Summer 2023 chat

[CJS_25]

In Ljubljana on holiday. Biggest storm I’ve seen in person today. Very strong winds caused some damage to roof tiles and outdoor furniture. Ominous sky as it approached. Much fresher now.

 

 

 

 

 

[BruenSryan]

2 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

There have been a few wet days, and quite a few showers yes, but i don't rate this July as bad as some.  It's better than 2009,12,15 for example, and probably neither better or worse than 2020.   Lots of usable weather despite a lack of sunbathing chances.  Its just a bit boring and nondescript tbh.

If August turns out OK this will still be a half decent summer overall.

I found the first week ok, pretty average if a little on the wet side. However, that weekend just gone was an abomination and one of the worst summer weekends I've had up there with the Diamond Jubilee weekend in June 2012 being the worst. Hope I won't see one as bad for a LONG time. 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Massive rain shower just landed in Essex. Of course, nothing on my forecast about it

[Bradley in Kent]

1 hour ago, plymsunshine said:

2023 has been the most fickle year I've ever known.

Started off very wet and stormy until Jan 16th, then basically not a single drop of rain before March 8th. Then the heavens opened once again, giving what was a cool wet spring until suddenly turning dry again around May 11th, eventually becoming hot in June. Then at the turn of the month we fell from one of the best Junes this country has ever seen to one of the worst Julys in recent years. A strange year for sure!

For context:

Jan 1-16: 90mm

Jan 17 - Mar 7: 10mm

Mar 8 - May 11: 275mm

May 12 - Jun 29: 24mm

Jun 30 - Jul 18: 86mm

This has been going on since spring 2021 but it's getting more and more extreme. What is causing this?

The jetsream has been very amplified in recent years with more meridional patterns. High pressures and low pressures (or ridges and troughs) are slows to move west to east. 

So instead of a flatter jetstream keeping systems mobile, we've been experiencing the opposite where systems are getting entrenched leading to very episodic weather. 

I doubt though I'll last much longer, we'll no doubt resume a more mobile pattern with a general mix of weather soon for sure!

 

[Don]

13 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

No, and that’s one reason why I don’t want to visit lol.

I would sooner travel to Argentina.

I went to Argentina in 2014 and visited the Iguazu Falls, which borders Argentina and Brazil and was awesome (well worth a visit!).  You can also travel to Patagonia in the south of the country and visit the glaciers and mountains, which is what I would like to do in future.  Argentine has a very diverse climate, from subtropical in the north to subantarctic in the south!

[Don]

5 hours ago, alexisj9 said:

No where in the UK has hit 30 this month. I don't know when the last time July hasn't had a 30 though.

I remember July 2020 looked like it wouldn't hit 30C, but then up popped a heat spike on the final day of the month, with temps soaring into the high 30's!

[alexisj9]

4 hours ago, Blessed Weather said:

I know July so far has felt very poor for many after an excellent June, but it's interesting to see that the CET up to the 17th July 2023 is currently running 0.3C above the July average and that rainfall for all Regions bar N Ireland is running below average.

EDIT: My apologies. Rainfall is actually running above average. I misinterpreted the chart from ITV reproduced below; it is actually showing the rainfall up to the 17th as a percentage of the normal monthly rainfall in the whole of an average July, so at 90% the UK is heading for a way above average month.

CET:

Source: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/cet_info_mean.html

Rainfall to 16th July:

Source: ITV National Weather

Be interesting to see how the se fairs against the NW though, I doubt we are anywhere near 84% in east Kent.

[alexisj9]

4 hours ago, Snowshine said:

You know, if it wasn't for the longer days I wouldn't be able to tell if it's July or October, especially on days like today.

We skipped Spring, and after one month of Summer we seemed to have advanced to Autumn.

There was nothing autumnal about the weather down here today, it wouldn't surprise me if I find it was hotter than the forecasted 23. It probably wasn't, but it did feel warm, especially in the sun.

[raz.org.rain]

4 hours ago, BruenSryan said:

I found the first week ok, pretty average if a little on the wet side. However, that weekend just gone was an abomination and one of the worst summer weekends I've had up there with the Diamond Jubilee weekend in June 2012 being the worst. Hope I won't see one as bad for a LONG time. 

The only consolation I'm finding with this current set up is it's probably one of the very last notably cool periods we'll experience in our summers. The past decade has demonstrated how quickly the effects of climate change have altered our climate. I have distinct memories from being a child in the mid-2000s, hearing the predictions of how changes in temperature would become more evident in the UK by the late 2010s. 

We'll likely still experience cool periods in future, but following the characteristic trend set by the warming climate, they'll be dramatically less common.

Edited July 19, 2023 by razorgrain

[Daniel*]

41 minutes ago, razorgrain said:

The only consolation I'm finding with this current set up is it's probably one of the very last notably cool periods we'll experience in our summers. The past decade has demonstrated how quickly the effects of climate change have altered our climate. I have distinct memories from being a child in the mid-2000s, hearing the predictions of how changes in temperature would become more evident in the UK by the late 2010s. 

We'll likely still experience cool periods in future, but following the characteristic trend set by the warming climate, they'll be dramatically less common.

It's not been a notably cool period. In fact our last significantly below average summer was 30 years ago. Even poor 2007-2012 period which perhaps this July is reminding some of, it was not temperatures which were the exceptional thing it was the rainfall some similarity there. For me in London this July has not been terrible not that unsettled, but poor for what we are used to need more sunshine!

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Stunning summer morning today folks. Just beautiful. 17c and drizzle on a July morning? Can't beat it!!!

[stainesbloke]

19 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Stunning summer morning today folks. Just beautiful. 17c and drizzle on a July morning? Can't beat it!!!

Enjoy every minute, we get these conditions so very rarely……..

[markyo]

21 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Stunning summer morning today folks. Just beautiful. 17c and drizzle on a July morning? Can't beat it!!!

Nope, you can't beat it....so comfortable for working in!

[lottiekent]

6 hours ago, alexisj9 said:

There was nothing autumnal about the weather down here today, it wouldn't surprise me if I find it was hotter than the forecasted 23. It probably wasn't, but it did feel warm, especially in the sun.

I got 22.1c yesterday and the closest station I can find to you said 22c. But it did feel very warm, was plenty warm enough!

[Sunny76]

17 hours ago, Buzz said:

It would be incredibly boring if it was the same day after day after day ........ it's the variability that makes it so interesting and, dare I say it, fun.

Weeks of unsettled crud. Yeah, I can see how that’s interesting for some people lol.

9 hours ago, CJS_25 said:

In Ljubljana on holiday. Biggest storm I’ve seen in person today. Very strong winds caused some damage to roof tiles and outdoor furniture. Ominous sky as it approached. Much fresher now.

 

 

 

 

 

Looks moody. 
 

I’ve seen one decent storm this summer and that was over in Latvia. 

[Sunny76]

32 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Stunning summer morning today folks. Just beautiful. 17c and drizzle on a July morning? Can't beat it!!!

What an awful summer this is turning out to be. June started off well, but July has become increasingly disappointing.

Hopefully August brings back the clear sunny warm days.

[ANYWEATHER]

Don't be surprised folks that the current set-up will go well into August, probably some fine conditions after many weeks of unsettled weather going into September ☺

[Cas Tiger]

Here in North Yorkshire it is 11c light rain to add to the 15mm that arrived since yesterday lunch time.

We are 55% down on sunshine and we have hit 21c for a few hours.

Grey and dull its like October and another dreadful outlook for the weekend.

We seem to get longer periods where the weather gets stuck into either good or bad. Very little changes.

We have had 3 very poor weeks now and more to come.

The light is going fast now we really need things to improve.

not huge rainfall totals but about 65mm so far in July.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

5 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

What an awful summer this is turning out to be. June started off well, but July has become increasingly disappointing.

Hopefully August brings back the clear sunny warm days.

The bar is so low that unless we turn into Torshavn in August, I don't see how it can get much worse than this July!

Regardless, for me, whilst I do like a warm/sunny August, it's the latter third of Summer and just simply not the same feel as July. July is the best month for sunny weather because it's the proper high summer. Nights and mornings tend to be warmer than June (obviously not this year but overall).

[SollyOlly]

41 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Stunning summer morning today folks. Just beautiful. 17c and drizzle on a July morning? Can't beat it!!!

ha ha, yes, I'm enjoying it too! Not least because it's so unusual...we get long mild spells every winter these days it seems. So an unusual spell of "not hot" in summer, which is in fact so rare, is not unwelcome...!

[Nick L]

CET is a fraction above average for July 

[RedSkyMan]

Awful July we have had here in Northern Ireland so far, barely scraped 16°C yesterday and that was in the evening once the rain passed! I think we have only had 1 day here in Belfast where its got above 20°C this month, absolute shambles of a summer month!

[In Absence of True Seasons]

30 minutes ago, markyo said:

Nope, you can't beat it....so comfortable for working in!

For you, indeed. And I get that, it's fair enough for your specific situation. But have you thought about all the people who work outside in cold, wet miserable conditions from October to March though? Who do not find this anything close to comfortable, drenched through, everything stopping wet, and difficult for outdoors engineers, landscapers, construction workers, arborists etc.

Or the multitude of hospitality, outdoor retail, events and leisure businesses who rely on warm / sunny (and dry ) weather at this time of year all across the country? Not to mention people who make their living via beach/coastal tourism.

This comes too after people were squeezed throughout the Winter and cold Spring via the soaring energy costs.

[stainesbloke]

11 minutes ago, SollyOlly said:

ha ha, yes, I'm enjoying it too! Not least because it's so unusual...we get long mild spells every winter these days it seems. So an unusual spell of "not hot" in summer, which is in fact so rare, is not unwelcome...!

A couple of days of cooler, wetter weather from time to time is normal and useful but 3 weeks of this crud and it’s really outstaying it’s welcome. People are trying to enjoy the outdoors, holidays, gardens, etc. Hopefully a return to summer in August

[SunSean]

Current feeling lol