R Alto

Skys have improved dramatically, so much colour as well!

The air and the sky felt/looked ripe in the last hour or two. But the sky is flattening out a bit now. I think the French storms and cloud shield maybe be casting it's effect...

Hi Paul, very late to this thread but I thought you may still be interested in my account and photo. I was at home in Poole (Holes bay area) that day. I remember noticing an unusually detailed and patterned sky in the late afternoon, lite with a slightly orange hue. I had just turned 15 and whilst interested in the weather I didn't have my 'eye in' yet for the clouds, but it was probably tightly clustered bands of Altocumulus castellanus or Floccus. It was about 1 or 2 hour later, I was in the garden, it was very warm and cloudy. My dad pointed out the sky to the south. A very dark wedge of blue-black cloud had appeared above the roof tops to our south. It had a very clean leading edge which created a stark contrast to the layer of cloud above. The inky mass steadily moved North to fill the sky completely. At the same time the humidity increased dramatically making the air feel thick and oppressive. The cloud base was dark and visibly moving and rolling, bubbling downwards and back into the cloud base. It looked a lot like the clouds in the film Close encounters, but not moving as fast! I stood there a gasp and then bolted inside to grab the camera (a weather nut was born). This cloud passaged over us for probably 15 or 20 minutes. Soon after distant sheet lightning could be seen to the South. The rain began but only one heavy bust and then steady moderate rain for a couple of hours. The lightning was perhaps every 10/20 seconds apart and coming within a couple of miles at its closest. I remember seeing 2 distinct cells, one to the West and one to the East as it travelled away North. I've definitely seen more intense lightning storms here but this one will always stick with me for the dramatic entrance and nature of the clouds to which effect I have not seen again since. The change in temperature and humidity and the feeling of being in the presence of a seemingly almost living creature. I didn't know the date until recently, only that it was July/August 1991. But I have been reliably informed by @Summer8906 that it must be the 5th July as that was the only thundery breakdown of that window. I would be interested to hear yours or others account of this event if they exist on here? I can only find one photo at the moment but there are 2 or 3 more somewhere.

Thank you @Summer8906 that looks like it must be the one.

@A Face like Thunder It was the 5th June 1983

Yes that's right it was a Sunday, late morning (in Dorset). Initiating over Lyme Bay, a series of supercell storms propagated east across southern regions of Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex.

The odd sleety snow flake in Poole

June 5th 1983, Poole. I was only 7 but remember it well. Day time darkness and hail the size of golf balls. July or August 1991, Poole. Still haven't managed to pinpoint a date yet. Hot, humid evening, an extraordinary dark bubbling cloud moved in from the south (think close encounters) followed by a thunderstorm. This was the event that got me seriously into the weather. 13th/14th February 1994, Poole. Sub zero all day with steady snow late evening and over night. 4th January 1998, Portland Bill. Sustained hurricane force winds, max gust 105mph. 25th July 2019, Ipswich. The heat. I have experienced hotter abroad but to experience it the UK was quite special. The day ended with anvil crawlers.

Felt like I was in that film 'All summer in a day' just now, for a second I was confused but sure enough the sun has come out here!

Thanks Dorset!

Clear and crisp evening, not sure what planets they were but there was an a amazingly bright alignment of them to the SW tonight with the half moon dangaling at the end of it. Quite a sight from a dark beach.

4th January 1998. The most powerful windstorm that Ive experienced, My Dad and I drove to Portland Bill. There was a red warning out for 100mph winds, well Portland Bill that afternoon managed 105mph. We arrived at the Bill early afternoon just as a heavy black squall passed over that seemed to hearld in the peak winds which lasted an hour or two at hurricane force. I'll never forget the sound of the lighthouse, it was giving out a constant loud low hum as it resonated in the wind. There were blue skys and sunshine for much of it yet the visability was down to 100/200 metres and it looked like a thick fog had descended but it was actually a carpet of fine airborne seawater probably 20 metres deep coming in of the channel. The seas were massive and chaotic. Anyway I'm getting carried away here - it was good! Ex-hurricane lilli, October 1996. Quite violent for a time. I was living in Falmouth, I had my trusty hand held Anemometer and recorded 70 something knots. I remember the light changing all day and it being quite mild. 30th October 2000. Good storm, seem to remember it getting quite violent in the evening time the day before, then a lull and then building through the early hours. Lot of rain. I didnt go to bed that night. Braer storm 9th January 1993. A severe gale of long duration. Dad drove me to his work place so I could use the fax machine there and get the latest Met Office fax, I've still got it somewhere, 909mb! I dont think it actually bottomed out that low but it looked amazing on A4. I remember the build up to the Burns day storm, the warnings started about 5 days out, that was probably the best bit, when it actually arrived I was stuck in classes in East Devon and I think our postion was quite sheltered. But I remember night after night of storms that winter, hearing the wind drone down the chimneys as I lay in bed.

Temp 10c, no wind, very shallow alto cumulus bank drifting south east and high powdered laser beams!

First place is 2010, hands down. Fantastic month. Second place is 1995, we only had a few flurrys of snow here in Poole, but it was very cold at times and atmospheric.

Wow! You can see in the radar images the circulation crossing the Dorset coast. It will be interesting to see further analysis of this. When it comes to gales it nearly always the unexpected events that are the most interesting down here.

Hold on to to your hat!

Winds have veered and dropped now with the passing of a brief squall that just went through. If you run the radar over the last 2 hours or so you can see that dryer slot surges NE mid channel which is where the strong wind was.

59 knots gust in Poole Harbour now, thats 67 mph. Some of the strongest gusts of wind I've seen for a long while probably because of the Southerly direction.

It's become very windy in the last 30 minutes and just checked Poole Harbour weather and its gusting 50 knots. The radar is interesting too!

A lonely cumulonibus rattling in from Lyme bay.

This was a good one, I had just started art college in Bournemouth. I remember the cut off low towards the biscay in the second week of September sending lots of rain and warm air our way. The first 8 or 9 days of October were very dramatic with lots of heavy shower, thunderstorms, high rainfall totals and 5 days of thunder. Then there was some very sunny and cold weather around mid October. Then the cold that arrived around 21st November and peaked on the 23rd was extremely impressive to me, I recored a maximum of minus 1.5 that day. I remember it being very still and grey but it had that charged feeling. That was the day it started to snow in the afternoon whilst we were outside on a fag break, every flake of snow was settling on all surfaces. We were disscussing how good it would look if it was at night and we had a strobe... It doesn't really count but there was a good gale around the 8th December, It was all good stuff to go in my weather log anyway that I had just started in May that year.

You got it! Great view's from their garden, I always end up sky watching.

@Luke Best @AldercI think this was the Verwood storm, as seen from Kingston, in the Purbecks. Quite a remarkable cloud, looked like something from the tropics!

Bournemouth disappearing from view and thunder just now.

Big cumulus building, temperature up to 22.5c