[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

A whiter, lighter shade of grey here now.  Exciting times!!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

14 minutes ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

 

Morning campers

 

Happy cloudy morning.

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

The last few days, whilst predominantly dry (nuisance rain aside), have like usual, been cloud dominated and dull.  
 

I have no evidence or stats to back this up, but the last 12 months or so have felt like Groundhog Day here, with cloudy condition dominating despite alternating weather patterns.

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

3 hours ago, Dorsetbred said:

Tiz over a week away but look, not a drop of rain!

But but but……….  What’s that I see over Penzance?

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Never fear, that bright spark in our lives will disappear shortly;

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Just watched the local weather forecast.  More rain tomorrow!  Yay!!!  

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Warmed up now.  About to tip 9c but the sun makes it feel much warmer than that.  You can definitely tell we are in Spring now with a strengthening sun, just a shame we rarely see it!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Yay!!!  Finally a sunny start to the day.  Chilly but sunny so I’ll take it.

[Moans, ramps and banter]

10 hours ago, raz.org.rain said:

 

I wonder where the cold is supposed to be coming from?

 

I don’t know but considering I still have remnants of yesterdays snowfall on the ground here, cold must have found its way to me from somewhere, (SW England)!

Getting a spring like March down these parts seems to be a right slog in recent years.

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Well, what was supposed to be a predominantly dry day after some early hours rain has turned into a day of early hours snow followed by a morning of cold drizzle which looks like persisting into the afternoon.  That’s 50% of the weekend gone with any dry weather non existent.

Taking the dog for a walk along the canal at Bathampton tomorrow, really hoping we can manage a dry day as I would love to return home dry for once!

[Moans, ramps and banter]

 In Absence of True Seasons

Nope, well definitely not to the extent it fell.  A bit of wintriness over high ground was forecast as far as I know, yet we have quite widespread, albeit wet/slushy snowfall across the West Country.  When I left for work we had circa 8cm fall, & even back in Bristol (low level, urban area) we have a covering of wet snow. 
 

Considering how untreated the roads are, I assume the Highways agency we also caught out by this.

Not the best photo, but this is downtown Bristol;

[Moans, ramps and banter]

When the first day of Spring brings this such weather, over SW England of all places;

Proof that the weather does not operate by a calendar!  

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Typically the first day of Spring herolds this such weather over the Mendips;

 

measured 8cm on my car, all fell within 1 hour!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Soft hail shower just passed over here.

Provided a white dusting that I never saw all winter!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Ummm……….  What be that symbol at 08:00 tomorrow morning?

Hopefully a dry weekend coming up, albeit still cloudy and probably rather chilly.  Can’t expect too much now can we!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Don’t worry, we will soon be finished with our wet February days.  They will be no more.

Instead, we will get to experience some wet, March days.

[Predictions for 2024]

Off the cuff prediction for Spring & Summer 2024;

I think it will generally be warmer (very warm a lot of the time) & wetter than average.  That’s not to say there won’t be dry spells, and a heatwave or two, but I think the wet spells will outweigh the dry spells.

I think for convective/thundestorm fans, it could be a decent season with frequent periods of humid & moist air producing some “humdingers”!

Now, where do I also predict the lottery results…….?

[Model banter and emotions]

Agree @MP-R

For our area, it’s been predominantly mild

for the last god knows how long.  Yet, it’s also been predominantly cloudy and at times, very wet.  Making the mild conditions very dull & devoid of character unless you enjoy getting wet.

Personally speaking, I would like a period of sunny weather now.  Obviously with Spring about to start I would love some early warm, sunny weather but beggars can’t be choosers & I’d be happy to forgo temperature just for some sunshine.

Alas, the latest forecast for the next week or so is more of the same still;

often cloudy, at times wet and not even particularly mild either.  Appreciate other parts of the country are fairing a bit better, particularly over towards the capital, but us in the SW are essentially living in endless cloud currently, with a rare 24 hour reprieve every now & again.

Talk of something better in the 2nd half of March.  I do hope so but we all know how long range modelling & long range forecasts have faired lately.   Trouble is with an ever warming climate, we see more rain productive clouds forming over our waters which results in an increase in flooding etc, as has played out over the last year for many.  Double edged sword and all that!

 

[Moans, ramps and banter]

11 minutes ago, raz.org.rain said:

I have a sneaking suspicion that the SSW will deliver an early spring, that's seemingly much more likely than us seeing anything cold.

The medium range forecast for my area, whilst mild, is a continuation of cloudy and at times, wet conditions with nothing notably springlike just yet.  Basically the same crap we’ve had for the last 8 months!

Right now I have far less care in what any temperatures might be, I would just like a week or two of dry weather with plentiful sunshine.  Hopefully signs of a significant pressure build start to emerge soon, but for balance, there’s little sign of that right now.  

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

 offerman And somewhat wetter as per usual!  

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

 offerman

Isn’t that for London?

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

That’s two days in a row now where it’s literally rained for the most part between dawn & dusk consistently!

And today it’s not even mild!!!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

Somewhere under there is England;

it seems that despite the consistently milder temperatures, getting any sort of prolonged dry weather is as rare as a Bristol City promotion!

[South West and Central Southern England Discussion - Dec 2023 onwards]

I really hope Spring herolds in something less dull & cloudy and more sunny &/or convective.

Just a change to the weather pattern we have mostly had to endure for the past 8 months would be a victory right now.

[Moans, ramps and banter]

Such a boring February here.  Couldn’t really careless about temperature (my main interest lies with convective weather) but it’s just the repeated day after day of cloud, dull, grey crap that grates after a while.

I just want a week or so of sun.  Give me 5c and sun over 15c and cloudy, dull crap any day.  The sun can even mitigate a colder air mass come late February anyway.