Summer 2023 chat

[Earthshine]

The August heatwave we had last year was fantastic.  Recorded 34.9C which was the highest I've ever recorded in South Wales.  Temperatures dropped down to 24-26C for the second half of the month (still very pleasant)!  Overall an excellent month, it was a nice surprise to have an August CET above 18C (the first time in my living memory since I was only 3 years old in 2003).  More so after an 18C July!  In fact 2022 joins a prestigious group of years seeing two 18C months in a single year (1911 and 1995).  Wonder when we will see the first triple 18C+ year?  We've had one 18C+ June on record and zero 18C+ September.  Who knows what will be possible in a warming climate say 50 years from now?

Edited April 24, 2023 by Earthshine

[Don]

6 hours ago, Earthshine said:

Who knows what will be possible in a warming climate say 50 years from now?

I seriously dread to think, but the chances are I won't be around!! 

[Earthshine]

15 minutes ago, Don said:

I seriously dread to think, but the chances are I won't be around!! 

I'll be the grand age of 73 by then (hopefully!).

[Sunny76]

I’ll be 97 or probably dead by then lol.

[Weather Enthusiast91]

I'll be 50 years older than what I am now.

[Sunny76]

3 minutes ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

I'll be 50 years older than what I am now.

Older than me then lol.

[damianslaw]

12 hours ago, al78 said:

A bit of an exaggeration. The climatological peak in summer temperature is late July or early August, so peak summer lags the solstice by several weeks. It is only as we go through August the shortening daylight hours really become noticable, and August can feel like an early start to autumn if it is a cool and wet month, and we have had some poor Augusts in the last couple of decades.

Whilst May mean temp wise far colder than June to September... for the Lake District it marks the start of the best 3 month period of the year, sunshine wise, April marks the start of the 3 month most likely settled period.. for me its about sunshine and dry weather not the heat.. August and its associated humid dank skies can do one, its all about May to end of July for me!

The sweet spot arrives late June.. but the most equisite spot arrives late May, a period of hope and expectation, by early August all that early wonder fades into the dull green that surrounds the countryside.

Edited April 24, 2023 by damianslaw

[Weather Enthusiast91]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

Older than me then lol.

[S Bragg]

13 hours ago, Earthshine said:

The August heatwave we had last year was fantastic.  Recorded 34.9C which was the highest I've ever recorded in South Wales.  Temperatures dropped down to 24-26C for the second half of the month (still very pleasant)!  Overall an excellent month, it was a nice surprise to have an August CET above 18C (the first time in my living memory since I was only 3 years old in 2003).  More so after an 18C July!  In fact 2022 joins a prestigious group of years seeing two 18C months in a single year (1911 and 1995).  Wonder when we will see the first triple 18C+ year?  We've had one 18C+ June on record and zero 18C+ September.  Who knows what will be possible in a warming climate say 50 years from now?

I hated every minute of that heatwave.  In some ways August's was worse than the heatwave we had in July, since although it was less intense it was more protracted.  I dread the summers that we may get in the coming years.

[Cheshire Freeze]

1 hour ago, S Bragg said:

I hated every minute of that heatwave.  In some ways August's was worse than the heatwave we had in July, since although it was less intense it was more protracted.  I dread the summers that we may get in the coming years.

I think domestic aircon is going to become a must have.

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Earthshine said:

The August heatwave we had last year was fantastic.  Recorded 34.9C which was the highest I've ever recorded in South Wales.  Temperatures dropped down to 24-26C for the second half of the month (still very pleasant)!  Overall an excellent month, it was a nice surprise to have an August CET above 18C (the first time in my living memory since I was only 3 years old in 2003).  More so after an 18C July!  In fact 2022 joins a prestigious group of years seeing two 18C months in a single year (1911 and 1995).  Wonder when we will see the first triple 18C+ year?  We've had one 18C+ June on record and zero 18C+ September.  Who knows what will be possible in a warming climate say 50 years from now?

August 22 was the first time 30C had been recorded on five successive days here since 1976, it was wonderful. Can remember getting to Poole harbour at 6:30am for paddling boarding on the Saturday morning, was already 23C, water temp in the harbour was over 20C and it was magical. Wish that spell could have lasted all summer, also that type of synoptic setup is better for heat here, all three of the warmest days of the year here were in august, due to more Of an easterly and less sea breeze. Although on the 19th July Bournemouth was the first place to hit 30C at around 8:30am however the wind shifted almost immediately to the SW, another hour and we would of broke our all time high of 34.1C. 

[Earthshine]

5 hours ago, S Bragg said:

I hated every minute of that heatwave.  In some ways August's was worse than the heatwave we had in July, since although it was less intense it was more protracted.  I dread the summers that we may get in the coming years.

There will have to be the need to fit air conditioning into homes to deal with this.  If we get two weeks of 35°C+ heat the impacts could be pretty bad.

[Guest]

I can see this summer being a terrible fail with all these impending predictions of doom and ‘I won’t susrvive without AC’ lol 

[stainesbloke]

4 hours ago, CreweCold said:

I think domestic aircon is going to become a must have.

Argos do this type of mobile unit which won’t break the bank. They are very effective and really cool a room down for sleeping, great if air conditioning for an entire home is too expensive. A mate has one and I was surprised how cold his room felt.

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by stainesbloke

[Sunny76]

6 hours ago, S Bragg said:

I hated every minute of that heatwave.  In some ways August's was worse than the heatwave we had in July, since although it was less intense it was more protracted.  I dread the summers that we may get in the coming years.

I loved August 2022. Finally a proper sunny august with a long summer feel. 

4 hours ago, CreweCold said:

I think domestic aircon is going to become a must have.

I don’t know about that. It’s not something I need, as the heat only lasts for a few weeks. 

[Sunny76]

13 minutes ago, Alderc said:

I can see this summer being a terrible fail with all these impending predictions of doom and ‘I won’t susrvive without AC’ lol 

Yeah I know, a few weeks of hot sunny weather will be a catastrophe! 

45 minutes ago, Earthshine said:

There will have to be the need to fit air conditioning into homes to deal with this.  If we get two weeks of 35°C+ heat the impacts could be pretty bad.

2-3 weeks of cold is just as bad, if not even worse. The December cold spell was worse in my opinion compared to the week or so of 34c last year.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

2-3 weeks of cold is just as bad, if not even worse. The December cold spell was worse in my opinion compared to the week or so of 34c last year.

Yeah I don't really know why people only seem to consider the impacts of 30c+ weather, and then ignore the flipsides of a cold spell. The latter sees elderly people literally freezing to death in their own homes, and health issues arising for many people who are on the breadline and so cannot afford to put the heating on with the crazy energy costs. This is before we get on to how it affects homeless folk living on the streets...

Our 30c+ heatwaves last, what, a week at the very most, and other than for people with serious existing conditions, all they do is make sleeping a bit uncomfortable. I might be wrong, but I don't think people are dying in their homes because of a few days of mid 30s temps.

We aren't going to need to reformulate our entire country's built infrastructure to make air-con the norm because of the potential of 1 or 2 weeks of 30c+ weather in the summer. Same as we don't invest in adverse weather capabilities for our transport systems to the capacity that Norway, Sweden, Finland etc do, just because we might get 1 or 2 weeks max of thick snow in a cold winter. 

Worth noting that alot of the housing in Europe's warmer countries (Spain, Italy, Croatia etc) do not have air-conditioning, and they have temps of 30c+ for weeks on end.

[*Stormforce~beka*]

7 hours ago, CreweCold said:

I think domestic aircon is going to become a must have.

We were only discussing installing it last year! It's just the practicalities of how!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

3 hours ago, stainesbloke said:

Argos do this type of mobile unit which won’t break the bank. They are very effective and really cool a room down for sleeping, great if air conditioning for an entire home is too expensive. A mate has one and I was surprised how cold his room felt.

 

How do u get the external ventilation though without opening a window to put the hose out?!

[Earthshine]

Heat stress is absolutely known to exacerbate health problems.  And in fact I've been vocal before about cold impacts on health so I'm not sure where that's come from

[stainesbloke]

4 hours ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

How do u get the external ventilation though without opening a window to put the hose out?!

You get a little window kit either with it or separately 

[cheeky_monkey]

1 hour ago, stainesbloke said:

You get a little window kit either with it or separately 

only works if you have sliding or sash windows ..if you have ordinary opening casements you have to be a little more creative but its not too difficult 

[Summer8906]

On 24/04/2023 at 10:46, al78 said:

A bit of an exaggeration. The climatological peak in summer temperature is late July or early August, so peak summer lags the solstice by several weeks. It is only as we go through August the shortening daylight hours really become noticable, and August can feel like an early start to autumn if it is a cool and wet month, and we have had some poor Augusts in the last couple of decades.

Yes, that's true, but I do tend to get the strong sense of a downward trend even in early August. August these days seems to be more likely than not to be a cloudy, damp month with generally cool day time temps and as you say that makes it feel like an early start to autumn. The only Augusts I would consider at all "summery" in recent years (post-2006) were 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016 and (from reports) 2022 - so a clear minority.

Hence we really need the good weather now, in the next couple of months, while the days are still getting longer.

May is looking questionable now, so that really leaves June, and perhaps July (though July also tends to be cloudy and westerly more often than not, though often dry) for the weather to improve.

It's not so much the absolute temp, but the temp relative to what you're used to - plus, of course, whether it's dry or sunny. 18C in May can feel distinctly warm, 18C in August distinctly cool, and the second half of summer does tend to be cloudy many years.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Summer8906

[weatherguru14]

When it comes to warmth, most people know that September is often better month than May.. So i don't get the running out of day light analogy. Nights get darker quicker. But the days are warmer in September (in my opinion) 

Nights are cold most of the year apart from when we get heatwaves.. so its all about the daytime  for me. 

[al78]

31 minutes ago, weatherguru14 said:

When it comes to warmth, most people know that September is often better month than May.. So i don't get the running out of day light analogy. Nights get darker quicker. But the days are warmer in September (in my opinion) 

Nights are cold most of the year apart from when we get heatwaves.. so its all about the daytime  for me. 

If you have a classic 9-5 job you can't make use of the evenings in September like you can in May. In May, I can finish work, have a meal and still have an hour or two to work on my allotment. In September, I finish work and I have about half an hour before twilight even when I am not commuting to London.

43 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Yes, that's true, but I do tend to get the strong sense of a downward trend even in early August. August these days seems to be more likely than not to be a cloudy, damp month with generally cool day time temps and as you say that makes it feel like an early start to autumn. The only Augusts I would consider at all "summery" in recent years (post-2006) were 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016 and (from reports) 2022 - so a clear minority.

Hence we really need the good weather now, in the next couple of months, while the days are still getting longer.

May is looking questionable now, so that really leaves June, and perhaps July (though July also tends to be cloudy and westerly more often than not, though often dry) for the weather to improve.

It's not so much the absolute temp, but the temp relative to what you're used to - plus, of course, whether it's dry or sunny. 18C in May can feel distinctly warm, 18C in August distinctly cool, and the second half of summer does tend to be cloudy many years.

I think it is a little premature to question the whole of May given we are still five days from the end of April.