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Portland Paul

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Everything posted by Portland Paul

  1. Isle of Portland, calm with unbroken sunshine and unusually hot. Last night's min 21.6 c, then already 24 c by 8.20 am. 25 or 26 for much of the day in very weak sea breezes, and still 24 here @ dusk. Possibly a second consecutive night to come of remaining above 20 c
  2. My patchy recollections from a young age, from Birmingham (and some resorts for later in the month): May 1982 - prolonged hot and sunny period in south Devon. May 1983 - A fairly wet month. Severe thunderstorms in IOW towards the end. May 1984 - Warm at times at first, but a really wet and chilly second half. May 1985 - Wet, murky for a time 20th to 23rd. Warmer and thundery in south Devon 25th and early 26th. Washout BHM 27th. Much warmer & sunny to end. May 1986 - Average; some nice days in Weymouth at the end. May 1987 - Quite poor, but some nice days later. May 1988 - Thunderstorms on 1st. Quite a few warm, sunny days. Poor later. May 1989 - A cracking, sunny and warm or hot month. Thunderstorms in fourth week, then a much cooler end.
  3. That sounds like an interesting weather event, in what was afterwards a very mild and very dry December 1988 for much of the UK
  4. A rather dismal early June, but soon followed by much better weather with really hot and dry conditions in the middle part and shortly after. More unsettled towards the end, with light winds and some heavy rain around. July, much more settled again from the start with many very warm and sunny days. Predominantly dry too. Lasting until gone mid month, with a few hot days. The fourth week, more unsettled with rain or showers at times, and cooler in stages. August, generally changeable and breezy first half, then a more settled and warm or very warm and mostly dry second half. September, much cooler and unsettled. Unseasonably chilly a few days into the month with heavy showers and hailstorm in an unstable northerly. Very windy mid month. Overall, a pretty decent summer, but more disappointing in the middle, and a poor September.
  5. The 2013-14 winter, though mild and wet, was IMO surreal, due to its unusually frequent and violent storminess, coupled with well above average sunshine - one of the sunniest winters on record I believe. This especially turbulent winter lacked cold and snow for many (and here in Portland, Dorset never fell below 4 c!) but was not exceptionally mild either. It was certainly exceptionally wet and extremely windy and very sunny, which in my book doesn't make it a 'usual winter'.
  6. May 1991 is one of my least favourites, due to its dry, calm, cool and persistently dull and overcast weather, as high pressure got stuck over or near Scotland. Similar conditions also characterised the following winter, especially January and late February 1992, with the high sitting over southern Scandinavia quite often, and resulting bland, overcast and hazy conditions resulting. Other least favourites include the cloudy, cool, breezy westerly summers of 1987, 1998 and 2011. The awful soggy period of mid April to mid December 2012. The cold May of 1996. The rather drab 2000 summer. The dull, close month of August 2002, and cool, wet cloudy August 2008. And the flat, boring year that was 2015, with prolonged westerly or north-westerly winds, bringing a lot of breezy and cloudy weather with not much proper soaking rain for the gardens
  7. In Birmingham, February 1985 with the blizzards of 8th-9th followed by a long sunny period of severe frosts and huge icicles over 12 feet long. Or 8th August 1992, a strange Saturday late evening of dense fog combined with torrential thunderstorms and vivid lighting. Or 10th - 14th February 1998 with its phenomenally Mediterranean warm, sunny spell and temperatures of 18 or 19 c. Or perhaps 6th April 2008 (two weeks after Easter) waking up to over a foot of snow which had flattened the bamboos in the garden! In Portland, Dorset, the spectacular thunderstorms of early May 2011 and late May 2017, with colossal amounts of lightning on both occasions. Or the 14-15th February 2014, with that particularly severe storm (after so many that winter) which forced closure of the Chesil Beach Road for over 15 hours, and left salt spray to the extent that windows all over the island looked like they'd been sprayed with milk, plus some evergreen plants took over 2 years to recover afterwards such as they'd been burned so badly! Or the double whammy of heavy snow in March this year, the depth not seen on the Island for nearly 40 years, with 18 cm of level snow on 18th and 19th. Followed of course by the scorching summer, with lawns turning to straw (and still some of them recovering)
  8. May have been my mistake if the 18z hadn't fully rolled out, and Friday's run on the TWO site was still apparent, whoops
  9. No, it was the 18z, but as I expected in the 8 - 10 day time frame it appears to be an outlier, with the 00z (as you posted) amongst subsequent runs playing with the general idea of waxing and waning Azores influence and some mobility for the N and W UK
  10. GFS 18z run sticks us straight back into the furnace by next weekend, then keeps a stubborn strong high over southern Scandi, with bags of heat and humidity around in a slack continental flow and a few scattered T-storms especially in the west... Is this signs of the epic 2018 summer putting the icing on the cake???
  11. We can't expect 3 months of heat and sunshine in this country, but it is still possible. Especially if any Atlantic interference in mid range and FI continues to be pushed back or be aborted time and again! My money is on many more weeks of high pressure and heat!
  12. Clear, sunny and very warm @ 21.3 c and a 4 mph easterly. Had already reached 18 c before 8 am, after overnight low of 13.5 c. All way above the surrounding sea temperature, with little wind, our wedge is well heated!
  13. Candlemas, 2nd February, if clouds and rain, winter is gone and will not come again.. probably works just as well too, as a dull, wet end January/ early February may tie with a progressive mild pattern (as in 2011 after the severe first half of winter). The clear and bright scenario certainly worked this year, for February and March!
  14. Hi all, Does anyone have any stats or satellite pics etc regarding the evening and overnight period of this intense belt of thunderstorms moving north through England and Wales? Off memory, May 1991 was very dry, dull and cold, then June 1991 became very wet and was mostly cool. During the first few days in July, low pressure sank southwards into Biscay allowing very warm and humid easterly airflow to affect the UK. Later on Friday 5th, torrential downpours moved up from the Channel to bring a succession of intense thunderstorms overnight in the Midlands, and it felt remarkably sultry and tropical. Anyone with any recollection of this night?
  15. Merry Christmas Paul, and to one and all! Just gone through the 6z GFS; after several mild and cloudy days until Christmas Day, we go into a few turbulent days, with some shots of cold air over the northern half of the UK, so the chance of wintry showers, maybe a surprise snowfall for a few
  16. It did on 8th December 1990, that was quite a blizzard! This evolution has shown some consistency in recent runs, and this latest run is extra special! At +168 can be remarkably accurate followed by the usual downgrades, followed by upgrading nearer the event.. Definitely one to keep an eye on..
  17. The extended summer, May to September 1997, was excellent in the West Midlands, with the notable exception of around 7th June to 3rd July. The second half of June was very wet, and often cold and dull. Although May began very warm, there was an unusually cold spell with wintry showers by week 2, then after an unsettled, warming period, the second half was excellent in terms of many sunny, warm days, which spilled over into early June. A thundery breakdown on the 7th led onto a dire three week period, with periods of persistent rain, and low temperatures at times of just 10 to 12 c in the daytime. An improvement by 5th July, and a generally warm or very warm July, with sunny periods, followed by an exceptionally hot and sticky August and prolonged sunshine, with easterly winds at times bringing a really stuffy feel from the continent. A bit more unsettled later in the month, and I remember thunderstorms one Sunday (24th or 31st?) September seemed also to have many settled and sunny days; I remember October also being often dry too but some very cold nights.
  18. Maybe it's just perception, but was January 1997 also very dull indeed? I can barely remember any sunshine that month
  19. Hey Walsall Wood Snow, in south-west Birmingham, late November 1985 had a sudden hail/ sleet shower one dusk, turning to snow, about 2-3 cm accumulated, followed by very icy surfaces for a few days with sunny days. Late December 1985/ early January 1986, I think around 7 or 8 cm of snow accumulated, with a bit more towards 9th January, enough, I remember, for sledging and snowmen! January 1987 (14th-16th) was very severe, with high drifts and a bitter wind-chill, whereas 7th March 1987 was a day of wet snow on a raw SE wind, turning to proper snow from late afternoon, with about 10 cm by dusk (gone 6 pm) November 20th 1988 was a light early morning snowfall, about 4 cm, with sunny and frosty days to follow
  20. Hey, I lived in south-west Birmingham, and have fond weather memories of the mid 1980s winters. My 10th birthday being in January 1985, and I've been a keen weather watcher since the age of 6! 1983- 1984 winter - I remember December starting frosty and sunny, turning milder and more unsettled followed by a short cold spell and a few cm of snow, then milder again. January 1984 was very unsettled, and turned much colder towards the middle with some heavy snow showers. Unsure memories about the rest of the month, but remember some snow and hard frosts in February 1984. For 1984-1985 - December seemed average, pretty unsettled, but remember a much colder and snowy period in early-mid January 1985. Milder and changeable fourth week, some snow showers late in month. February, those blizzards around 7-9 th, over a foot of snow in strong SE to E winds. Thereafter, fine and sunny with severe frosts and huge icicles 1985-1986 - Snow showers and hard frosts in 4th week November, followed by the same at the end of December. Lying snow until 11th January 1986, then mild and stormy for a short time. Very cold again later in the month, then a bitterly cold February, with some sunny days, and very hard frosts. Some snowfall, mostly early in the month, with lying compacted snow and ice persisting for a long period. March was very cold also. 1986-1987 - December was mild, but January turned extremely cold towards mid month with large snowdrifts to 3 feet high, powder snow on a strong Easterly. More snowfall in February 1987 too, and again on 7th March. Hope this helps
  21. March 1995 was brill, just like a March should be! Everything from gales, very warm sunshine, thunderstorms, hail, hard frosts, and snowfalls
  22. Very hard to decide, so I'll pick a fave from each year to my earliest memories - December 1981, for intense cold and heavy snow. July 1982 for being very dry. August 1983 for heat and thunder. April 1984 for snow showers at first, followed by a very warm and sunny late Easter. February 1985, for the blizzards then the freeze. February 1986 for intense cold and severe frosts. January 1987 for the intense cold and blizzards. October 1988 for its quiet, sunny and frosty school half term. July 1989 for heat, and a very violent thunderstorm on 7th. July 1990 for baking sunshine. February 1991 blizzards. May 1992 for heat and thunderstorms October 1993 for thunderstorms, then much colder, frosty weather. October 1994 for dense fog clearing to sweltering sunny afternoons. August 1995 for exceptional hot, dry, sunny weather. June 1996 for hot spells after the cold May. August 1997 for heat and thunderstorms. February 1998, exceptionally warm and dry. May 1999, thunderstorms. March 2000, very pleasant, before a dire rest of the year. September 2001, mostly dry and settled. October 2002, fine and warm start, stormy later. February 2003, very dry and sunny with some hard frosts and snow earlier on. August 2004, very thundery indeed. March 2005, cold and wintry, then much warmer. July 2006, very hot and clear. April 2007, very warm, very sunny, very dry. October 2008, snowfall on 28th. February 2009, severe first half, very spring-like second half December 2010 for snowfall and exceptional cold. April 2011, hottest on record, very sunny and bone dry. March 2012, warm and sunny before a dreadful rest of the year. August 2013, warm and unusually calm. July 2014, hot and sunny. October 2015, fine and hazy for long periods. And so far, for 2016, July, which here has been very dry indeed. I lived in Brum until 2009, then been living in Portland, Dorset since
  23. Very noisy, violent winds - peaking about 10 mins ago, now dropping slightly. Difficult to sleep!
  24. Great memories of this event, living near the south-west outskirts of Birmingham (3 miles from Halesowen), aged nearly 16. Friday evening ( 7th ), overcast with drizzly rain and relatively little wind. The lights in the house kept blinking after about 9 pm ! Went to sleep about 11 pm, then woke to a loud thunderclap just before 2 am. Looking out of my bedroom window, already several cm of lying snow, and poor visibility due to heavy falling snow. Back to sleep, then awoke 8 am to nearly a foot of level snow with higher drifts. Much of the daylight hours of that Saturday 8th kept blizzard conditions going in a strong northerly or NNE wind, and some huge drifts round the sheltered edges of the local playing fields developed to around four feet. Small icicles also formed from the bases of fascia boards and guttering during the course of the day. We spent much of the Sunday 9th clearing our cul-de-sac of snow in the lighter north-easterly winds, and some quite pleasant sunshine, but then misty, wet conditions ran up from the near continent on Monday 10th to shift a fair amount more of the snow, or turn it to slush. Despite much milder weather in the last ten days of the month, odd piles of cleared snow could still be found in country lane ditches of north Worcestershire a few days after Christmas
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