Summer 2023 chat

[Wightweather]

15 minutes ago, MP-R said:

Very pleasant today. Sun not overly strong but warm and sunny nonetheless.

Yes, this. The intensity just isn't there. 

[Jamie M]

Warm in the sun, nice coastal breeze. Shame it's gonna go to pot tomorrow

[Wiggly]

Not too shabby now after a cloudy start. 22C and sunny and if every day this summer was like this, it would be a perfect summer tbh! 

[MP-R]

5 minutes ago, Wightweather said:

Yes, this. The intensity just isn't there. 

Now got cirrus over the sun to contend with…

Just sod off already.

[Downburst]

3 hours ago, Methuselah said:

I guess they'll have given up on their mating calls, Alexis. I haven't seen a single Painted Lady butterfly this year! 

Funny I was thinking where are all the Painted Lady butterflys as I was inundated with Peacock and Red Admirals over the last few weeks on the buddleias and in the last week it is all Painted Lady, so different timing for them. They love sitting on the paths getting the sun in. Take off before me as I walk around. 

[Nick L]

7 minutes ago, Wightweather said:

Yes, this. The intensity just isn't there. 

Sun is the same strength today as it would be on 20th April. Impressive how quickly the intensity drops off at this time of year.

[Addicks Fan 1981]

36 minutes ago, Beanz said:

Been fantastic weather so far this week, not too hot either, just hot enough (for me anyway).  
 

The weekend does look a bit naff though, obviously!! 

It's looking a mixture to tell you the truth with Saturday not being so good whereas Sunday and Monday are slightly better.   

[Methuselah]

19 minutes ago, Downburst said:

Funny I was thinking where are all the Painted Lady butterflys as I was inundated with Peacock and Red Admirals over the last few weeks on the buddleias and in the last week it is all Painted Lady, so different timing for them. They love sitting on the paths getting the sun in. Take off before me as I walk around. 

Exactly the same over here, DB.

[Metwatch]

On the edge of the cloud / clear sky boundary again today, but holding onto the sunshine this afternoon. Up to 23°C.

Noticing the ground is much drier as the last week to 10 days have been quite a bit drier, long may that last! 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

30 minutes ago, Nick L said:

Sun is the same strength today as it would be on 20th April. Impressive how quickly the intensity drops off at this time of year.

Interesting, do you mean in terms of UV? 

So by all accounts...May sun is stronger than August sun, despite the latter being Summer" and former Spring, and temps generally always higher in August than May, and definitely than April.

[danm]

7 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Interesting, do you mean in terms of UV? 

So by all accounts...May sun is stronger than August sun, despite the latter being Summer" and former Spring, and temps generally always higher in August than May, and definitely than April.

I think he means the sun is at the same position in the sky now as it is on April 20th. We are just over 2 months on from the solstice, April 20th is two months before the solstice. But August is obviously a warmer month than April, due to other factors. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by danm

[stainesbloke]

11 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Interesting, do you mean in terms of UV? 

So by all accounts...May sun is stronger than August sun, despite the latter being Summer" and former Spring, and temps generally always higher in August than May, and definitely than April.

Yes, May sun is stronger than August sun, in May the sun reaches a higher point in the sky so is more intense. The air is often cooler though. It’s in part caused by the seasonal ‘lag effect’, whereby our warmest and coldest temperatures in summer and winter almost always occur after the solstices.

The sun is still pretty strong, I remember I got sunburnt quite badly at the end of August once when I was in junior school

Edited August 23, 2023 by stainesbloke

[Metwatch]

[Nick L]

18 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Interesting, do you mean in terms of UV? 

So by all accounts...May sun is stronger than August sun, despite the latter being Summer" and former Spring, and temps generally always higher in August than May, and definitely than April.

Danm has pretty much explained but yeah, the sun angle at this time of year is the equivalent of what it would be on 20th April. People often get caught out with the sun strength in April, I easily burn at that time of year!

[MP-R]

17 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Interesting, do you mean in terms of UV? 

So by all accounts...May sun is stronger than August sun, despite the latter being Summer" and former Spring, and temps generally always higher in August than May, and definitely than April.

Go to the summer solstice and work to & from that date and you can work out roughly the corresponding sun strengths either side of it.

[Bristawl Si]

It's developed into the most perfect late August day here.

Mainly sunny, 23c, with a slight breeze. Perfick

[Beanz]

1 hour ago, danm said:

Pushing 25c now, the sky today is literally a perfect blue.

I do miss the Watling!  It was great little spot on a day like today.  I used to work on Bread St, and later on Cheapside 

[Bristawl Si]

9 minutes ago, Beanz said:

I do miss the Watling!  It was great little spot on a day like today.  I used to work on Bread St, and later on Cheapside 

I used to pop up to The City once every few weeks, when i was working. A walk from The Bank to Old Broad Street. Loved the lunchtime buzz, grabbing lunch in a pub a few mins walk to near Liverpool St - cant remember the name of it.

[Summer of 95]

Cloud, cloud, cloud again.... these last few days have had a lot more of it than forecast, with 21C temps instead of the forecast 24, and they haven't been totally dry either. While July was a 2007-12 type summer month, this month reminds me of several 1998-2005* summer months; somewhat warmer and drier generally but often very cloudy, humid feeling without lengthy dry spells and usually at best brief spells of 25C+ temperatures. And the annoying feeling that it would get warm if the sun could come out properly. 

*2003 was neither sunny nor especially dry round here

 

[Catbrainz]

All this walk of winter forecasting and some models forecasting a mild winter has got me randomly wondering there seems to be two main set ups that lead to mild winters. Ether a Bartlett high or zonal Swles. Bartletts tend to have warmer highs but cooler nights given they tend to be sunnier and drier (Unless it has a strong westerly/Atlantic component of some sort) while zonal SWles have cooler highs but milder nights. Feb this year I would say was a textbook Bartlett month and was one I enjoyed despite the lack of snow as it was quite sunny while a textbook zonal SWly month would be something like Dec 15 or Jan 07. 

Bartletts can be hit or miss for the northern UK though as Bartletts tend to come with a big low over Iceland/Greenland so depends on how far north it can reach and if it can keep any Atlantic crud at bay. 
 

[Catbrainz]

7 minutes ago, Summer of 95 said:

Cloud, cloud, cloud again.... these last few days have had a lot more of it than forecast, with 21C temps instead of 24, and they haven't been totally dry either. While July was a 2007-12 type summer , this month reminds me of several 1998-2005* summer months; somewhat warmer and drier but often very cloudy, humid feeling without lengthy dry spells and usually at best brief spells of 25C+ temperatures. And the annoying feeling that it would get warm if could come out properly. 

*2003 was neither sunny nor dry round here

 

I can understand as my area has been on the line of the cloud/sun split. It was overcast all day Monday and even had some brief light rain in the evening, yesterday was overcast until about 5pm and today had a overcast morning but the cloud started breaking up just after noon and is now a fine afternoon with sunshine and light cloud. 

As someone who likes comparing months to other years months I would say for my area at least

Jun= I know not June but a June version of July 2013, 
July= As you mentioned any July from 2007-2012  (If I had to narrow it down I would say Julys 2007 and 2009,2012 did improve a little towards the end unlike 2007/2009/2023)
August= A warmer version of Aug 2017 

[Metwatch]

31 minutes ago, Catbrainz said:

All this walk of winter forecasting and some models forecasting a mild winter has got me randomly wondering there seems to be two main set ups that lead to mild winters. Ether a Bartlett high or zonal Swles. Bartletts tend to have warmer highs but cooler nights given they tend to be sunnier and drier (Unless it has a strong westerly/Atlantic component of some sort) while zonal SWles have cooler highs but milder nights. Feb this year I would say was a textbook Bartlett month and was one I enjoyed despite the lack of snow as it was quite sunny while a textbook zonal SWly month would be something like Dec 15 or Jan 07. 

Bartletts can be hit or miss for the northern UK though as Bartletts tend to come with a big low over Iceland/Greenland so depends on how far north it can reach and if it can keep any Atlantic crud at bay. 
 

Issue with Bartlett highs or even southerlies in December / January, sometimes in February, is that low cloud or fog would find a way to our shores and the sun wouldn't be strong enough to burn it away. Low temps by day as a result 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Metwatch

[B87]

2 hours ago, Catbrainz said:

Going by cloud radar I seem to be near the border of the cloud blob. It seems to be moving north so will probably brighten up in the next hour or so. Here's my overall ranking of Jun-Aug this year now that I can give a rating. 

Jun= 10/10, outstanding month with wall to wall sunshine and warm pleasent highs with cooler nights so none of that oppressive heat. (Despite my moaning of July I am more a sun seeker than a heat seeker, would have happily taken a July with a CET in the 14-15s if it was something like 21/8 and 300+ sunshine hours). 
Jul= 1.5, awful month with endless rain and cloud. Gave it a 1.5 rather than 0 for one or two days that were decent and some thunder activity at times. 
Aug= 4/10, bland and meh but not outright awful like Jul. A little on the cloudy side but rainfall and temps seem pretty average. Would have been a 5 if I wasn't stuck on the cloud border the past 2 days

June was the heavenly aromatic soup starter, July was a main course of dog food covered in spray cheese and August was a vanilla ice cream sundae that tastes good but has a odd aftertaste and was missing the topping sauce. 

Overall summer score= 15.5/30

I assume an average summer month would score 5/10?

For London...

June: 8/10 - early month was still quite chilly, plus the month ended up wetter than average.

July: 2/10 - below average temps both day and night, well above average rainfall, dullest July for 31 years.

August: 5/10 (so far) - average temps, rainfall and sunshine. If it rains again this month, or if the month fails to get to 200 sun hours, it will drop to a 4.

[Nick L]

3 minutes ago, B87 said:

I assume an average summer month would score 5/10?

For London...

June: 8/10 - early month was still quite chilly, plus the month ended up wetter than average.

July: 2/10 - below average temps both day and night, well above average rainfall, dullest July for 31 years.

August: 5/10 (so far) - average temps, rainfall and sunshine. If it rains again this month, or if the month fails to get to 200 sun hours, it will drop to a 4.

15/30? At the risk of infuriating some, an overall average summer!

[MP-R]

3 minutes ago, Nick L said:

15/30? At the risk of infuriating some, an overall average summer!

Not quite... I'd say an average summer deserves at least a 6 or 7 out 10. Or somewhere between 18-21/30.