StormLoser

We have storms passing through the Reigate area. Elevated lightning, wind and a 'queasy' sky. Odd storms, these!

What a naff day, so far, here in Reigate. Hot, humid and full of convection this morning. Now windy and cool with overcast. I'm not sure that stuff out west is going to come our way, nor am I sure of any forecasts right now. My feet are cold. Looks like there's a centre of a small low running up the front, to my elevated levels of thickness. Centred around Swindon and Salisbury right now (4:30pm).

Stepped out expecting hot sunshine and was most surprised to see a sky with oodles of potential! Way to go Met Office - your 1:00am forecast is already in pieces! And Estofex is looking likely, too. Could be an interesting weekend.

I'm putting my money on a discombobulated Kent Clipper with slow wiggly mid-level contusions for Saturday evening. Yes, that's nonsense. But our garden is so parched I'll eagerly accept any rain.

Whilst we have showers to the south of Reigate, once again we seem to have a cap over the London and adjacent areas. I often see this in effect, and it is pronounced at the moment. Cloud growth here is stunted with clear skies above. I expect it will change... Looks like that convergence will ease north over the next three hours.

I've just read Mr Finnis' forecast. I'm not so sure about the 50% in the SE. Two reasons: first, I live here so that puts a lid on most activity ( ), second, I agree the low level westerly is moist as I just been out filling the bird feeders in it. But there's an almighty lot of cloud about, and with small showers dotted around, surface heating may be poor. My expectation: small, heavy precipitation showers with occasional lightning. Estofex is also silent - not a good prognosis there for severe storms to my mind. Happy observing everyone!

Is it just me, or for the South East does the word "BUST" over this evening's so-called storms resonate with anyone? The SE shows every sign of blowing out and not going anywhere.

Has anyone told that boat it is supposed to be in the water, and not hovering over it?

Ohhh....THAT trough. Looks like it is pepping back up as it comes on shore. Estofex forecast for the UK is mostly for serious rainfall and squally gusts. Not so sure about electrification (no...not Network Rail....) Watching with interest.

Why do I get an uneasy feeling this isn't going to work out? I'm not going to call it a (unmentionable 4 letter word of total disappointment popular in this Forum) but... I'm not feeling the potential over southern UK. A lot of the earlier unstable cumulus has vanished from here and I could be forgiven for thinking it is March. I do hope I am wrong. And as for a trough...ermmmm...

While the mid/upper layers of air progress very slowly northwards, we have a strong, gusty low level wind pouring across Surrey from the north-east. Interesting to watch. Visions of nice rotating supercells and tornados spring to mind for later on. However, this is the UK... (Oh no! A plastic garden chair just blew over...!!! )

The Cherbourg peninsula has some very heavy rain and solid lightning. Very bright flashes on the web cams - remind me of positive CG they are so solitary and intense. The storm system there has grown to a bit of a monster. It will be interesting to see what happens to it... (like, 40 degrees left, scoot across Channel and arrive in Reigate? ).

I feel a Kent clipper coming on....

The radar over France looks interesting.... 19:30pm our time.

That's a relief!

Hope they are OK. Sounds a fantastic storm but no fun when damage occurs. Let us know how they get on please.

A nice dry day with sunny spells for Reigate, said Mr Met Office. So I did my washing and hung it out - only to see lines of showers marching in. How much tax do we pay these folks? I should have taken some time to make my own forecast today.

I've been poking around the Met Office's forecasts for Friday night/Saturday early hours. I don't see there's much chance of anything for the SE. But I'm hoping from Reigate I might get to see some elevated distant lightning to the south from storms that populate the Channel.. The French webcams should be entertaining. Saturday night to Sunday I guess is our best bet. As a numpty, that's my outlook!

The Estofex forecast released for Friday to Saturday is intriguing... European Storm Forecast Experiment - ESTOFEX WWW.ESTOFEX.ORG

Yep - a few cracks of lightning and thunder here in Reigate. Storm number 3 in as many weeks. So far 2022 is being very kind to my (normally) stormless zone! Lightning looked to be about cloud base and up. I don't think we had any ground contact.

Reigate has its second storm of the year! Not a bad affair for a typical UK storm, 4:00pm. Plenty of very visible 'forked' lightning, most around the cloud base and up. It even managed to assemble a patchy shelf cloud as it arrived and looked like there was a vague, lazy rotation in the structure, though I could be wrong. An active cell, many flashes and lots of thunder. Nothing to shout about but very satisfying to watch!

Reigate! We got plenty of elevated lighting with some good displays. One thumping hit into the centre of the town (hopefully not striking Pizza Express), and three minutes of continuous lightning and rolling thunder at 11:33. It's still rumbling on, but seems to be easing for the time being despite the bright bow echo to the east of us. A good session at last, in the storm desert known as Reigate.

Storm arriving in Reigate. It seems fairly active, too.

The dome of doom. Yep - I mustn't pre-think this too much!

I am beginning to hope Reigate might see some action other than bonfires and quarrelling neighbours!