

10 hours of drizzle vs 1 hour of heavy rain then 9 hours of sun. Statistics wise these could be exactly the same...but what's actually enjoyable to live in?

Edited February 14 by In Absence of True Seasons

[cheeky_monkey]

 kold weather actually 2.0c puts this El Nino in the very strong category ...moderate is below 1.5c...it has been above 1.5c since August ..so its always been a basin wide strong event which doesn't favour cold conditions across the NA or Western Europe ..which is exactly what has happened...discounting El Nino as a factor was fool hardy  

[Catbrainz]

I’ve had enough of rain and drizzle! Just go take a hike! Can’t do anything in it and it’s just a damper on everything unless you are a duck or moss. 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Is it just me who is finding the temps not actually reflective of the mildness? As in, today it's 14c in my area but it's still feeling genuinely chilly, a real cold wind and I'm layered up nearly as much as I was when it was the January cold spell. If anything, that weather was more pleasant to sit outside in. 

Perhaps it placebo. But who knows.

Edited February 14 by In Absence of True Seasons

[Frigid]

 In Absence of True Seasons Thought so too, currently 13C but it doesn't feel as mild as I expected. More like experiencing low teens in September after summer..

[raz.org.rain]

It's a lot stuffier out there than I was expecting, had to take my jacket off on the way home. Very springlike feel.

[HurricaneSteve]

Taken in January 1985 - North Devon - when we still occasionally got something that looked like winter

[East Lancs Rain]

6 hours ago, danm said:

Some Spring-like weather coming for this area tomorrow though - 16c with sunny spells. 

Why is it that only London seems to get exceptionally mild, dry and sunny/partly sunny days in Winter? Where I am, very mild weather in winter is nearly always accompanied by thick cloud and rain.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

because you're in the north west! London/SE nearly always get better weather on average off a high to SE, low to NW setup

[TwisterGirl81]

 In Absence of True Seasons  I agree, it was wall to wall sunshine all day here the other day and no more than 12c but felt very pleasant as the wind was light too. I’d be more than happy if we have a good percentage of days like that in winter but we often don’t, if it’s dry and mild it’s cloudy argh 

Can someone just lie to me and tell this spring and summer will be overall sunnier than average I think I’d be so happy

[cheese]

 In Absence of True Seasons It's the opposite for me - I went outside today expecting it to feel cold, but it felt really mild and I ended up taking my coat off. 

[Metwatch]

Not too bad of a day today, at least compared to the washout yesterday.

Stayed dry, much brighter with the sun popping out on a few occasions, and nearly 15C. Wind didn't feel cold anymore, not at those sort of temperatures when the dewpoint is like 12C. Still, 1.5C from this day in 1998, that month was a blowtorch.

More rain tomorrow but it looks to arrive by dark which isn't as bad, then weekend looks okay, with most of the rain during Saturday night rather than during the middle of the day.

Yes more sunshine would be lovely, but we need to remember our latitude / position, and having a huge mass of water to our west / south west, it won't be sunny Spain! Only solution would be to migrate south if you're able to and want more warmth with sunshine through the year!

Looks like the last 5-7 days of this month might end chillier, which will likely stop this February from becoming the mildest on record, but any snow would be confined to Scotland or other hills in the northwest. Maybe more sunshine with it.

Edited February 14 by Metwatch

[I remember Atlantic 252]

warm feeling today too, except for Lichfield bus station which felt chilly

[baddie]

 TwisterGirl81 Im hoping the winds during the cold spell are Northerly, NOT Easterly. If its an Easterly then it will just bring nothing but cloud but Northerlies are often sunny

Edited February 14 by baddie

[WYorksWeather]

 Metwatch As has been the trend this winter though, I note that the GFS ensemble is converging more towards the ECM solution, with less of a cold spell now showing. And we may have a bit of a buffer.

If this month fails to set a new February record, I can't imagine it will be by very much now.

[danm]

 East Lancs Rain probably because at this time of year the only way to get exceptionally mild weather is from a low pressure system dragging up that air. The SE will sometimes be far enough away from the core of low pressure allowing some sunny spells. Whereas in Spring/Summer the exceptionally mild air can simply come from an area of high pressure sitting over us - at this time of year that will just bring cold, sometimes sunny, sometimes frosty, foggy weather. 

[raz.org.rain]

The forecasted colder spell at the end of the month is already being downgraded, looking more likely it'll turn out to be a spell of average weather at best.

[snowspotter]

Having avoided netweather for 5 days thought I’d check the situation. Nothing really seems to have changed . Still way above average with a February closer to an average April . Sadly I think the interest in the weather forums will die off . Let’s face it really only picks up in winter when snow is a possibility. What’s the point in looking at a load of mild rubbish for 3 months in winter . Think global warming has killed off a once exciting chase . Even the met office are out of date with the accelerating global warming occuring . Why they forecast a cold second half of February is frankly beyond credibility. I for one could see it was cobblers . A bit like the 10 day charts are always showing promise . Anyway at least it should be a warm summer

Edited February 14 by snowspotter

[Gray-Wolf]