3rd-4th July 2001 severe thunderstorms

[Weather-history]

I suspect many members who lived in Wales, western Scotland and England will remember this event. On the evening of the 3rd of July, severe thunderstorms exploded across many western areas because of a trough after a day of heat with temperature reaching 32C in St Helier.

The storms caused extensive flooding and large rainfall totals in a number of places with Cardiff recording 67mm, Pembroke Dock 74mm, Aberporth 42.4mm. There were amazing and fierce lightning displays, lightning set fire to a church in Havant, Hants, that many people will never forget

Here's some more info on John Mason's site

http://www.geologywales.co.uk/storms/storm01.htm

http://www.geologywales.co.uk/storms/storm02.htm

Wetterzentrale's archive lightning chart for that day

The forecast on the day of the storms 3rd July 2001

Radar footage of the previous evening storms

4th July 2001

[Andy Bown]

I recall watching frequent spectacular lightning to the SW, W and NW for many hours that night while nothing happened overhead here

until mid morning on the 4th when a brief storm moved through which you can see on the radar grab above.

[NUT]

Only had the storms for a few hours but had blue lightning which is very rare for us. Didn't last through the night.

[Carl46Wrexham]

These storms were absolutely unreal. The most electrically active storms I have ever witnessed...there were lightning flashes every second, sometimes more than one per second, almost like a strobe effect, quite a bit of blue lightning as well. The thunder...it was impossible to separate one rumble or bang from another...the best way to describe the sound of this storm was one of a continuous rumbling without pause interspersed with huge bangs with the closest strikes. This went on for a good few hours.

Nothing since has come remotely close to the events of July 3rd/4th 2001 for me.

My Dad tells me that the only other time he recalled storms of such severity was at the start of July 1968.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Carl46Wrexham

[MP-R]

Bristol was in firing line for those. The 3rd was hot and sunny then the sky to the southwest became greyer and greyer throughout the evening. The first storms went through between 4-6am then another batch between 8-10am. I remember them very vividly as I was at an age when many of my friends still slightly feared thunderstorms. I think 47mm fell in total where I live according to my Grandad's weather records.