Summer 2023 chat

[cheese]

23 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

A mild sunny Christmas is something I don’t like.

Experienced it in the late 80s and it was strange to have blue skies, wall to wall sunshine and very mild temps in London. 
 

The grey mild and damp, even if not as cold as it should be, still feels more festive than mild and sunny for me at Christmas time.

It’s more likely we will get one this year because of El Niño. 
 

I hope to be in Latvia for that, and see some snow.

21c in early November happened in 1994.

November 2015 saw 22C

UK records warmest November day | Met Office | The Guardian

AMP.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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Temperatures reached 22.3C (72.1F) in Trawsgoed, Wales, surpassing Barcelona and the Algarve

 

[Harry's House]

18 minutes ago, baddie said:

More so an Austrailian Style Christmas, where its summer there

We stayed with my brother-in-law in Canberra over Christmas 2002. Christmas day there had a fair amount of cloud and was certainly not very warm. Around 5pm on Boxing day, we went for a walk and it was actually quite cool and cloudy. 

[baddie]

11 minutes ago, cheese said:

November 2015 saw 22C

UK records warmest November day | Met Office | The Guardian

AMP.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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Temperatures reached 22.3C (72.1F) in Trawsgoed, Wales, surpassing Barcelona and the Algarve

 

Also last November saw an exceptional 21c mid-month

[SollyOlly]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

When did we lose the proper seasons, if you could pin it down to a particular year?

I think hot sunny summers make people feel much better, but everyone looks so miserable at the moment.

Cold frosty sunny winters are just as good. 

Yes, I agree, sunny cold winters are as good as clear sunny days in summer (but not too hot for me, please!). In my own imperfect memory, I think I started to notice seasons becoming less pronounced around 1988-ish...and that slowly, but definitely, continued throughout the 1990s. There's probably some bias in that, as I moved around England from south (London originally) to north and then back again, so I wasn't comparing one place over time...but circa 1975-1988 felt different to what followed. FWIW, I feel that there was another step change around 2003 onwards too, but I don't want to go too off topic...!

[damianslaw]

14 hours ago, Weather-history said:

Manchester Summer Index 

1976 301

1995 298

1983 278

1955 277

1911 274

2018 272

1984 271

1959 269

1975 268

1949 267

1989 262

2022 261

1947 255

1933 251

1901 249

1921 249

2003 247

1925 246

1935 243

1994 240

1934 238

1940 238

2021 238

1941 236

1970 235

1969 234

1973 234 

1999 234

1997 232

2023 231 (up to 31st July)

 

Its tumbling and tumbling down the rankings...

[raz.org.rain]

18 minutes ago, Harry's House said:

We stayed with my brother-in-law in Canberra over Christmas 2002. Christmas day there had a fair amount of cloud and was certainly not very warm. Around 5pm on Boxing day, we went for a walk and it was actually quite cool and cloudy. 

Isn't that their height of summer too? Supposedly the south-eastern portion of Australia is relatively cool, particularly Tasmania which is very wet.

1 minute ago, damianslaw said:

Its tumbling and tumbling down the rankings...

I can attest that Manchester is very often overcast even during hot spells, feels very humid and oppressive.

[Sunny76]

18 minutes ago, baddie said:

Also last November saw an exceptional 21c mid-month

It was 18c in London with sunshine. Think it was the first Saturday of November, or maybe the second weekend. Was a lovely weekend of weather, but turned very cold not long after that.

[Sunny76]

17 minutes ago, SollyOlly said:

Yes, I agree, sunny cold winters are as good as clear sunny days in summer (but not too hot for me, please!). In my own imperfect memory, I think I started to notice seasons becoming less pronounced around 1988-ish...and that slowly, but definitely, continued throughout the 1990s. There's probably some bias in that, as I moved around England from south (London originally) to north and then back again, so I wasn't comparing one place over time...but circa 1975-1988 felt different to what followed. FWIW, I feel that there was another step change around 2003 onwards too, but I don't want to go too off topic...!

For me, and from a London point of view, I see December 1987 until December 88 as the shift. Mild winters, with a humid unsettled summer in between. 
 

It seems like winter of 86/87 was the last time we had proper seasons. 

[andreas]

On the Mod thread the discussion of lowest max temperatures for days led to my finding this which I hadn't come across before - how quirky is the weather - especially that 28 degrees in Shetland in August 1910.

Highs and lows of daily temperature records

WWW.RMETS.ORG

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During summer heatwaves or severe winter cold spells, everybody wants to know if such high or low temperatures are unusual, or indeed record-breaking. Given that...

 

[Weather Enthusiast91]

1 hour ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

new account? in W Midlands

No, that isn't me. 

 

[Andy Bown]

31 minutes ago, baddie said:

Also last November saw an exceptional 21c mid-month

 

12 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

It was 18c in London with sunshine. Think it was the first Saturday of November, or maybe the second weekend. Was a lovely weekend of weather, but turned very cold not long after that.

I was thinking the other day about the amount of pleasant sunny Autumn days last year. 

Personally I think the dry hot 2022 summer aided those days.

We probably won’t see anything like that this year. The ground is sodden now and will take one unlikely long dry period to dry it right out. I can see a foggy Autumn due to dampness. 

[Catbrainz]

Forgive me for asking a uninformed question but what weather conditions would one expect under a far fetch southerly for mid winter. Like straight from North Africa not a Atlantic flavored SWly or a continental flavoured SEly. 

[Weather Enthusiast91]

3 hours ago, Don said:

Each to their own but it's a big no from me!

If anything, more or less every winter nowadays could be considered as being 'heatwaves' as almost always they are milder than average. We are certainly long overdue a proper cold Christmas and even more so a cold February.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Don]

1 minute ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

If anything, more or less every winter nowadays could be considered as being 'heatwaves' as almost always they are milder than average. We are certainly long overdue a proper cold Chrismtas and even more so a cold February.

We certainly are and have not had a proper cold Christmas for almost 13 years or a proper cold February for nearly 33 years! 

[baddie]

17 minutes ago, Andy Bown said:

 

I was thinking the other day about the amount of pleasant sunny Autumn days last year. 

Personally I think the dry hot 2022 summer aided those days.

We probably won’t see anything like that this year. The ground is sodden now and will take one unlikely long dry period to dry it right out. I can see a foggy Autumn due to dampness. 

September was dull and otherwise average. Nothing special. October was very sunny and mild, though rained a lot. November was mild, but in otherwise awful. Last autumn was not that great

I think September will be similar to 2020 (Warm-ish, Sunny and Dry(, After 4 wet Octobers, I think this years would be the driest since 2016, and mild (not quite as mild last years, though some 20c days). I think that this October could break a record for sunshine, similar susnhine levels to a normal April. I think November would be something like 2017, being slightly colder, drier and sunnier than average

Edited August 2, 2023 by baddie

[baddie]

7 minutes ago, Don said:

We certainly are and have not had a proper cold Christmas for almost 13 years or a proper cold February for nearly 33 years! 

February 2010, 2013 and 2018 were all cold

[Andy Bown]

5 minutes ago, baddie said:

September was dull and otherwise average. Nothing special. October was very sunny and mild, though rained a lot. November was mild, but in otherwise awful. Last autumn was not that great

I suppose we all answer for our own location. I know I was drying washing easily outside most days until mid November, a month or so later than usual. 

[baddie]

1 minute ago, Andy Bown said:

I suppose we all answer for our own location. I know I was drying washing easily outside most days until mid November, a month or so later than usual. 

I remember those downpours on the 20th and 21st October. this defines awful.

[Don]

8 minutes ago, baddie said:

February 2010, 2013 and 2018 were all cold

They were colder than average but not exceptional or comparable to the likes of 1986 or 1991.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Don

[baddie]

8 minutes ago, Don said:

They were colder than average but not exceptional or comparable to the likes of 1986 or 1991.

Tbh I dont like cold Februaries. Febs like 2008, 2019 and 2023 were perfect

[al78]

10 minutes ago, Don said:

They were colder than average but not exceptional or comparable to the likes of 1986 or 1991.

If "proper cold" is defined as exceptional, then what do you expect other than the return period to be measured in decades?

[Don]

2 minutes ago, al78 said:

If "proper cold" is defined as exceptional, then what do you expect other than the return period to be measured in decades?

Alright, 1.5C or below the 61-90 average then.  Too me that would class as a 'proper' cold month and these do still occur, albeit rarely!  We have not had a February with a greater cold anomaly than that since 1991.  

 

[MP-R]

13 minutes ago, baddie said:

Tbh I dont like cold Februaries. Febs like 2008, 2019 and 2023 were perfect

I much prefer cold concentrated in Dec and Jan, especially when snows involved. I like frosty mornings in Feb that melt in to pleasant fresh sunny days with the first pangs of spring.

[baddie]

Disgraceful is an understatement for what we will experience on Saturday, It could possibly be my coldest August day ever. This would even be dire for November-February. Reminds me of those dire, dull days in November 2019, where my garden was damaged and flooded, and part of my roof ripped off from the winds. Could also give me those vibes from that gnarly June 2012 or 2019, with those single digit temps and relentless rainfall

[stainesbloke]

25 minutes ago, MP-R said:

I much prefer cold concentrated in Dec and Jan, especially when snows involved. I like frosty mornings in Feb that melt in to pleasant fresh sunny days with the first pangs of spring.

January is my favourite month for cold and snow. It’s a depressing month and some snow or seasonal weather makes it more bearable, especially if there are some sunny days. I’m not keen on snow in December (in the UK), causes way too much drama and working for an airline, I have a few horror stories!