Convective Weather UK

[Coast]

Would be nice to get a bit of warmth into the English Channel this year and get those imports working for us. How many times have we been on here watching the radar and lightning detectors flashing away 40 odd miles out over the French coast with nothing for us?

When do you think your first real thunderstorm will be this year? I'm going for 9th June.

[Stuart]

I still going for the end of this Mouth and the 1st week in April

[Stormyking]

Would be nice to get a bit of warmth into the English Channel this year and get those imports working for us. How many times have we been on here watching the radar and lightning detectors flashing away 40 odd miles out over the French coast with nothing for us?

When do you think your first real thunderstorm will be this year? I'm going for 9th June.

The First real Thunderstorm I reckon into the 2nd week of May, I reckon Thunderstorms pushing up from S/SSE flow into central Southern England and the SE

[Coast]

I don't mean CU on the horizon and a distant 'soft' flash - I mean a real ripsnorter of a UK thunderstorm!

[Stuart]

Thanks for posting them coast i am getting in the storm mood all reday

[TheToastPeople]

i was in that hitchin storm in the first video! was the first time in years were i could see constant lightning, followed the black sky to dunstable downs before flood water damaged our car when we drove into the torrential rain! fingers crossed it happens again this year :lol:

[NUT]

Every single year for us? We always usually just miss the biggies. They often skite to the north/east/south of us. It's as if we have some sort of storm shelter built in place

[Jane Louise]

I'm always in a storm mood Stu lol. I say, Expect the unexpected! Storms can happen out of the blue. Let's hope we are in for a good year this year and every year from now on!

It's going to be exciting I know that Lol.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I don't mean CU on the horizon and a distant 'soft' flash - I mean a real ripsnorter of a UK thunderstorm!

I remember 15 June 2009 well. I was in Exeter that day, and although East Anglia got the biggest storms that day (not an unusual occurrence!) Exeter got hit by a pretty big one in the early afternoon as well, caused by convergence associated with sea breezes just to the south of Exeter. There was torrential rain and even a bit of hail mixed in, and there was regular thunder and lightning after the heaviest rain/hail had passed over. I remember thinking "if only it had been a week later for my birthday!"- lol!

I have had thunderstorms on my birthday before (22nd June 2003, an unexpected batch formed over Lancashire and headed straight for Tyne and Wear) but also a big disappointment (22 June 2007, when there were heavy showers and thunderstorms inland in NE England and a narrow strip of the east coast stayed dry, and my grandparents said "eeeh, how lucky you've been to escape the storms on your birthday!"). Interestingly 15 June 2009 was a similar story in Tyne and Wear with thunderstorms inland and "misty low cloud" along the east coast, but fortunately (heh heh!) I wasn't there on that occasion.

[Stuart]

I can see there maybe a a risk of storms next friday as a cold front moveing from the next west and hitting the warm air from the south but still long way off

[dogs32]

I can see there maybe a a risk of storms next friday as a cold front moveing from the next west and hitting the warm air from the south but still long way off

Stu I read somehwere that you reckon this year will be a mega storm year...can you enlighten me..I cant find your post

[Stuart]

do we get any mega storms in the uk nerver :lol:

as i say Friday or sat next week there could be some storms

Edited March 26, 2011 by Stuart

[Nick F]

Some weak instability looks to generate across southern counties of England this afternoon where we get some breaks in the cloud and some warm sunshine, so perhaps some scattered sharp showers possible in places. 06z GFS develops some weak CAPE and LI of 0 across SW England at 18z, so maybe enough for a crack of thunder - lapse rates look just about steep enough on 00z soundings with temperatures adjusted accordingly for clouds to gain enough height. Also, looks like potential for funnel development across SW England with wind convergence centred across the Moors, so keep an eye out those down that way.

[Stormyking]

Some weak instability looks to generate across southern counties of England this afternoon where we get some breaks in the cloud and some warm sunshine, so perhaps some scattered sharp showers possible in places. 06z GFS develops some weak CAPE and LI of 0 across SW England at 18z, so maybe enough for a crack of thunder - lapse rates look just about steep enough on 00z soundings with temperatures adjusted accordingly for clouds to gain enough height. Also, looks like potential for funnel development across SW England with wind convergence centred across the Moors, so keep an eye out those down that way.

Ahaa sounds interesting for those areas, good luck to whoever lives in the SW today Getting closer and closer till summer and those proper storms hopefully, next Friday and Saturday looks liek it may have a slight potential still, but still too far out to say!

[Stormyking]

It looks like 2 showers have broke out over Hampshire, if it wasn't so hazy and misty in the distant, I might be able to see the Towers of these 2 showers! Both look pretty potent little showers

[ZONE 51]

Sat 24 the new upgrade!

-

don't think i need to freeze..copy and circle those towers!!

[Stormyking]

Sat 24 the new upgrade!

-

don't think i need to freeze..copy and circle those towers!!

They look very impressive and looks like they have the potential for a crack of thunder or 2, theres 3 towers by the look of it

[Evening thunder]

I remember 15 June 2009 well. I was in Exeter that day, and although East Anglia got the biggest storms that day (not an unusual occurrence!) Exeter got hit by a pretty big one in the early afternoon as well, caused by convergence associated with sea breezes just to the south of Exeter. There was torrential rain and even a bit of hail mixed in, and there was regular thunder and lightning after the heaviest rain/hail had passed over. I remember thinking "if only it had been a week later for my birthday!"- lol!

I also remember the 15th June well, the only notable summer thunderstorm here for ages (the localised one over Exeter on the 6th missed me and I slept through the probably distant rumbles) The thunderstorm happened between 2:30 and 3:30pm, and guess when my 1 hour exam was time tabled for? I had this horrid feeling going into the exam with a nice CB building to the west.

The only overhead thunderstorm last year (8th Sep) I also had to spend quite a bit of it stuck indoors!

I'm hoping for better luck this year!

Currently it is hazy with quite a bit of mid level cloud e.g altocumulus, though a few more gaps than earlier. Reached a max of 14.6C but a slight sea breeze + cloud holding the temp back slightly here, currently 14.0C. Nothing visible convection wise here, looked slightly thundery mid-level skies especially to the south this morning where the radar showed a couple of sharp showers.

[ZONE 51]

-

-

warm and misty, sunshine hazy

-

.Precipitation (ppn) Radar

-

[Andy Bown]

Well with NW being down this pm I couldn't post about what happened here.

It turns out BA12 was right on the Western edge of a very active storm system that practically

developed overhead between around 15.30-17.00!

We drove back from Somerset into Wiltshire and I noted that the sky looked evil and recalled the

forecast for a few light showers.

It started as large drops of rain that just got heavier until a torrential downpour ensued which

included hail larger than pea sized - it fell very quickly and briefly whitened the ground.

Said to my fiance that I wouldn't be surprised to hear thunder, and she then saw lightning while

looking out of a different window.

In the next half an hour there was more lightning and thunder than the previous nearly 3 years put

together - quite remarkable and totally unexpected today.

We both saw a few lovely CCs and a CG with very loud almost overhead thunder.

Having had such low storm amounts in the last few years today has got 2011 off to a great start and I

just wish NW had been working - how ironic the downtime coincided with the storm!

In my gauge there is 20mm of rain which has trebled the monthly total prior to this afternoon - and some

places nearby had more than that!

If you have NW radar put BA12 into postcode zoom and watch between 15.30-17.00 this afternoon, what a

rapid and exciting development. Also, the temperature dropped from 16.8c to 9.4c in around 30 minutes!

Edit : between 15.30-15.45 the intensity of the core went from 5mm per hour to over 200mm per hour!!

Edited March 26, 2011 by Andy Bown

[Thundery wintry showers]

I also remember the 15th June well, the only notable summer thunderstorm here for ages (the localised one over Exeter on the 6th missed me and I slept through the probably distant rumbles) The thunderstorm happened between 2:30 and 3:30pm, and guess when my 1 hour exam was time tabled for? I had this horrid feeling going into the exam with a nice CB building to the west.

I remember a similar thing happening to me in Lancaster on the 18th June 2004. I decided to go into the university library to get some books renewed, at a time when there were some Cb cells about but nothing major (and Lancaster rarely gets thunderstorms from northerlies- Spanish plumes and cyclonic southerly/south-westerly types are by far the biggest providers of thunder activity in that area of the country). It took a lot longer than expected and, part-way through my stay in the library I thought I could hear torrential rain. Came outside, and yes, I'd just missed a fairly significant thunderstorm!

I think your luck should turn around at some point- your location was pretty unlucky in 2009 (repeatedly missing the exciting weather that hit Exeter) and 2010 was a naff year for storms across most of the country, not just south Devon. You might not even have missed much in the 15 June 2009 instance (Exeter's storm was intense, but localised). Devon might not get as many storms as East Anglia, Lincolnshire and the SE, or even Yorkshire, but given the right setup individual months can be quite thundery, e.g. June 2005, October 2006.

I didn't read the earlier posts about yesterday's convective potential but it did get quite stormy-looking in Norwich last evening- we had that sort of "hazy with high pollution levels" type sunset with some significant cumulus congestus clouds sprouting up, which quite often precedes thunderstorms when continental air is dominant in summer, but nothing came of it.

[Adi F]

Well with NW being down this pm I couldn't post about what happened here.

It turns out BA12 was right on the Western edge of a very active storm system that practically

developed overhead between around 15.30-17.00!

We drove back from Somerset into Wiltshire and I noted that the sky looked evil and recalled the

forecast for a few light showers.

It started as large drops of rain that just got heavier until a torrential downpour ensued which

included hail larger than pea sized - it fell very quickly and briefly whitened the ground.

Said to my fiance that I wouldn't be surprised to hear thunder, and she then saw lightning while

looking out of a different window.

In the next half an hour there was more lightning and thunder than the previous nearly 3 years put

together - quite remarkable and totally unexpected today.

We both saw a few lovely CCs and a CG with very loud almost overhead thunder.

Having had such low storm amounts in the last few years today has got 2011 off to a great start and I

just wish NW had been working - how ironic the downtime coincided with the storm!

In my gauge there is 20mm of rain which has trebled the monthly total prior to this afternoon - and some

places nearby had more than that!

If you have NW radar put BA12 into postcode zoom and watch between 15.30-17.00 this afternoon, what a

rapid and exciting development. Also, the temperature dropped from 16.8c to 9.4c in around 30 minutes!

Edit : between 15.30-15.45 the intensity of the core went from 5mm per hour to over 200mm per hour!!

Just looked at your photos you uploaded, a nice formation. I had a feeling there would be some thunder storms inland although the charts did not really suggest any. Glad your 2011 has started, I just wish mine would start now.

[Stuart]

Sat Look nice for storms for Most of the uk but I will miss out becuse it will start to move south the risk over the next few runs

[Coast]

Well with NW being down this pm I couldn't post about what happened here.

Had a day in London (no, not rioting!) and so missed all the action, on and off the board! Nice start to the season, fingers crossed it builds from here.

[Stuart]

Storm Risk still there for sat on 6z run