What Happened To April Showers

[Mesoscale]

Seriously where have they gone?

When i was younger i remember without fail there would be storms during aprill e.g. aprill showers!!!

i want thunderstorms!!!! lol

[I remember Atlantic 252]

ive never heard of Aprill showers, lol, heard of April showers maybe? surely though this is the most high pressure dominated time of year

did have showers on sunday

[Nick F]

Prevalence of high pressure this month is probably the answer to your question!

[Thundery wintry showers]

There were plenty of April showers around during 6-15 April 2008- in Norwich there were showers around on every day of that spell (though we missed them on a couple of days). There was snow on two of the days here, hail on four of them, and thunder on three of them.

The Aprils of 2009 and 2010 have been dominated mostly by high pressure which inhibits shower development (oops, I see Nick F got there first with this point!)

Showery weather was frequent during Aprils 1994, 1998, 1999 and 2000, while for particularly dramatic showery weather, the periods 18-21 April 1995, 13-18 April 1999 and 18-24 April 2000 stick out. The showers in the first third of April 2006 were also dramatic in places- e.g. the unexpected snowstorm in Tyneside on the 8th April 2006 which resulted in Sunderland's football match being cancelled. But even in April the majority of the UK's rain tends to come from Atlantic fronts which give prolonged light or moderate rain.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Thundery wintry showers

[coldfingers]

Almost 3 weeks since we had any proper rain here in Bognor, a drip in the rain guage the other day, that's all this month.

I quite agree that April showers were always the norm but not usual in the last few years unless my memory is playing me false.

Bad news? Memory not what it was these days.

I have had to water the garden already as the neighbours cats were using the dust bowls, (flower beds!) as cat litter trays. :lol:

Edited April 26, 2010 by coldfingers

[Thundery wintry showers]

April last year did have a few days of thunderstorms, for example, on the 14th and 15th where storms occured over south-eastern counties on both of these days and the west Midlands on the latter. Also, there was a period of thunderstorm activity toward the end of the month (think it may have been 27th or 28th) where an area of slack low pressure over or close to the country, and brought some thunderstorms across eastern and western parts of the Midlands.

I was down in Exeter on 28 April 2009 which was certainly a showery day there- there were also a few rumbles of thunder that evening. The 14th/15th must have passed me by because I was in Tyneside then, where there was the common issue of onshore winds bringing in low cloud and keeping the showers away.

Even this month, while not particularly showery overall, had some showery days in the first week across many parts of the country- in Cleadon there was hail on three of the first four days for example, and yesterday had plenty of April showers. I think it must be very rare for an April to pass by without most places seeing some "April showers"- perhaps 2007 might have just managed it.

[Mesoscale]

My bad april** lol

So far this year ive only heard one bit of thunder in march it didnt have any bass to it what so ever.

Last year was a good year for me, in june we got a massive thunderstorm in london the biggest i had seen in a while probably since 2006 and in august i went to florida out of the 15 days i was there 12 of them there was either audible thunder or you could see lightning (in the distance), and one day we even got a massive thunderstorm it had soo much lightning.

I like hot weather but i also like thunderstorms! :lol:

Come on april give me at least a rumble of thunder! PLEASE! lol

[Nick F]

I don't think showers are more frequent in April than any other time of year, though showery activity tends to increase inland compared to February and early March, due to higher surface heating overland as the sun gains strength which can lead to marked contrasts between surface temperatures and upper air, particularly in polar maritime or arctic maritime airstreams with cold uppers which are often common in spring before the jet stream retreats further north as we progress through summer. These strong contrasts in surface to upper air temps are referred to as steep lapse rates and when pressure is low will lead to showers developing with sunshine.

[Thundery wintry showers]

There seems to be a notable decline in showery weather as we head through June in association with the "June Return of the Westerlies"- essentially as Nick says the jet shifts further north, but what also happens is that the jet tends to strengthen, giving a stronger association between low pressure and frontal rainfall, and bringing a sharp reduction in the frequency of "clean" north-westerlies and northerlies which are associated with many of the most dramatic showery spells in April and May. It's part of the reason why wet but sunny Julys and Augusts are less common than wet but sunny Aprils, Mays and Junes. There was a paper by Will Hand in Weather in 2004 which suggested that days of "sunshine and showers" are more frequent in spring than in the other three seasons.

On the whole, though, April averages fewer thunderstorms than May through August inclusive because the weaker sun means that when convection occurs it often isn't as intense as it would be in the same setup later in the season.

[Nick F]

On the whole, though, April averages fewer thunderstorms than May through August inclusive because the weaker sun means that when convection occurs it often isn't as intense as it would be in the same setup later in the season.

I agree sun strength certainly helps boost storm activity. Though the sun now should be as strong as it is in late August and late august is more likely to see thunderstorms. I think this higher incidence of storms in August and even September is more likely due to availability of very warm and moist air to the south and southwest to tap into, which often fuels summer storms when Atlantic troughs interact. Airmasses with high warmth/moisture (shown by theta-w/wet bulb potential charts) are often not really nearby to the UK to tap into in mid-Spring - as warm air hasn't yet built over the European continent. Though, cold Pm or Am airmass storms are more likely, save the rare early season plume.

[Andy Bown]

2 showery days this April : the 1st (they were wintry) and the 25th, with another looking likely on the last day of the month this Friday.

[picog]

The only April-like showers we've had were at the end of March; none so far this month, and only a few spots of rain in over 3 weeks. At least it stops the grass growing so fast!

[Eugene]

lol, Pointless thread IMO, it's obvious why there is a lack of April showers this April due to HP dominance, strange to base one or two Aprils on how common they are in April, not EVERY April is going to produce them but alot do.

Very common before 2009 here.

[BLAST FROM THE PAST]

We will probably see May make up for the lack of precip.

BFTP

[MP-R]

Although I wouldn't say April showers have faded away, I have noticed a certain shunt to the second half of the month when they are most prevalent. This was certainly the case in 2002, 2003 and 2009 and if not, then they've been pretty equally spread across the month. Even the most boring Aprils like 2002 have been savoured by showery spells - this one even had gales thrown in for good measure.

[BlueHedgehog074]

Even though it's no longer April, I was slightly disappointed by the amount of showery weather available that month, despite the fact that the 4th month in the year can be quite a mixed one. Nevertheless, the showers, specifically towards the beginning of the month helped to give April a bit of a showery flavour, with one or two falling as hail/snow pellets here.

The lengthy dry spell was also a nice welcome thanks to the strong area of high pressure, until spells of rain and showers spilled in from the Atlantic near the end of the month.

While perhaps it was not particularly showery, the contrast from the cold snowy unsettled weather in the North at first (with the showery weather in the South), to some more settled drier weather, which then lead to the breakdown of wet weather spreading from the West made for an interesting month I feel.

I think I would agree that May, with stronger sunshine levels can stir up great potential for convection by delivering sharp showers and a chance of thunder, too.