Spring and Summer weather moans

[markyo]

After one of the dullest, mildest winters the upcoming week is a late treat at last for us who love the cold. I'll take a 2 day cold snap any day after no winter at all!

[Summer8906]

Rather than any prospect of snow (which probably won't happen anyway), I'm more bothered about what some models are showing for next week and beyond, a  spell of dull, damp Atlantic gloom more typical of mid- or late-autumn. The northerly isn't the problem. It's the off season cyclonic zonality reminscent of a particularly bad October, showing in some of the models, that is.

And I'd much prefer the northerly to just get in as quickly as possible, instead we have to endure dull, damp, dreary nothingness until Thursday. Then a brief window of a couple of days with the northerly, before Atlantic clag starts invading on around Sunday.

Northwestern Europe - the only part of the northern hemisphere in which April can be autumnal!

I'd much prefer it to be really cold and snowy this week followed by the return of sunnier weather, than the watered-down Atlantic dross we'll doubtless get.

The only crumb of comfort I can think of is the similarity to 1989 thus far regarding the weather this year. Almost six months of fine weather began at the start of May that year.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Summer8906

[Methuselah]

Some snow, yes. But, Snowmageddon? Probably not! 

 

[MP-R]

39 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Rather than any prospect of snow (which probably won't happen anyway), I'm more bothered about what some models are showing for next week and beyond, a  spell of dull, damp Atlantic gloom more typical of mid- or late-autumn. The northerly isn't the problem. It's the off season cyclonic zonality reminscent of a particularly bad October, showing in some of the models, that is.

 

Not your classic zonality though - very much a typical spring unsettled spell. For example on the GFS 06Z one low passes through and brings down another northerly and a ridge followed by a negatively tilted next trough, followed by a disrupting trough to our southwest. Unsettled yes, but not true zonality. I'd imagine plenty of scope for April showers.

I would agree though that such an outlook would be dull for the time of year and the exact opposite of what we need now.

[damianslaw]

1 hour ago, MP-R said:

Not your classic zonality though - very much a typical spring unsettled spell. For example on the GFS 06Z one low passes through and brings down another northerly and a ridge followed by a negatively tilted next trough, followed by a disrupting trough to our southwest. Unsettled yes, but not true zonality. I'd imagine plenty of scope for April showers.

I would agree though that such an outlook would be dull for the time of year and the exact opposite of what we need now.

We've been fortunate - a 10 day plus spell of weather that wouldn't be out of place in May. Its been raining here off and on all day.

[Summer8906]

10 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

We've been fortunate - a 10 day plus spell of weather that wouldn't be out of place in May. Its been raining here off and on all day.

It's the annoying thing about our weather. I'd be quite happy never to see anything above 15C in March if it meant that weather reliably generally got better as we progressed through spring into summer!

 

As I said I don't mind a snowy spell even this late. It's prolonged unsettled weather that isn't welcome. April 2021 for instance was a really good month for my tastes - May 2021 definitely wasn't!

Edited March 28, 2022 by Summer8906

[Don]

11 minutes ago, BandsOfSnow77 said:

I'm thinking we shouldn't be sucked in on these charts were seeing. The Met are saying we may see wet snow on Thursday, with high pressure moving in from the west calming things down & wintry showers of sleet, hail no doubt with temps recovering over the weekend. 

To be fair, that's a lot more than the south saw during any part of the winter!

[BandsOfSnow77]

13 minutes ago, Don said:

To be fair, that's a lot more than the south saw during any part of the winter!

Agreed, at least we might see some falling flakes!! It may well stick for a time before the strong sunshine melts it all. 

But as you say, maybe the far SE will do well from the system. 

Looking like another chance gone & it's roll on summer. It's been a dire winter away from Scotland & Ireland. 

[Sunny76]

9 hours ago, Chesil View said:

To be honest  after the dire winter we've just had I was hoping this might be a chance to go out withbang rather than a whimper.

However this event is looking g increasingly like a the latter as we draw closer to the event. Unless there are some last minute changes.

Talk generally is of the worst affected areas getting perhaps a couple of inches 

It's hardly April 1981 when a spring snowstorm over three weeks later than the current forecast event gave 26 inches of level snow in the Cotswolds and a general fall of 6-12 inches over a wide area.

I don’t want an April 1981. 
 

While winter 2021-22 disappointed on the snow front, it still had some chilly days, especially after new year and into January, after the very mild few days.

That being said, it’s now time for the warmth and sun. Cold snowy weather isn’t something I want to see, and as I type this, I’m greeted with a dreary cold day ahead and 12c at best. Not looking forward to seeing single digit days again.

They can do one until November.

[Scorcher]

Surprised at some questioning why this thread is quiet. Most people don't want snow now. Or maybe they would be happy with some snow but it's almost April- and the odds are stacked against it.

Most of us would much rather this glorious warm, sunny spell continue as opposed to a change to cold rain- which is unfortunately what tends to happen for most of us in these setups at this time of year.

Tomorrow looks a truly vile day here. And to think some people wanted this change!

[Scorcher]

4 minutes ago, sheikhy said:

Wow this is the least busiest ive seen this place in a number of days!!!just woke up and was expecting a few more posts!!!

Hard to get excited about cold rain I think. I also don't see any advantages to sleet at all.

I believe the minority are actually excited about this and most are now wishing this wonderful spell could continue.

[markw2680]

Have to be honest I love snow in winter but after having a taste of summer the last week or so the last thing I want now is cold sleety slush mess. Bring back the warmth and sun asap please.

[SLEETY]

Looked like a prolonged cold-spell a couple of days ago,now just two days,then back to the Atlantic.

Why does the High just collapse so quicky,be a major let-down if this had been Winter,not so fussed in April,as Snow rarely lasts longer than mid-morning away from higher ground.

Cant get prolonged cold weather anymore in UK,but other countries,continents...

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by SLEETY

[Mark Smithy]

1 hour ago, Scorcher said:

Surprised at some questioning why this thread is quiet. Most people don't want snow now. Or maybe they would be happy with some snow but it's almost April- and the odds are stacked against it.

Most of us would much rather this glorious warm, sunny spell continue as opposed to a change to cold rain- which is unfortunately what tends to happen for most of us in these setups at this time of year.

Tomorrow looks a truly vile day here. And to think some people wanted this change!

As a keen gardener who also loves Britain looking like a green and pleasant land rather than a Saudi Arabian desert I want rain and preferably a lot of it. We desperately need precipitation ahead of summer after this dry spell.

So much as I love the sunshine and warmth, please bring on some rain. 

Let's make a pact. April showers and rain into, say, mid-May then we can have our long hot summer? 

Edited March 29, 2022 by Mark Smithy

[Scorcher]

14 minutes ago, Mark Smithy said:

As a keen gardener who also loves Britain looking like a green and pleasant land rather than a Saudi Arabian desert I want rain and preferably a lot of it. We desperately need precipitation ahead of summer after this dry spell.

So much as I love the sunshine and warmth, please bring on some rain. 

Let's make a pact. April showers and rain into, say, mid-May then we can have our long hot summer? 

I'm not against having some rain (although we are perhaps not as desperate for it up here with flooding issues in parts back in February) but would rather not have cold rain bordering on sleet. The more traditional sunshine and showers and average temps would be far more tolerable. 5/6C and rain is not fun for anyone.

[Scorcher]

The one positive is that the prospect of hard frosts seems to have faded for most of us, which should at least limit serious damage to plants.

[simshady]

Looking lovely and cool for the next few days! Wish it would stay for much longer.

[markyo]

6 minutes ago, simshady said:

Looking lovely and cool for the next few days! Wish it would stay for much longer.

Yep looking very good for next few days, nice crisp temps, lovely  to wake up to !

 

[stainesbloke]

3 hours ago, Mark Smithy said:

As a keen gardener who also loves Britain looking like a green and pleasant land rather than a Saudi Arabian desert I want rain and preferably a lot of it. We desperately need precipitation ahead of summer after this dry spell.

So much as I love the sunshine and warmth, please bring on some rain. 

Let's make a pact. April showers and rain into, say, mid-May then we can have our long hot summer? 

Sounds fair, useful rain in spring is welcomed by many gardeners like myself, though ‘desperate’ and Saudi Arabia are slightly melodramatic  exaggerations. Have you ever been to Saudi?  

[MAF]

think he might be referring to the saharan sand all over the place in the uk  

Edited March 29, 2022 by MAF

[stainesbloke]

25 minutes ago, MAF said:

think he might be referring to the saharan sand all over thee place in the uk  

Ah, of course, it’s everywhere

Edited March 29, 2022 by stainesbloke

[hillbilly]

On 28/03/2022 at 14:45, Summer8906 said:

Rather than any prospect of snow (which probably won't happen anyway), I'm more bothered about what some models are showing for next week and beyond, a  spell of dull, damp Atlantic gloom more typical of mid- or late-autumn. The northerly isn't the problem. It's the off season cyclonic zonality reminscent of a particularly bad October, showing in some of the models, that is.

And I'd much prefer the northerly to just get in as quickly as possible, instead we have to endure dull, damp, dreary nothingness until Thursday. Then a brief window of a couple of days with the northerly, before Atlantic clag starts invading on around Sunday.

Northwestern Europe - the only part of the northern hemisphere in which April can be autumnal!

I'd much prefer it to be really cold and snowy this week followed by the return of sunnier weather, than the watered-down Atlantic dross we'll doubtless get.

The only crumb of comfort I can think of is the similarity to 1989 thus far regarding the weather this year. Almost six months of fine weather began at the start of May that year.

Yes May 1989 was a very pivotal moment,we had just endured 4 and a half years without any meaningful dry or warm spells and the change in this month led not only to a great dry ,sunny and hot summer but no other poor summers for almost a Decade until 1998.

[Methuselah]

36 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

Yes May 1989 was a very pivotal moment,we had just endured 4 and a half years without any meaningful dry or warm spells and the change in this month led not only to a great dry ,sunny and hot summer but no other poor summers for almost a Decade until 1998.

Have you forgotten 1993? 

[Summer8906]

8 hours ago, Mark Smithy said:

As a keen gardener who also loves Britain looking like a green and pleasant land rather than a Saudi Arabian desert I want rain and preferably a lot of it. We desperately need precipitation ahead of summer after this dry spell.

I'm not sure everywhere has been dry on balance though. After the wet first half of March there was a lot of standing water and seriously soggy ground round here. (In fact the first half of March seemed to produce more rain than Eunice and co, judging by the state of the ground). Remember that southern England was often pretty wet from October 2019 all the way through to mid-August 2021, with only spring 2020 (which we couldn't enjoy, of course) being notably dry. We had two wet winters 2019/20 and 2020/21 on the trot and of course much of summer 2021 (except early June and late August) was dull and wet. Summer 2020 was rather damp, and October 2020 and May 2021 extremely wet. It's only really been since the autumn that it's turned somewhat drier, and even in that period we've had a wet December and somewhat damp February.

8 hours ago, Mark Smithy said:

So much as I love the sunshine and warmth, please bring on some rain. 

Let's make a pact. April showers and rain into, say, mid-May then we can have our long hot summer? 

Some showery days, yes - but not long spells of soaking rain.

To be fair the latest GFS runs today seem to be moving away from extremely unsettled and towards merely somewhat changeable - which is a lot more acceptable.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, Ed Stone said:

Have you forgotten 1993? 

Summer 1992 also. June was very warm and sunny but July was dull, damp and Atlantic-dominated and August very unsettled, probably the worst August of the 1990s.  Summer 1993 wasn't so very bad, a shocking July but a warm sunny June and a dry, if not especially warm, August.

To be fair both July and August 1992 did have one good thundery spell each, but aside from those, it was a pretty poor mid/late summer.

But I would agree that most of the summers of this period were decent. From 1989 to 2006 inclusive, I'd only rate 1992, 1993, 1998,.2002 and 2004 as even slightly below average.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Summer8906