Phil UK

Depends on two factors. Is the lightning cloud/ground? (or forked!) If so then if close enough will produce the ear-splitting gunshot, ground shaking sounding thunder. But if intra-cloud, the lightning is higher up so the sound wave will take a couple or more seconds longer to resonate. Can still be somewhat loud if directly overhead but spread over a wider area because there are no buildings or trees to resonate the echo. Hope my probably useless explanation helps Jess. Phil.

CreweCold... I have had many crazy thoughts before but your idea of Anne Widdicombe gyrating in a pair of frenchies in your face is enough to put even the most die-hard weather fan off visiting Crewe. Or put off anything for that matter. The nightmares would haunt you forever. It would be like asking Cherie Blair and Theresa May to give an in-your-face smile. Otherwise... Looked like a bruiser of a shower/storm coming out of Bromsgrove an hour or so ago but thanks to the Solihull atmospheric hairdryer. Nothing!! Methinks I'll be in the NSC for a while yet I think. (Well I'm the sub-boss so I have no choice!) Phil.

More from the Nikon Coolpix L120. Moon and trying attempt at Mars. (Nobody's perfect you know! Especially when freezing your gonads off. But all for the sake of photography!) Moon at near full phase. Mars. (Or at least that was the general idea at the time!) Phil.

I thought you might like it, Backtrack. :winky: For the Moon image, I set the ISO to 80 and mounted on a tripod. The stars and other constellations (A small selection below from 13/1/2012) I set the ISO to its max of 6400 and again mounted on a tripod. The higher the ISO, the more light sensitive the camera is so don't try ISO 6400 in full daylight or you'll get disastrous image results. Your pics are fine, but with all new toys, you have to learn as to how they work, all about trial and error and I'm still learning even now some new things about the camera functionalities. My real test I think will be later on this year when I'll be heading down to Exmouth for a few days and no light pollution, just there on a dark beach and stars/Milky Way galore* Plus landscapes too. Makes you feel like a kid with a new toy on Christmas Day. Enjoy. * But knowing my luck it will be cloudy throughout! Pfft!! Phil. Taurus. Cassiopeia. Gemini. Auriga. Orion. (With added free light pollution! Pfft!) Snowfall in my backyard on Saturday 4/2/2012.

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier. In November 2011, I brought myself the Nikon CoolPix L120. (Half price so hey!) But had been looking at it myself a couple of months previous. Now! I'd FULLY recommend it. Fuji's are ok but a little bit complicated in their functional use. But anyway... Here are a couple of images taken by said Nikon camera last December, seeing how good it could handle the night sky. The quality and sharpness at full x21 optical zoom honestly blew me away. :blink: And bear in mind that NO extra optical aid was used when taking these images. This is the what you see is what you get from this camera. Enjoy. Phil. Orion Nebula. Pleiades. Moon.

Well, another year is about to pass by. Thanks from myself and I'm sure I speak for Jane Louise also for all the gripes and moans from all remaining members of the NSC 2011 about the lack of storms, the near misses and what could have beens given the right set ups. Hopefully though, we'll not see anyone in here in 2012. But a brief analysis of what was Spring/Summer 2011... North East in May/June/July 2011... Unusual and on occasion intense storm activity and since I can ever recall was far more active than the south which would be in a geographical sense be more favoured, but the English Channel and even the Kent clippers didn't exactly materialise, even though some very beefy cells which looked for certain to move north decayed. ( Perhaps except for 27th/28th June 2011 when severe storms broke out in the south east. A clue being 'Anyone for tennis?' or when a severe storm hit during a Wimbledon game live on BBC1.) Early August produced a few thundery showers and even an unexpected one for my locality on Sunday 7th August 2011. (Might still be in the convective thread around that time unless Paul and co have purged it!) But with sunspot activity increasing, it seems that warmer days and more unstable atmospherics look rife for 2012 and moreover 2013, but that remains to be seen as such. So from the teaboy, now assistant manager owing to Jane promoting me last night on Facebook. (I'll still fetch the tea though!) I, and on behalf of my boss wish you all the best and lets break the record in 2012 with the LEAST amount of members ever. Happy New Year. Phil.

"I had a dream" : Wasn't that a Martin Luther King phrase, and a song by Abba back in the 1980's? :smiliz19: Anyway... I did dream once, and quite a strange one this was I was caught in a thunderstorm coming home from school back in 1983 I think? Turns out that the thunder I was hearing in my sleep was in fact the real deal as a storm did occur overnight. I only found out when at school the very next day, a couple of friends said to me... "Did you hear that thunder last night?" I'd like to dream of deep Winter snow like in January 1982, February 1987 and early 1991 but probably more chance of me having this lady here in person... Ok lads, stop drooling. Phil.

Nothing here at all. I think of the storm shield. I think now that Solihull has developed a snow shield too. Pfft! Phil.

I think that looking at this in the grander scheme of things, some parts of the world are prone to severe weather extremities. Take 2011 as a whole as an example... The most deadly tornadoes in the US, floods in the Far East, even in the UK this month, records were broken and I'll use the example of the first three days of October where in the area I live reached 28.2ºc on 2nd. That was probably the second highest recorded temperature for the entire Spring/Summer going by my local records. Extreme for the time of year. I myself like extreme or unusual weather but as long as no-one gets injured or at worst, cost lives. Let's go back to October 1987 where the Met Office monumentally screwed up with the south east hurricane* that claimed lives and untold damage. Now if that had been at its peak during evening rush hour then I don't even want to think about the potential for injuries or fatalities. Earlier this month, a wind gust speed of 165mph in the Cairngorms. I saw that and thought it was a typo error initially until confirmed a day later. And another thing to add. Some of these guys and gals on this very forum fly some 3,000 odd miles in April/May to LOOK for severe weather, al la thunderstorms, supercells and tornados. In a sense, severe weather is a, and to use that old analogy... Like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. *It was actually a severe storm but I'd have said maybe a category 3 if speaking in hurricane terms and Michael Fish... My words would be why did they shoot the messenger that day? You were just doing your job but those in authority should have known better. Phil.

Merry Christmas to all at Netweather. :smiliz19: Phil.

Interesting indeed. Even in the latest televised weather forecast, there is still a degree of uncertainty as to where the track of the LP will cross. If as predicted as early as last weekend, would be much further north and the winds over much of the south, now the track looks set to be further south with the main belt of rain advancing as far north as perhaps Manchester/Cumbria but as it spills back south, will turn readily to snow and even sleet/snow at lower levels. An interesting 36/48 hours ahead methinks. :-) Phil.

Our very own Jane Louise I think? Unless there is anyone else who has a different point of view. :w00t: And well done, Viking. This NSC is primarily for Spring and Summer storm activity but we are versatile and with the title of the thread stating 2011, meaning 1st January to 31st December, and you've seen storm activity... We'll let you go. And don't come back too quick you hear! :-) Phil.

My wheelie bin went missing for a while this morning. I thought how lucky until the numpty binmen left it at the top of the street so wheeled it back into the front garden/block paving of our property. But I agree Lauren. Probably the only sound I've heard since August that resembles thunder was me walking that wheelie bin back. But a note to council bin workers. EMPTY THE WHEELIE BIN OUTSIDE SAID PROPERTY AND NOT LEAVE IT IN AN AREA WITH OTHER WHEELIE BINS THAT MAKES THAT PARTICULAR AREA LOOK LIKE A DR WHO DALEK MEETING CONVENTION!! Sheesh! Phil.

Thank you, Jane. I know that times are hard these days and even the weather has cut back on storms south of northern England. (Boooooo!!) But I'm still more than happy to be the NSC 2012 tea boy. Phil.

Ah, cheer up Jane and others who have felt somewhat cheated out of this 'Summers' storms. 2012 is another year. And knowing our luck so far, somethings got to give, a reversal of fortune sometime surely? I think back to the mid 1980's and 1990's when Summer storms were rife when a Spanish plume/occluded front over Biscay made its way over the UK and gave some 20-odd hours of intense rain with embedded thunderstorms. (July 1989 being the most vivid I remember!) Apart from that, just the one, yes ONE storm on 7th August 2011 is all I have to report here in Solihull. I blame the north east personally! ;-) But as over the past two years Jane. I will continue to assist with this thread over 2012 if you so wish. :-) x Phil.

I had my suspicions about that one too, Dave. Two things that just don't look quite right. 1, The raindrops falling from the arch at the top of the pic, but the person and the ground he's standing on looks bone dry. 2, Right clicking on the image and then 'Properties' gives you the source URL. In this case, NASA. Now that can be deemed to be suspicious in itself. But just my thoughts. Nice lightning though, doctored or not. Phil.

Now I've seen spider lightning (or ribbon as also known), intracloud, fork, but never what I think this pic should be aptly titled...'Spaghetti' lightning. Not in Solihull anyway. Phil.

I sympathise with that. Was early September 2008 with all the flooding in the south west. No storm of note where I live apart from intense rain on the Saturday morning that we travelled south west in pouring rain for a family holiday in Exmouth. Then what happens,,, On that same Saturday evening, an overhead thunderstorm in my part of Solihull. Now if that isn't Sod's Law, then I don't know what is. Phil.

Am wondering at the moment if you may have spoken too soon? Something looking ominous very near to you going by the MetO radar. Phil.

Well, this is primarily for the UK. But like certain Members of Parliament, is your residence in France your first home? If so then we may make exceptions to the rule. But given all the storm activity over parts of France this Summer alone, you'd never have the need to become an NSC member. But yes, and a good call about the Pyrenees and the extra uplift they can produce. It was late May 1995. A hot day (about 29ºc) and the evening produced one massive Cumulonimbus right above the snow-capped peak. The rest of the surrounding sky was totally devoid of cloud. Something I'd never seen before and my only regret was not having a camera handy at the time. Phil.

Apart from one distant flash and rumble which I assume that was from the cell over west Birmingham some 90 minutes ago, then moved to within 5 miles from my immediate vicinity. Nothing really to report about. Seems like Solihull's storm shield has been fixed. But that said, well done to those further south west, primarily Hereford, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham who have been devoid of heavy rain and storms since the days of Noah. If Jane Louise didn't catch a storm, or at least see something in the distance then I'll be very surprised. Phil.

Won't be Solihull for sure. If it carries on in the same trajectory then it won't even become a Kent clipper, but Belgium yet again. Is this pennance for us not joining the Euro proper? I think rather than 'Frenchie 2' How about something more to the point where it comes to an electrified MCS over our shores such as... 'England's Elusive' (And how many of them have we seen over the last couple of years or so?) Now if that LP were positioned a bit further west, then it may well be a different story altogether. Phil.

I'll only be 129 years old, Mike. But if I die before then which is probably likely and I can afford to be cryogenically frozen, then thawed out then count me in for the meeting. But surely a storm for Cheltenham/Gloucester in the next 88 years will happen? Won't it? Or else the NSC will probably be the longest topic subject in the entire history of internet forums. Phil.

Yes, Victor. I can't remember the exact year, but an evening/overnight storm over London caused a massive increase in athsma* atsthma*... Breathing difficulties due to airbourne pollen being washed down. Might have been 1995-96 unless someone can clarify that specific point in time for me. So that could have been very detrimental to many with lung disorders. But I think apart from June 27th/28th this year over London and the south east, it has been somewhat pretty tame compared to a couple of decades ago. Phil.

You be the boss, Jane, and the teaboy agrees with any final decision. Now when Thor and Odin finally get back off their holiday, we might yet again see storms from Spanish plumes over a wide area. But what has surprised many of us this 'Summer' I think has been the frequency and intensity of storm activity in the north east of England. Now if it were snow then I'd be more inclined to understand. Hmmm!! Maybe Thor and Odin have been holidaying in the north east this year? It's almost as if the, where you'd expect storms has gone almost bi-polar. Odd that! Phil.