Tom Montalbano

Summer tyre Hi St. Yes, I feel quite unique in a way. My hobby has been Meteorology for nigh on 60 Years, of my 68 Years on this Planet. I wish I could fully appreciate the majesty of a Cumulonimbus cloud but I can only look at one, if I know it's going to miss my location or I'm certain it's moving away after affecting my location. This Phobia started way back in June 1966, my Mother had been taken into Hospital early to give birth to my youngest Sister. As I was much closer to my Mum than my Dad and was worried about my Mum's condition, the appearance of a violent T/Storm which began at Midnight and was still rumbling away at 6 A.M., was the catalyst for the start of my Brontophobia. I remember our local Newspaper at the time [Bromley and Kentish Times], reported that 3 T/Storms converged on Bromley that Night. Sounds very much like I had experienced a M.C.S. I actually started to have Counselling back in the 1980's, so severe was my continuing Brontophobia. But unfortunately my Counsellor discussed my personal information with the Receptionist, at the G.P. Practice where I was receiving the Counselling. This breach of confidence prompted me to end the Counselling sessions, straight away. One thing that the Counsellor did try to get me to do, was to break the chain of cognitive behaviour leading up to a spell of Thundery Weather. She suggested I stopped viewing Weather Forecasts and reading about the chances of experiencing a Thundery spell. Of course, that is easier said than done when your hobby is Meteorology and you're a Member, of a Weather Forum. One thing that my Counsellor did tell me, that I totally agree with is that having lived with a lot of stress and trauma due to having a serious illness in my Family, I've been implanting my fears on to something more tangible such as Lightning/Thunder, than coping with the mental trauma a serious illness can have on your psyche. My first Wife passed away after inheriting Huntingdon's Disease from her Father and sadly our two children inherited the HD gene from their Mum, from which our Son sadly passed away as a result of HD, back in late February 2021. Both my Wife and myself were woken by this Morning's event at just after 2 A.M., and all those fears came back to haunt me again. As I commented to my Wife earlier, having been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer a Week before Christmas 2023, that cycle of implanting my fears on to something more tangible, still continues. Regards, Tom M.

lassie23 Good Morning all, I hope I find yourselves and your Families, well. Long time, no post on the S.E. Thread. Yes Lassie, this Brontophobe was rudely woken up at precisely 2.10 A.M., by quite a loud crack of Thunder. It was one of those, "what woke me up moments?" I'm guessing it was a bright flash of lightning, that came before. There were a few more rumbles of Thunder, before this first Thundery Shower moved away. But a little while later, a more active cell could be heard, No doubt associated with these impressive looking 'fellas, in the Radar image below: Although the Thunder wasn't loud, the frequency of the grumbling was notable. Being still on the nervous side regarding Lightning/Thunder and having done a lot of researching regarding the time these events are most likely to occur, I now know that once we get close to Dawn, the likelihood of Lightning/Thunder, diminish greatly. I've noticed this is certainly the case, in our Region. Between 6 and 9 A,M., is the least likely time to experience Lightning/Thunder. By this time, any French imports are starting to lose their "oomph" and the Sun hasn't had time to heat the atmosphere enough, to trigger the develipoement of further Thundery activity. Many Years ago, I remember a few Thunder events as April transitioned into May. I've also noticed that we've had quite a bit of Thunder in May, in recent Years but fortunately for Brontophobic me, virtually no Lightning/Thunder, during the following Summers. As the clock ticks towards 6, I can now breathe a sigh of relief. P.S. , with regard to my comment above. Despite another loud rumble of Thunder 15 minutes ago, the Meteox Radar link below, shows that diminishing intensity of Ppn after 6 A.M. Rain radar & weather forecast | Meteoradar Regards, Tom M.

Lauren Good Morning, all. Hope I find yourselves and your Families, well. Yes, great memories Lauren and a far cry from where we are this Winter.. Below, are a couple of archive charts [500hPa and 850hPa], from that very Wintry end to Winter 2018: / My Wife and myself, have some vivid memories of that event. Colette was working as a Senior Carer at a Residential Care Home, in nearby Chislehurst;/ Emstead Woods area. The Close where we live turns into an Ice Rink a Day after it Snows, and Minicab drivers refuse to come to our door. As there was no other way of getting into work and it certainly wasn't safe to walk the 2 and a half mile journey on such icy pavements and roads , it meant that Colette had to stay at the Care Home overnight, during that spell. As I was still in recovery after suffering an Haemorrhagic Stroke 2 and a half Years earlier, Colette didn't want to leave me at home. As one of the Rooms of the Care Home was empty, my Wife's Manageress kindly agreed to me staying with Colette in that spare Room. The Residents are notorious for wandering around in the middle of the Night, and trying to get into the Rooms of other Residents. My Wife took the precaution of locking the door, and as was expected we heard the door handle being tried, in the middle of that Night. Outside of our Bedroom Window, the Snow lay thick, deep and even. It reminded me of a scene from the film, "The Shining". When our door handle was tried, I'm sure I heard a voice shout, "Here comes Johnny". Below, is a Youtube video of a Sky News report entitled, "The Week Britain Froze": Despite all the encouraging noises regarding Teleconnections and an expected SSW, this Winter is going out like a damp but mild squib. The Daffs are blooming and it's noticeable how vociferous the Dawn Chorus is every Morning, now that Spring is around the corner. Thanks for reminding me though Lauren, some great memories of that spell, even if they were a bit spooky in that Care Home. Regards, Tom Q.

Snow tyre Brilliant, just brilliant!! Regards, Tom Q.

Dami Was your Bee's [R.I.P.] name Eric by any chance, Dami? Regards, Tom Q.

And some joker called George Burns at GB News, has spoken with the following: "UK snow forecast: Met Office confirms snow set to fall in just days as 'cold interlude' sparks freezing temperatures. Snow is set to hit the UK once again as temperatures are currently forecast to fall below freezing." And backs it up with the following "bone chilling" chart: 0c for a lot of our Region at 6 A,M. on a late February Morning. How will we all, cope?? Regards, Tom Q.

lassie23 In honour of your comment on another Thread, Lass. "got more chance of an STD giving us a cold spell than an SSW" Happy V.D., and to all the Ladies in the South East Region. Don't shoot the messenger Ladies, you know what I mean, 'Arry!!. In other romantic news, During this Week 14 Years ago, Yours Truly slipped a disc carrying this lump over the threshold: / Only joking, Colette!! My bride was very trim, and looking every Day of the 10 Years younger than her old f--t, of a Bridegroom. 14 Years is also a very long time, in Weather terms. Although it's almost impossible to see, there was actually Snow grains in the air, when we posed for our Wedding photos, outside of Sidcup Registry Office: Had we got married this Week, no doubt the confetti in my Bride's hair, would've been of the Cherry Blossom variety, You will notice that my Bride's Wedding Dress is a sort of Cream/Ivory colour, rather than White. That "ship had sailed", a number of Years earlier. Only joking again, Sweetheart. Meanwhile back in Weather related news, Julien has got himself in a right tizz over his Maddening Oscillation - As we can see below, Julien has gone mad with his colouring pencils, again!!: But with just a couple of Weeks left of this pathetic excuse of a Winter. It looks very much a Win for Lassie's O.F.I. [October Fog Index]. No Fog sighted in my neck of the Woods, back in October. This correlates with my own index. That being the October Fox Index. The writing was on the wall for this Winter, when our Resident Fox [Vicky Vixen], could be heard many times in the middle of the Night in October, screeching her Christmas number One from last Year. You may recall [or NOT], it was a warning that the much sought after HLB [High Latitude Blocking], after a promising start early last December, was about to vanish without trace. And so it came to pass, and has not shown it's hand so far this Winter. To end this lament to Winter on a musical note, below is Vicky Vixen's Cousin Kate Brush, Brother of Basil, with that lament to the non appearance of Greenland/Scandinavian Highs - Wuthering Withering Heights: Don't exaggerate Kate it's not that cold, and you and Heathcliff can forget about coming through our window, Had my breakfast watching the Manager from the Val Thorens Ski Resort in the French Alps, stating that due to their high altitude, they've had a good Ski Season, whilst Ski Resorts much lower down, have had a poor Ski Season. Then had to watch Tomasz Schafernaker claim it was going to get even milder. From One Tom to another, leave it out matey!! Right, with that I'll make my exit and this Morning, I don't need to get my coat!! A crazy 12C up the road from here, at London City Airport. Roll on Spring, put us Coldies out of our misery!! Regards, Tom Q.

But never fear fellow Coldies, help is at hand.. UK weather: Warning Beast from the East return with late-winter snow to cover Britain Story by Nathan Rao • 2h Our old friend, Nathan Rao has spoken and just to emphasise the depth of cold we'll experience, comes the following bone chilling chart!!: Not sure that will "cut the ice" for us Coldies Nathan, even if there is any ice about to cut!! Regards, Tom Q.

Methuselah One can only hope and pray, Pete!! Regards, Tom Q.

I looked at the following headline and thought, who the hell writes, this stuff? UK weather: Warning Beast from the East return with late-winter snow to cover Britain Story by Nathan Rao • 2h Then I saw the name of Nathan Rao, our old sensationalist Weather nonsense stories friend, and realised that garbage News Channel GB News had resurrected his Journalistic career. 0c at 6 A,M, on a late February Morning, how ever will Londoners cope?? Regards, Tom Q.

Methuselah Beats looking daft! Is that an anagram Pete? of - Beast looking daft! - But of course this Synoptic set up has been impossible, since Brr'exit. With that, I think I will get my coat, hat and gloves!! Regards, Tom Q.

RJBingham Or if you're really lucky: Regards, Tom Q.

alexisj9 Totally agree with the above, Alexis. I used to post a lot in the Model Discussion Thread but stopped doing so, for the very reasons you quote. Plus your comments about Eagle Eye are very true. I would also include our own Nick Finnis, Nick Sussex and Captain Shortwave, above all others on the Model Discussion Thread. Regards, Tom Q.

A very good Morning, all. I hope I find yourselves and your Families, well. How did you sleep last Night? I must admit to being quite surprised by some of the comments, above. I didn't find it quite as noisy, as the other Night, when Isha "strutted their stuff" Note I use "their" rather than her/his, as having googled the name as you do, evidently it's Sanskrit [Hindu] and Unisex. Below, are the Meteociel Wind Graphs for nearby London City Airport, around 6 Miles North of my location. They show the Wind Speeds recorded for both Storm Isha and Jocelyn, in the Overnight period: STORM ISHA STORM JOCELYN / / I was surprised to see that Jocelyn actually recorded stronger gusts than Isha. Isha was cetainly stronger early on in the Night, whereas Jocelyn took longer to reach her peak. As you can see, Jocelyn died down pretty quickly, whereas Isha had another "bite at the cherry. The front of our House faces West, including our Bedroom. We like to have our Bedroom window ajar all through the Year but on both Nights, our Bedroom door was being "sucked" open and slammed shut again. That can be very disturbing. To rival Lassie's B.M.I. [Bin Moving Index], I bring you the L.R.I. [Letterbox Rapping Index]. As you can see from those charts above, the Wind direction during both Storms has been very similar S.W./W.S.W. Yet Isha "scored" many more raps on our Letterbox, than Jocelyn has. This Morning's Youtube Musical comes courtesy of Jimi Hendrix with The Wind Cries Mary Isha/Jocelyn: In the 2nd verse, Jimi states - "And The Clowns Have All Gone To Bed". Jimi of course is making reference to all the "Hopecasters" on the MAD Thread, retiring to their slumbers after viewing the 18z Model Runs. I wonder what their reaction will be once they've digested all the 00z Model Runs. **NB** - No offence to Members feelings was intended in the constructing of this Post. It's just a bit of fun/A,I, [Artistic Indulgence]. Regards, Tom Q.

A very good Morning, all. I hope I find yourselves and your Families, well. Did you manage to get more sleep than I did, last Night? I sincerely hope so. Isha really was making a racket with their Wind, overnight. I can't remember starting a Weather related post, with a Meteociel chart, displaying recently recorded Wind speeds but I will on this occasion. Below, are the recent Meteociel graphs displaying Wind Speed/Maximum Temp/Air Pressure, during the Overnight period recorded at nearby, London City Airport: / / A very strong and gusty S.W. has been blowing all Night long which did drop out for a short while before a rather violent but temporary Squall/ came through S.E. London about 4.45. After this Squall went through the temperature dropped back to 11C and the Air Pressure rose sharply to 1001 mbs after dipping to 998 mbs, in the early hours. It was virtually impossible to sleep, with all the racket going on outside and Isha kept playing "knock down ginger" with our letter box. I hope I get some sleep Tonight, as we look like doing it all again Tomorrow Night/Wednesday Morning. Could we see the arrival of Jocelyn?: In other Weather related news. the search for the next possible Wintry spell looks a forlorn one, at the moment. The Purple Blob/ P.V. [Pernicious Victor] has taken up residency yet again, in the vicinity of Greenland And combined with - - Barbara the Bartlett High /Eunice the Euro Slug, It looks a long way back to cold and very little chance at present for - - Greta the Greenland High, or - Scandy Mandy the Scandinavian High, to make an appearance. But I'm sure some Member on the MAD Model Thread will cling on to the hope that the C.F.S. [Consistently Failed Synoptics] model will show us an Easterly come the end of March May, like so: Isha did try and sound a bit melodic whilst keeping me awake though, by constantly "playing" with a neighbour's "Wind Chimes", and with that in mind, below is a tribute to melodic Storm Isha and "Song of the Wind": Regards, A very tired Tom Q.