MP-R

Been away in Texas for a week and just arrived back to some wonderful cloudscapes. Wide reaching anvils and sleet showers, but boy does that wind bite!

It is after all the less hot periods that tend to last longer (like July last year), rather than the plumes that see the sudden spike in temperature quickly followed by the Atlantic. I'd be quite happy with the same. Most important for me is the sunshine! Especially April-August. A sunny September/October would also be nice and a bit of a bonus.

Given how the first half of March normally is, I’d welcome that with open arms after what we’ve endured. Somehow I don’t think it would be very prolonged until that AO drops significantly but any dry interludes are most welcome. Later into March might be better for a dry settled spell. Nothing scientific there, just a tendency after Atlantic dominated winters.

Had a nice view of lightning in that band that’s just arrived, driving along the M4 towards Bristol. Just arrived home to squally hail and sleet splodges.

Bone dry out there now because the wind is suddenly very gusty. 14mm on Saturday after Friday’s 4mm.

You made it until mid October. Down here the monsoon began late on September 21st. It’s certainly the most protracted period of such weather and associated boredom I can remember. Not a good period for weather enthusiasts at all.

The ground was waterlogged here by mid October with a lot of surface runoff in hillier areas, so yeah, the last 3 months have not helped one bit, albeit January and February being less wet overall. Could be all change this weekend though! Quite an unusual setup for the time of year.

Except 2002 which took until the equinox to settle down. That final week was very pleasant.

Indeed; certainly not a time of year associated with rain and gales. That was a notable cold spell! I think the further north you were the better. Down here there was some snow in the showers on the 26th but the main enjoyment factor was the convective skies and thunder. 14th April 1999 remains the latest snowfall here in my lifetime.

Not me. Sure, if it does happen then fine, but it's so infrequent I'd much rather some classic April shower days or a sunny area of high pressure.

Can’t think of many Februaries that fit that description...

Normally by long before that it’s started falling apart. We often see the first signs by mid Jan, assuming it’s formed into a fully fledged monster beforehand. The persistence of it this year, however, is notable in itself. Just a shame it has to deliver such arduous weather most of the time. The last few days have been an exception. Down here, the rainfall hasn’t been that bad so far this month but the upcoming low looks like hitting at a different angle so trailing fronts could really be an issue if the low takes its time to clear E or NE. Can’t wait to leave the country for a week next week!

Two blustery ‘predominantly snow’ showers this morning. Lower dewpoints helping given the temp was 4C at the time.

Not so many showers around now the cold air is feeding in!

Same here! Really impressive stuff - temperature also dropped from 7.5C to 3.6C. Sun now out again and a nice collection of hailstones in the rain gauge.

2015-17 really weren’t awful at all. Far from it. They had their ups and downs but brought a mix of everything. In 2015, here at least, most of June, the first 10 days of July and first half of August were generally good. In 2016, the first 10 days of June, second half of July, and most of August were good. I’d rate August 2016 as the best of the decade for here, followed by 2013 and 2018. 2017 was really a case of collapsing in instalments but had a lot of fine weather in June and July. August was probably the biggest disappointment and more like September down here. They all pale in comparison to the 2007-2012 period.

Yes! Doesn’t feel like February at all. More like late October. Couldve sworn I heard thunder a minute ago...

It’s a windy one out there! Max gust of 40mph here so far, however with a SW wind, which never gives the strongest gusts at my location. Barely any rain yet either but quite a lot in the radar by the looks of it!

Fancy that - a spell of rain during the night hours and clear skies during the daylight hours, before the next belt of rain during the night. If only that were always the case! Lovely day today though! That makes 4 out of the last 5 days essentially sunny. Shame it’s about to go belly up.

Err no. The 18.3C was not a ‘possibly’.

Hence ‘possibly’...

I think the Earth would have to start rotating in the opposite direction for that to happen this year!

I’ve also had snow falling (albeit not lying) with -4 uppersoff the Atlantic! The freezing level will fluctuate with the passing of showers. Best recent example is 14th January 2015. Sleet and snow showers off a straight westerly.

And this is something I’ll never understand - why the PV should get stronger as arctic ice decreases. I’m still at a loss as to why the the PV loves Greenland so much.

Yes it was 25C over Easter, then it didn’t reach that again until June 1st. May’s high was only 22C on the 25th.