Favourite Weather Event Of 2008

[chionomaniac]

Good evening all.

Another year has passed with another year's weather behind us. So just what was your favourite weather event last year?

For me choosing is easy. After waiting all winter for snow and not getting any and then getting settling snow in April, it was a blessed relief.

So 5 inches of snow in April (and I realise that my measurement technique may not have met SF's standard snow measurement criteria!) was fantastic. Still waiting for the first snow this winter, mind you.

c

[Paul Sherman]

Easy one for me

Uk

6th August 2008 - 5 hour MCS From France that produced some of the most Vivid Lightning ever seen in the Uk, the Lightning was so clear you could make out all the Storm Structure, also had some Incredible Anvil Crawlers with that Storm System. Started at 9pm and ended just after 2am!

US

May 23rd Witnessing 5 Tornadoes in 1 day in Kansas was amazing, and also the Emotion of getting hit by an EF2 In Nebraska on 29th May 2008! A great year for Storm Chasing and I hope 2009 continues along the same lines.

Paul S

[chionomaniac]

Easy one for me

Uk

6th August 2008 - 5 hour MCS From France that produced some of the most Vivid Lightning ever seen in the Uk, the Lightning was so clear you could make out all the Storm Structure, also had some Incredible Anvil Crawlers with that Storm System. Started at 9pm and ended just after 2am!

US

May 23rd Witnessing 5 Tornadoes in 1 day in Kansas was amazing, and also the Emotion of getting hit by an EF2 In Nebraska on 29th May 2008! A great year for Storm Chasing and I hope 2009 continues along the same lines.

Paul S

The 6th August storm was a close second for me and good luck for this year!

[Cookie]

the storm that hit lewis in the last week of October, not sure of exact date,

was coming back in the plane and was a very rough flight and we landed in winds gusting 70mph!

the waves where amazing stunning and something I wont forget for a long time the whole event was amazing,

I love a good storm during the day and when im off work.

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

says a lot about how awful last winter was that I also choose winter in April for my highlight. A magnificent snowy afternoon that lasted into the Spring dusk with skies then clearing to leave fluffy snowcover preserved under frosty starry skies...leading to a winter wonderland daybreak

what winter itself should be about!

Edited January 2, 2009 by North Sea Snow Convection

[davehsug]

D'ya know, I've had a think & there's nothing, absolutely nothing. No significant snow, no thunderstorms, no amazing rainfall. I spose it might have been a bit windy now & again.

2008, the most boring weather year in history (in the Stoke area).

Dave

[SP1986]

It was a boring benign year, I think the thunderstorms in July probably top it, and even then they were brilliant.

[maidstone weather]

Easy one for me

Uk

6th August 2008 - 5 hour MCS From France that produced some of the most Vivid Lightning ever seen in the Uk, the Lightning was so clear you could make out all the Storm Structure, also had some Incredible Anvil Crawlers with that Storm System. Started at 9pm and ended just after 2am!

I have to agree that storm was amazing! For me it started around 9.30pm, and ended shortly after midnight but the lightning was almost constant forks all around. It was overhead for most of it's duration, and the rain was the heaviest i have ever witnessed!

the 6th April snow event also sticks in my mind about 2008.

Hmm 6th April, 6th August - 6th January snow?

[mackerel sky]

Had no memorable thunderstorms overhead - in fact next to none (the superposition of lightening strikes on a map over the year, shows a hole over this area). Very little lying snowfall worthy of mention, other than Easter Sunday - which had all basically melted by mid-afternoon, although the snowmen did persist for a week. Don't think it got above 30C at all at any point in summer. Completely unmemorable and uninteresting all round in this part of the UK.

[Guest]

Nothing really struck me as exceptional, except for the surprise snowfall in October. We had snow in late March at Watford but it did not settle. Generally a changeable year. No temps significantly above 30c, no droughts, no real storms. Pretty boring really with nothing to make me sit up (apart from October snow) and say wow, this is interesting. Apparently we had some snow in November as well but I was in Greece at the time.

[Don]

For me, my favourite weather event of 2008 has to be the October 28th snow event, even though other areas in the south saw more snow than I did. Seeing falling snow at this time of the year is one thing, but actually seeing it settle (especially as I don't live in a snowy area at the best of times) was amazing! There were still a few traces of snow on the ground after two days. Little more than 2 weeks prior to this, we were basking in temperatures approaching the mid 70's. All in all, a very noteworthy weather event.

My next favourite was the 6th April snow. The possibility of snow had been forecast, but I didn't expect to see anything more than sleet or wet snow at best, with any lying snow restricted to higher ground. I then woke up to heavy snow with about two inches laying. What made this more impressive was that less than 48 hours prior to this we were having temperatures of around 15-17C! After a stinker of a Winter this was a welcome relief.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Don

[I remember Atlantic 252]

6th april snow, everything white my favourite, I dont get snow now during even larger teapot, this was spring

[Dr Rains]

For me even though I wasn't too happy at the time it would be the localised snow of the 17th of April around the west of Barnsley/Sheffield/Huddersfield - we had about 3 inches.

[Cheese Rice]

For me it has to be March 22nd snow which we got 10cm+ from, then the next day 23rd march we got another 10cm+ which was good at first, but it all melted so fast, by about 11am it was all gone :huh: .

So really it has to be the first week of december we got 2cm of snow on 3rd of Dec, which then froze, it got topped up on 4th december we got a extra 4cm of snow, which then froze, then it all lead to the big snow even on 5th december which gave us 13cm of snow, which lead to 19cm of snow!!!!!!!!!!!!! which i was pretty imprssed with, and it stayed on the ground until 9days, it then melted by the rain, which turned to snow and gave us 2cm.

So far we have done okay this winter

[Bottesford]

Difficult to say really... Normally I look to summer to provide my favourite weather as I just love the long, hot & sunny days it can bring. But we didn't get too many of those (and haven't since July 2006!) so I think this winter so far has stuck in my mind most. Especially earlier in the month when we had endless clear skies with very low temperatures and ice everywhere but with plenty of sunshine to keep SAD at bay.

No specific event sticks out though unless I've forgotten something!

[Optimus Prime]

Another exceptionally mild winter but with a frosty February. The April snow (just over 5cm) The very warm first half to May. Good heatwave to end July. The remarkable October snowfall (2cm) and then following frosts and cold days. The cold spell of December.

Not overly exciting.

Last year was also, for me marked by a notable cooldown during the second half.

[Weather-history]

Historically, for me it has to be the October snowfall. Hasn't been anything like that to that extent for a long time.

Personally, February 2008 was remarkable for the diurnal temperature range, the glorious sunshine and those brilliant sunsets.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Mr_Data

[Joneseye]

The April snow event was the most snow I have seen in my 6.5 years at my house.. don't have any pictures, but I was gobsmacked when I looked out the window 1st thing to a winter wonderland and heavy snow falling.

The summer was fairly unremarkable when it came to heat and thunderstorms. There were 2 notable bursts of rain, notable by the fact that the rain came from the east of the house and by the intensity, which left my garden flooded and almost flooded my garage.

[Evening thunder]

For me it has to be the Freak hail storm that hit the Ottery St Mary area of east Devon overnight 29th - 30th October for the most memorable anyway. Staying in West Hill (near Ottery) that night not being able to get to sleep until about 2:30am because of heavy hail hitting the skylight and very bright lightning/very loud thunder every 10 seconds or more frequent was quite an experience. Some of the aftermath was quite amazing too including a lane blocked by mud/hail 8 foot deep and big chunks of the bank and hedge next to the road missing.

The River Otter got higher than ive ever seen it although I didn't see it at that point near its highest just saw the pics.

Apparently The Kings School, Ottery recorded 187mm of rain!!!

Met Office report Here

Of course many homes were flooded and and lots of damage done by floods so I'm not sure if it was my favorite or not just the most memorable for most people around here!

The night into the 13th December there was more flooding problems again as 40mm of rain fell onto probably frozen ground with some very heavy rain.

The ice day on the last day of the year was also quite good.

Snow back in April although not nearly as much as further east and it didn't really settle here was just almost the only snow we got.

Just picking some examples of events I remember not sure which was my favorite but the hailstorm was definitely the most memorable and extreme and was about the only exceptional event of the year as well as being the only decent thunderstorm.

[Andy Bown]

Seeing as most of my work is outside I can remember a number of showery days with stunning cloudscapes but they had an equally annoying tendancy to soak me in 5 minutes! My number 1 is from a day such as that...

1. Tuesday 9 August : A bright, showery morning turned into a warm, sunny early afternoon which sparked life into a trough over the Mendips and provided a heavy overhead thunderstorm around 15.00 . This cleared to an hour of very warm, steamy sunshine before a repeat performance storm struck at 16.30, this time with heavier rain and very vivid overhead lightning. The most remarkable feature was being stood in the sunshine between the storms admiring the cloud structures as one cleared to the East and the other developed from the West.

2. Thursday 28 July : I was working in a village called Market Lavington and had the eerie experience of a warm sunny start develop into dense fog around 09.00 and then the fog burned off rapidly to reveal clear blue sky and the hottest day of the year at 30c max. Not a remarkable day (well it was for summer 08 :huh: ), but an interesting occurence.

3. Saturday 13 December : An early morning deluge topping up the 24 hour rain total to 42.5mm making it the wettest 24 hours of the year. The area had flash flooding due to frozen ground and the intensity of the rainfall which meant only one route was open between here and the next town - that route being narrow lanes beside, ironically, a lake.

[Devon-Nelly]

Well 2008 has got to be the most uneventful year of weather i can remember.

But my favourate bit was, a couple of snow showers we had on Easter Sunday as we have had no snow for 2 winters running and its the second occasion in 2 years we've had a couple of snow showers.

But other intresting highlights have to be the Extremely wet but warm May, we had a total of 142.4mm of rain that month, and also i recorded the warmest day of the year with a high of just 24.8c on the 11th.

Temperatures down to -1c in October and a widspread thick frost, was intreasting to say the least, as well as the cold December (though still havn't had any really cold nights or snow).

The rest of the year just sort of moulded into one, Mild, wet, and dull.

[MP-R]

Well 2008 has had to be the worst year for snow and heat in my opinion which has made the short occurrences of both of those things the events of the year.

EVENT OF THE WINTER: Friday 11th January - Heavy rain began after lunch on Thursday afternoon and continued all night and all morning on the 11th. It was bitterly cold. The rain began becoming sleety just after lunch and by 2pm it was snowing very very hard. It snowed and snowed very heavily for about five hours resulting in 2cm finally settling. It was quite strange to drive home and see flooded roads and snow covering the banks either side and on the trees. This sticks out because of the sheer surprise of the event!

EVENT OF THE SPRING: This is a hard one as there is a tie between the snow on April 6th and the massive thunderstorm on May 9th. I would have to say both - April 6th because of the rarity of snow here in April or at all nowadays and May 9th because of the length of the thunderstorm and simply amazing lightning display that lasted from 8.30pm to about 11.30pm.

EVENT OF THE SUMMER: Monday 28th July - Not only was this the hottest day of the year, the only day to top 30C at 30.6C but late evening two wonderfuly thunderstorms closed the short-lived hot spell. I saw for the first time, steaming pavements, roads, driveways and patios after the first thunderstorm passed through at 7pm and allowed the sun to come out after.

EVENT OF THE AUTUMN: Sunday 12th October - Due to a rather quiet, uneventful autumn with no events out of the ordinary, except maybe the first frost being in October not mid-November, I have chosen this date as it was a day to experience the summer we never had. Clear skies lasted all day and the temperature climbed to 22.3C, the highest I have ever recorded in October and quite remarkable anywhere in the UK so late in the year.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Michael Prys-Roberts

[Stargazer]

As for some others, for me it had to be the snow on October 28 - only a light dusting here, but the first snow in October in most people's lifetimes. The year was exceptional in that we had snow in spring and autumn but none in winter. And I'm with Mr Data on those delightful February days.

[Snowyowl9]

says a lot about how awful last winter was that I also choose winter in April for my highlight. A magnificent snowy afternoon that lasted into the Spring dusk with skies then clearing to leave fluffy snowcover preserved under frosty starry skies...leading to a winter wonderland daybreak

what winter itself should be about!

Was that as much snow as you had in april 1989.

For me I`ll go through the highlight for each month.

January, easterly with temps at -0.1c with a covering of snow on the 4th,today was colder still though

Feb, it has to be that frost and different range of temps,warm high then a colder high never known it like that.

March,for being colder during the 2nd half with snowshowers at times been missing for years.

April,best snowfall since 2000 and it was a wintry month best of the decade on average.

May,for being the most easterly on record.

June,Actually had some severe gales on the 22nd :huh:

July,The only hot spell of the summer lasting 10days but then giving some amazing torrential thunderstorms on the 28th.

August,dullest on record thats how I`ll remember that. :lol:

Sept,Pass. :wacko:

Oct,biggest snowfall ever and record cold days.

November won`t be remembered for much in the way of snow here,but cold beginning and cold end it will.

December will be for ice at the beginning and cold beginning,cold end.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Snowyowl9

[kaz]

end of oct.a whole week of thunder storms (awsome)

kaz

ps much better than boring snow hahahahaha shhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone i will be shot