Summer 2013

[cheese]

This month is almost certain to be cloudy after a relatively decent start. I doubt we will reach the average of 183 hours. I am a little annoyed given that the nights are almost always crystal clear but cloud miraculously turns up in the morning - and does not leave, until sunset.. and the process repeats itself. Even this 'warm spell' is looking very cloudy, clammy, humid and boring.

 

I am now yearning for conditions similar to what I experienced in early February and April.. crystal clear skies.. frosty mornings.. light winds.. very nice.

Edited August 21, 2013 by cheese

[Thundery wintry showers]

I think it's a common problem that we get when we're sat on the northern flank of ridges from the Azores High.  The resulting westerly winds bring increased moisture which results in a lower condensation level and increasing the likelihood of convective cells producing cumulus, hitting a cap associated with high pressure and stability, and spreading into stratocumulus.  On those occasions, while early morning and late evening tend to be sunny, the majority of the period in between ends up cloudy.

 

When the high pressure is on top of us, or we import dry continental air, we lose that supply of moisture and generally clear skies become more likely.

[Evening thunder]

This month has seemed decent here, mean maxima slightly above average (in fact higher than any summer month since 2006 here apart from July 2013)

 

Today is quite a nice day again though there is more high cloud around turning the sun hazy at times.

[laserguy]

"Mainly dry with sunny spells / pleasant temps of around 21-23C / just the outside chance of a shower if you're unlucky / a mild night with temps staying in double figures blah blah blah" goes the weatherman. Quite how anyone with a discernible pulse can endure this crapola for much longer I do not know. Where's our wind and rain and storms and fog and, and anything but this soul-sapping tedium called 'summer' ? Summer 2013 will fade into history along with all the other crapola summers that have gone before, 'cos that's all that every summer that's ever been and ever will be can ever amount to. Wish it was mid January all the goddamn time.

[Thundery wintry showers]

This is one area where I do have some feelings in common with Laserguy.  The "partly cloudy and 21-23C with the outside chance of a shower" type of weather is great for getting on with your life without being inconvenienced by the weather, but therein lies the problem for me as a weather enthusiast- there's little to attract my attention, little to get excited over, and I start craving for something more memorable and notable. 

[laserguy]

  The "partly cloudy and 21-23C with the outside chance of a shower" type of weather is great for getting on with your life without being inconvenienced by the weather, but therein lies the problem for me as a weather enthusiast- there's little to attract my attention, little to get excited over, and I start craving for something more memorable and notable. 

 

That's right, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't belong anywhere near a weather forum and they ought to be off doing all the 'wonderful' things that the non-weather of summer affords them. I'm now so bored with it I'm gonna get me mo'bike out.... or maybe I'll hold off a little while 'til night falls.

[IanR]

"Mainly dry with sunny spells / pleasant temps of around 21-23C / just the outside chance of a shower if you're unlucky / a mild night with temps staying in double figures blah blah blah" goes the weatherman. Quite how anyone with a discernible pulse can endure this crapola for much longer I do not know. Where's our wind and rain and storms and fog and, and anything but this soul-sapping tedium called 'summer' ? Summer 2013 will fade into history along with all the other crapola summers that have gone before, 'cos that's all that every summer that's ever been and ever will be can ever amount to. Wish it was mid January all the goddamn time.

Oh god no , A typical January day is even more close to the description of crapola , not warm enough to have your windows open for oxygen rich air, dry throat with the heating being on. But serious deep cold with successive ice days not that common.   Just the boredom of temps round the 4c mark.   Norovirius and flu and other cold loving virus having a field day, everyone  on the verge of rickets with lack of daylight.  cant wait

[cheese]

From my point of view, I would say winter is more interesting from a meteorological perspective, at leas here, with more visually interesting weather such as gales and snow (which isn't uncommon by any means), and ice days actually occur more years than not here. Summer is more pleasant and usable of course, but tends to lack visually interesting weather. Storms are less common than before.

 

Although according to the Met maps, this area averages 5-10 days of snow on the ground annually, but most of Leeds averages 10-20 - might have to consider moving again!

Edited August 21, 2013 by cheese

[hillbilly]

"Mainly dry with sunny spells / pleasant temps of around 21-23C / just the outside chance of a shower if you're unlucky / a mild night with temps staying in double figures blah blah blah" goes the weatherman. Quite how anyone with a discernible pulse can endure this crapola for much longer I do not know. Where's our wind and rain and storms and fog and, and anything but this soul-sapping tedium called 'summer' ? Summer 2013 will fade into history along with all the other crapola summers that have gone before, 'cos that's all that every summer that's ever been and ever will be can ever amount to. Wish it was mid January all the goddamn time.

 21 to 23 deg...I wish my high today is 16....yes 16 and I don't know why but the sun has been out the last hour more than it has been all day,lovely at mo after another disappointing day!

[Milhouse]

16c max   Over here in East Yorkshire it was 23.8c and is still 21.6c out there.

[AderynCoch]

Oh god no , A typical January day is even more close to the description of crapola , not warm enough to have your windows open for oxygen rich air, dry throat with the heating being on. But serious deep cold with successive ice days not that common.   Just the boredom of temps round the 4c mark.   Norovirius and flu and other cold loving virus having a field day, everyone  on the verge of rickets with lack of daylight.  cant wait

 

Personally I dread the crapola of autumn. The only interesting aspect for me is the potential for notably strong winds. You hardly ever get late warmth and you hardly ever get early snow. Just bland, monochrome Atlantic fare.

 

Actually, I don't dread it so much this year because the summer has actually been half-decent for once. Last year autumn started at the beginning of June, effectively creating a double autumn. A nightmare of weather.

[hillbilly]

16c max   Over here in East Yorkshire it was 23.8c and is still 21.6c out there.

still 16 it has been that since 3pm,been cloudy almost all day except the last hour or two,just a few brief spells earlier.

[Bottesford]

Oh god no , A typical January day is even more close to the description of crapola , not warm enough to have your windows open for oxygen rich air, dry throat with the heating being on. But serious deep cold with successive ice days not that common.   Just the boredom of temps round the 4c mark.   Norovirius and flu and other cold loving virus having a field day, everyone  on the verge of rickets with lack of daylight.  cant wait

 

Agree with 100% of that! 4c really is the very worst of all temperatures - too warm for snow/frost or anything interesting but far too cold to be enjoyable out in. Not so bad if sunny but add some low cloud into that..

 

Today has been pretty nice - very August like. Fairly warm but lots of cloud around. The evening is lovely though - warm enough to sit out in and even my house can have the windows open down here. Lovely breeze coming in - spot on!

24.3c max but weather station keeps failing at the moment so not sure what it is outside. Its 21.1c in here with windows open so fairly sure it'll be maybe 1c lower than that.

[Thundery wintry showers]

One area where I feel I'm relatively "conventional" by UK standards is regarding sunlight and Vitamin D- I am sometimes negatively affected by there being too little, but not too much (feeling "convection starved", as can happen during quiet spells, isn't the same as feeling that there's been too much sunshine!)  However I do sympathise with those who suffer from the summer version of Seasonal Affective Disorder and related issues because, while it is unusual in cloudy countries, it does exist and often doesn't get anywhere near the same level of recognition.

 

As a result, for me the ultimate in boredom is grey nothingness, rather than sunny or partly cloudy nothingness- particularly those winter days with stratus/stratocumulus and temperatures around 4C by day and night for days on end- and it would also elevate significant parts of last year's June/July above what we're having now.

 

On balance I tend to find summer slightly more meteorologically interesting than winter, mainly due to the way solar heating can generate homegrown convection, but there's not a great deal in it.

[mushymanrob]

a grey month of 4c in january would suit me... but im in a minority i know, that finds acg pleasant in winter, grey, dull, misty, murky, great!

[chrcoluk]

just seen this.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/23833248

 

for those who love hot weather, is that their paradise? 38C and fires.

[Turnedoutniceagain]

For me Summer 2013 will finish tonight at sunset. Bank Hol Monday in my mind is the end of it.

 

 

Hello Autumn !!

[summer blizzard]

For me Summer 2013 will finish tonight at sunset. Bank Hol Monday in my mind is the end of it.

 

 

Hello Autumn !!

 

I tend to go by the meteorological definition however unofficially the weather dictates when the switch occurs in my mind. In 2011 it was the 25th when under rain a raw north easterly my brain said that Autumn is now here (September heat is often not the same in feel) however i still think it's summer at the moment despite the chilly mornings (not out of place in late May or June) although the projected northerly may trigger the switch.

[J10]

I think it's a common problem that we get when we're sat on the northern flank of ridges from the Azores High.  The resulting westerly winds bring increased moisture which results in a lower condensation level and increasing the likelihood of convective cells producing cumulus, hitting a cap associated with high pressure and stability, and spreading into stratocumulus.  On those occasions, while early morning and late evening tend to be sunny, the majority of the period in between ends up cloudy.

 

When the high pressure is on top of us, or we import dry continental air, we lose that supply of moisture and generally clear skies become more likely.

 

However when we have North Westerly winds on top of a ridging Azores High, Coastal South Wales tends to be very sunny being sheltered from this "in fill" cloud.

 

To a certain extent this also applies with westerly winds, but with South Westerly winds, this does NOT apply.

 

My favourite temp is probably 22c and sunny, while I also find absolute zero 0k.

Edited August 26, 2013 by J10

[Relativistic]

However when we have North Westerly winds on top of a ridging Azores High, Coastal South Wales tends to be very sunny being sheltered from this "in fill" cloud.To a certain extent this also applies with westerly winds, but with South Westerly winds, this does NOT apply.My favourite temp is probably 22c and sunny, while I also find absolute zero 0k.

Like what you did there

[AderynCoch]

just seen this.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/23833248

 

for those who love hot weather, is that their paradise? 38C and fires.

 

Now care to tell us about those extensive areas of the world where it's hot and there isn't a problem with fires?

[Weather-history]

Summers in order with the best at the top and the worst at the bottom

1976 301

1995 298

1983 278

1955 277

1911 274

1984 271

1959 269

1975 268

1949 267

1989 262

2013 259 up to 26th August

1947 255

1933 251

1901 249

1921 249

2003 247

1925 246

2006 246

1996 245

1935 243

1994 240

1934 238

1940 238

1941 236

1970 235

1969 234

1973 234

1999 234

1997 232

1990 229

1917 228

1926 227

2005 224

1905 223

1932 223

1945 223

1967 223

1977 223

1914 222

1992 222

1908 220

1960 217

1950 216

1957 216

1968 215

1906 214

1942 214

1937 213

1939 213

1904 212

1929 211

2001 211

1903 209

1943 209

1991 207

1913 205

1971 205

1919 203

1961 203

1982 203

1951 201

1918 200

1944 200

2002 200

1930 199

1974 199

1979 199

1952 198

2000 198

1928 197

1962 197

1964 197

2004 197

1915 196

1981 196

1902 195

1963 194

1993 194

2009 194

1953 193

1966 192

1998 192

1988 191

2010 191

1910 190

1936 190

1965 189

1986 189

1916 188

1972 185

1958 184

1985 180

2011 179

1922 178

1938 177

1948 176

1927 175

1920 174

1923 174

2007 174

1931 173

1978 173

1980 173

1909 171

1946 170

1987 169

2008 168

2012 164

1924 158

1912 156

1956 155

1907 147

1954 143

Edited August 27, 2013 by Weather-history

[Scorcher]

I think that just shows how good this summer has been, certainly in the Manchester area since June (which actually wasn't that bad anyway). Just outside the top 10 and ahead of 2003 and 2006. People on here have been trying to play it down but if you're disappointed by this summer you're going to disappointed virtually every year in the UK.

[Bottesford]

Remember this summer was generally best in the west especially during June & early July. You had the highest temperatures & least amount of cloud due to the constant NEly wind that blew. June was not a warm month here and I suspect even less so further east of here.

I suspect a summer index based in Nottingham - or even more so NE England would put 2006 and 2003 above this summer easily. 

 

But yes overall it has been very nice - a vast improvement on anything the last seven years has provided. But it was definitely one where the east, especially the north-east has fared worst.

[cheese]

Yes, this summer will end up duller-than-average in Church Fenton for sure. The sunny July just isn't enough to offset the relatively dull June and August. However, August will end up above-average I reckon in terms of temps - average high is currently 22C compared to the LTA of 20.8C. So in terms of warmth and usability, this summer gets a passing mark, but in terms of sunshine, it fails. At least normality has returned though with east faring best, yesterday excluded.

Edited August 27, 2013 by cheese