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Best Weather Moments Of 2011


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Posted
  • Location: Sandown, Isle of Wight
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms and snow
  • Location: Sandown, Isle of Wight

Thought I would create this threads to share your best weather moments of 2011.

For me there 2 days thats stand out and both are thunderstorms.

Number 1: Friday May 6th day after my birthday: The day start off rather quite warm and very muggy, mostly sunny to start with too but a load of AcCas started to show up late morning around 11am and 12pm. During the Afternoon it did go somewhat cloudier but it was a strange looking sky, and the humidity was high, didn't really much during the day. Into the evening something rather bizarre and amazing happend, wind started going crazy and the sky went like night but it wasn't rain or thunderstorms, it was massive gust front and the wind was blowing from all different directions! The whole thing was rotating and a funnel was spotted, was really amazing to watch.

Anyways it all went quite for about an hour or 2, eyes was firmly on the radar still. Around 8:30pm the first cells started firing up about 30 miles to our South, and was intencifying rapidily. Around 9pm my mate knocked on my door to say lightning has been spotted, so we got in the car and went straight up to culver downs, didnt take long to see my first lightning light up right across the whole of our South. When we got up there thats when, the fun and games began proper, lightning became more frequent and there was more and more cells developing behind. Every single one was a thunderstorm, and all of them hit us pretty much :D, we got hit by about 9/10 different storms that night, the thunder was the classic elevated type thunder, just beautiful :D.

The next morning I woke up about 5:30am, to the sound of more distant thunder, I quickly turned the laptop on and went on the radar to be greeted by more thunderstorms heading our way. I quickly got changed and went to the sea front, the thunder was very frequent, getting closer and closer. They was all on us by about 6:15am, was a cracking storm lightning every 15/30 seconds glowing pink, along with very loud thunder :D. I also found out I missed another 4 storms when sleeping in the middle of night but oh well was a great period of weather.

Number 2: Tuesday 28th June: This was a fun day, previous day we was supposed to of gotton massive thunderstorms all night but it never happened and went to bed depressed. However a suprise was in store for this day, got a phone call of my mate who lives in bristol to tell me to check the radar as there was a cell just to our SSW coming our way. When I saw it, I went upstairs to check to my SSW and I could see the cell, within 30 seconds I heard a crack of thunder, I was like here we go got changed and went to the sea front. When I got down there I saw a beautiful CG just behind Sandown Pier followed by thunder about 10 seconds later, it was still fairly distant. My other mate phoned me up to say we are going up culver to catch it, so we did, before we got to culver though we went into the yaveland carpark. This was because we wasn't going to make it up culver before this one hit as it picked up speed, and was pretty much over us. It actually started to hail and were big hailstones aswell, the thunder and lightning was pretty frequent but dangerously close, thunder was almost instant straight after the lightning.

Once this cleared, we checked the radar in the car and noticed this wasn't the end of it, a whole line of storms was developing to our South and another line to our SSW, then we went up culver to get set up ready for them. Didn't take long for the next to show itself, however this one just missed us to our east but was still close enough to see nice CG'S and loudish thunder, was really quite amazing to be honest. After this there was a little rest bite for about 30 mins before the next lot arrived.

My other mate phoned up asking if it was thundering, I was like ermmm dude your missing it all, and told them we was up culver but more was coming, so him and his mum met us up there. When they arrived, the whole of our South, SE and SSW, was beginning to get very dark and was grumbling every 10 seconds. Me and my mate went to the cafe to get something to eat and a drink to wake us up as we knew it was going to be a long morning and afternoon. Thunder was getting closer, more and more frequent, but what we didn't notice was that just above a cell developed infront of the monster that was approaching from the South and SSW. This one completely caught us by suprise, 3 massive strikes and stupidly loud thunder right above us kinda made us a little nervous as was outside lolol. There was no rain with this little fella but was scary as it was directly above us, once this cleared and we got back to the car, I got told I had missed a multiple strike of 5 in 1, I was gutted.

The main storm was neally upon us, so we got in the car for safety but left windows open to listen to the thunder as it was frequent. Every single lightning strike was a CG or multipul CG'S with Anvil crawlers, thunder was really nice and clear the best kinda thunder there is :). We drove into the next car park to get a better view across the bay and the sea. There was some very big strikes pretty close to us and the thunder was shaking the car.

Once this storm passed through, my mate and his mum went home becuase they thought that was it, but they was wrong. Me and my other mate decided to stay up as another storm developed behind and this one CG galore but didn't quite hit us but was still amazing to watch.

Anyways these was the main 2 events that stood out for me in 2011, hope you enjoyed reading it :) hoep to see some of your best events of 2011 :D.

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Posted
  • Location: Sunderland
  • Weather Preferences: cold
  • Location: Sunderland

Not many specific events... but a few nice events/times.

April: A fantastic, sunny month... temps regularly in the late teens and early twenties. I recall having a BBQ during the month... fabulous.

Late June-Early July: Very warm and sunny with the temp reaching 25c here... had another BBQ, it was another nice spell.

August 6: Amazing day. Continuous heavy rain and t-storms, 40mm fell during the whole day.

September 27-October 1: Brilliant- I remember the hype over this... very warm air and we got to 26c two days in a row. Pleasant.

December 16: Last day of the term and we had some snow shrs in the morning from an event which was not meant to give any snow here... and temps should have been marginal. Some very heavy snow at times... accumulating to 3cm before melting over the next couple of days. A welcome treat.

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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

I take it there wasnt much to shout about in 2011 for the majority of people.

For me i would say the exceptional warmth of April and October were the most memorable weather events of the year. The warmth itself was unexeptional but the fact that it occurred well outside the 3 summer months made it remarkable.

First, the opening week of April was warm and sunny and i can remember people saying that it was impossible for it to be sustained for the remainder of the month. Sure enough, after a cooler middle third, the warmth returned for the final week. I recall going to watch the football one Saturday afternoon with the temperature in the car reading 25c and i recall thinking how unreal it seemed to be going to watch a winter sport in such glorious weather when in previous years i would still be wearing a coat at that time of year. Finally achieving the April CET record was very memorable, especially so after remembering the reaction that April 2007 got.

Summer passed by without much to celebrate, apart from two days in late June. The first was as perfect a summers day as you are ever likely to get. Temperatures in the high 20s, a comfortable breeze and lounging around watching cricket in the park. if only more days in summer could be spent like that. The following day contained the most opressive heat i have ever experienced in this country with temperatures topping out at 32c in Lincoln and it was amazing to experience such extreme heat and humidity (I live near the coast where mid 20s are as high as it gets).

Then with all hope of a last dose of summer warmth all but gone along came the extrordinary heat of 28th Sept - 3rd Oct. Once again it coincided with Saturday football so it was another very strange experience seeing everyone in shorts and t-shirt not far from mid-Autumn. Almost clear blue skies for several days so it was a splendid spell of unseasonable heat. The heavy dew made for quite a strange experience with it sticking around well into the afternoon, especially so considering it was so warm.

As you'd imagine with it being the second warmest year ever there isnt much in the way of cold weather to report.

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Posted
  • Location: Hobart, Tasmania
  • Location: Hobart, Tasmania

Snowflakes can be observed falling in Hobart ( sealevel ) - usually as sleet - once every 2 or 3 years. It is almost always at night or at dusk or dawn.

These events are becoming less frequent.

( Newspaper reports from the 19th century tell of lying snow at sealevel every second winter or so ).

Last such event was in 1986 here, in Australia's southern most city.

In June a sleet event occured, close to midnight, looking up into the sky, there was a yellowy blizzard like scene 50 metres up, lit up by the street lights, with the occasional flake making it to the ground mixed with the rain. An exciting observation for any weather enthusiast.

A half degree colder then it would have been game on

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Posted
  • Location: Paris suburbs
  • Location: Paris suburbs

The storminess of December was certainly the most interesting since it was coupled with plenty of days of sleet and snow falling, meaning that it rarely felt unseasonal, whilst still giving a sorely missed taste of Autumn.

There was also the surprise thunderstorm on 6th October in a remarkably chilly temperature of 3c. The seemingly perpetual fog of February and November was also something different.

Apart from that, it hasn't been too interesting. Although I do love the showery types of weather that we've experienced quite often this year.

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Posted
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Anything but mild south-westeries in winter
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl

Nothing much.. for me it has to be this one squall we got in September that delivered half an inch of rain in 20-or-so minutes

We got snow in January and February but just your typical few cm and nothing out of the ordinary.

Edited by Aaron
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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Has to be the Sept/Oct heatwave.

It is the only record breaking weather event we have had this year.

Walking around on the 1st Oct when it was 28/29c was just insane!!

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Posted
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Continental winters & summers.
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset

In all honesty, 2011 has been one of the most boring years possible in terms of weather so I'm really picking ordinary events out here:

01) 07th January: Three hours or so of heavy snow alternating with heavy rain, coinciding perfectly with my driving test.

02) March & April: The most summery I've known these months to be, especially the second half of March after such a cloudy cold start. April was fantastic with 26C recorded on the 23rd. My family and I also had dinner outside on the Clevedon seafront for my sister's birthday on the 8th and it felt like summer watching the sun go down over a dead calm sea.

03) 26th May: Having missed thunderstorms in the West Country earlier in the month, I was delighted to receive the one and only thunderstorm I have witnessed in the southeast. A breezy showery day gave way to an active storm for about half an hour with decent thunder and lightning.

04) 26th June: A perfect summer's day - clear blue skies, slight breeze, strong sunshine - the only summery day that month.

05) 07th August: The most eventful rPm day of the year with almost constant thunder for about 4 hours during the afternoon from an expanded Mendip Streamer just to the east.

06) 12th September: Unusually strong winds for the time of year gusted up to 60MPH through the Bristol Channel shedding a lot of green leaves. The following day was also very active with torrential rain in the form of showers.

07) 27th Sep-03rd Oct: The warmest period of the year with almost unbroken clear skies and the year's maximum of 29C on the 01st. Most likely not to be repeated for a very long time.

08) 03rd November: Dissatisfied with the southeast's weather, I came back to Bristol for a week and was greeted with an exciting day of monsoonal downpours and thunderstorms. The rain was notably summerlike with almost no wind and very mild temperatures for the time of year.

09) 29th November: A very active squall line crossed from the west just after dark (even made it to Egham) with fifteen minutes of horizontal rain and gales.

10) 14th December: Everything in one day with rain, hail, sleet, snow, thunder and lightning. This was the only snow to fall during the month and didn't settle.

All in all a rather benign year. December was most likely the most active weather month and either February, March or November the most boring. The autumn contained a notable number of squalls from the northwest with clearer air behind. Let's hope more snow and thunderstorms are on offer this year.

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

It's a close call between the hot hazy spell in the third week of April, the thunderstorms around the 7th-9th July (one day in particular had four separate thunderstorm cells over South Tyneside with lightning displays to the north) and the hot spell at the end of September. The hot end to September probably just shaves it.

Also worth mentioning was the heatwave and thunderstorms of the 26th/27th June, although that was spoilt in Cleadon by the fact that when thunderstorms moved over the region on the 27th, so did low cloud off the North Sea and this blocked out most of the action. Had the low cloud stayed out at sea and allowed me to see the cloud formations and the lightning, I would probably have rated this as my no.1 event of 2011.

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I would say the most memorable event of a fairly dull year were a series of big thunderstorms in early May, May 9th in particular where we had a huge downburst/derecho, perhaps even a small tornado, from a huge storm at the end of a day of storms. The heaviest rain I had ever seen with large hail and gusts of wind I estimated at ~80-100mph, which caused some local damage. I think a downburst/derecho is most likely but considering the extreme winds (we get lots of gales here but I've never seen wind anything like that) a tornado is a possibility too.

Also a very stormy and wild period in early December where I saw thundersnow for the first time ever.

Edited by Barb-
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Posted
  • Location: Leigh On Sea - Essex & Tornado Alley
  • Location: Leigh On Sea - Essex & Tornado Alley

Once again 2011 was a very benign year for Essex with no notable Thunderstorms and the 2nd Consecutive year without Night-Time Lightning, the only saving grace was cloud tops lighting up from a range of 75-125 miles somewhere over in Belgium or France way off to my South East.

So it was again the United States which got me through my yearly fix of Beautiful Extreme Weather with both Tornado Alley and Arizona Scoring well in 2011.

Having missed out on one of the biggest Outbreaks ever recorded by 1 day I was lucky enough to witness another Notable Oklahoma Outbreak from the 22-25th May 2011. The 3 Tornadoes we saw on May 24th were all beautiful for different reasons, the 3/4 Mile EF4 Wedge Tornado looked menacing and Dark Blue in Colour, the Elephant Trunk Serene as it crossed a Field of Hay Bales and lit up white at the bottom as it caught the angle of the Sun.

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The 2nd Stand out day also in Oklahoma was on the 11th June 2011 where we witnessed an incredible Supercell which dropped a few Tornadoes along the way. The best thing about this Storm was that we witnessed it as a tiny blob on radar which grew into a 50,000ft Cell within 1 Hour and was still wreaking it's fury at 11pm as we made our way towards Dallas Fort Worth for our flights home the next day.

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My 3rd amazing moment (Well 10 days actually) came when I got the chance to go to Arizona in August 2011 to witness Desert Thunderstorms and Haboobs, what we witnessed cannot be described unless you were there but hopefully a few pictures will give you a feel, standing 7,000ft up and level with a Thunderstorm just to your South almost feeling as if you can touch the Cg's whilst Clear Skies are above you is an amazing feeling, but also witnessing a Storm with the Grand Canyon in front of you is also up there as is Wedge type Dust Devils when the temperature is 118f!

Just a few of the thousnads from Arizona

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Lets hope 2012 throws up something for us all in the Uk, It certainly has already been interesting and we are only 5 days in!

Regards

Paul S

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

The late Sep/early Oct heatwave prevented 2011 being the most boring year I can remember for weather; it was the best hot spell in any month since 2006 and makes me wonder what has happened to July and in particular August in recent years. Apart from the odd warm sunny day (one or two at the end of June I remember, and a very nice day on the 1st September, just as autumn started) the summer was yet another letdown with the only noteworthy event a surprise late-night overhead thunderstorm on 20/21 August. Which was one of only 3 this year- the others a few rumbles on 22 April and a fairly decent one on 9th May.

An appalling year for snow with just 5 days of snow falling and one lying (2cm on Jan 7th)- Feb, Mar, Apr and Nov were all snowless. The worst year for snow falling since 2002 (2 days, though paradoxically it had 5 lying), although 2008 had no lying snow at all it had more days falling.

Apart from January which had a respectable amount, it was also noteworthy for its lack of frost- February and November had just 2 airfrosts between them and December only 3 all month.

The theme of cloudy, dry, 15-20C in summer and 10-15C the rest of the time really was an overriding feature of last year, as was the number of days in the summer half year when sunshine was limited to before 8am and after 6pm. April wasn't as good here as April 2007 (too many cloudy afternoons in particular spoilt it), March with its many sunny, mild, dry days was pleasant enough if a little benign.

February and November were shockers- mild, dull and moderately wet, as was December unless you count the spell in the third week which mangaged a few sleet and wet snow showers, but even then the temperature refused to drop below freezing at night despite it often being clear.

So not a good year- only the Sep/Oct hot spell prevents it being the most boring year I remember, which I think is held by 2002 just edging out 1998 and 2008.

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Posted
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Anything but mild south-westeries in winter
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl

2008 wasn't boring here, it had so much rain, over 200mm in August 2008.. I'd take that again, well, maybe not in August!

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Posted
  • Location: in south suburbs of Paris
  • Location: in south suburbs of Paris

don't have much time now so will later put more details on my 2011 events but i would remember the 27th june being stuck in a crowed train for well over an hour when it was 36.6c outside getting back home from work. All stations broke their all time records for a june month near my area since 1947 exept Orly airport which had 36.6c against a all time high of 37c on the 26th june 1947.Paris did not broke its record either.

Stuck in a crowded train with such a high temperature.

Traffic was very disrupted following many incidents and one was on catenaries ( not sure of the english word) and this due to the heat!!!!!

Immidiately home and went straight in the shower!!!!!

Edited by jean91
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Posted
  • Location: Napton on the Hill Warwickshire 500ft
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and heatwave
  • Location: Napton on the Hill Warwickshire 500ft

Early October , shoved my Plastic Spa into a position so could still get the sun, high 70s great stuff reminded me of 1985.

April as well

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

In my summary of 2011 I said it had been a very benign year devoid of much weather to talk about. By far the standout event of the year was the very warm weather of late April. If I had to pick a particular date it would be 23rd April when the temp hit 25 degrees and it felt positively tropical. I was in Lancaster walking by the canal thinking it was mid summer, it was a superb spell of weather.

In a similiar vein the late sept/early october warm spell also has to be mentioned. I was in Newcastle and walking along the quayside again in similiar temps on the 1st October was preety special.

I enjoyed the 16th Dec - walking along hadrians wall when sudden heavy snow showers hit me - the snowflakes were massive. A surprise unforecasted snowfall - these are always the best.

Feb, March, August, October and November were instantly forgettable - five exceptionally dull months for weather.

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