Spring 2023 - Moans, Ramps & Chat

[Weather-history]

11 hours ago, Arctic Hare said:

The 1953 coronation was famously wet, at least in London. Not sure about everywhere else, but surely everyone was indoors watching it on their newfangled televisions!

3 cricketers sheltering  in the pavilion were killed by lightning in my home town on the evening of the coronation, 

Edited May 6, 2023 by Weather-history

[Guest]

11 hours ago, danm said:

Im guessing it would be almost impossible to see maximas that low these days in June. 

Given the way the weather trending this spring I wouldn’t be so sure! 

[ANYWEATHER]

Look matey . It’s always possible in fact it’s probably happened since but without consulting my weather records  I cannot tell you a date

Spring can only get better from now on

[ANYWEATHER]

And every cloud has a silver lining

[In Absence of True Seasons]

The forecast for this long weekend is an actual joke. It's a perfect encapsulation of the worst stereotypes about British climate, on a Royal coronation nonetheless.

Thursday, Wednesday or even Yesterday would've been far more preferable. But nope, 14c max and showers for the entire day. 

Cannot make this up. 

[BlueHedgehog074]

Having read how other certain occasions were, for the most part, damp, such as past Jubilee’s and Coronations as well as the fact showery rain is expected to sneak in from the South the today, it feels like the weather knows what days to dump its wet weather on…

(To be fair, however, it’s looks kinda reasonable outside at the moment - overall cloudy, but some brightness here and there. Suspect it won’t last). 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

1 hour ago, Alderc said:

Given the way the weather trending this spring I wouldn’t be so sure! 

Yeah looks to be hovering around the mid teens for the foreseeable future. 

Yesterday was pretty warm, the first day in ages I actually felt like it was properly "Spring", but of course, we'd never get 2 or *gasp* multiple days like that in a row. Don't be silly, its 1 pleasant day then back to 14c and drizzle for 12hrs straight.

Back in April, loads of people were saying not to write-off May because yet. Well, here we are, and it's basically the same as April just a smidge less cool....just like I thought it would be.

Theres just nothing in the weather patterns this year allowing us to have any settled sunny, warm runs. Even early next week we are wallowing in 15c and rain whilst the entirety of the Baltics is in 18-20 and unbroken sunshine.

[Evening thunder]

22 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

Sounds preferable to what we have today, tomorrow or Monday, that's for sure.

Give me a cold high (which due to sunshine would doubtless produce reasonable temps by day) over this stiflingly-humid damp gloom that we're having to put up with for the next 3 or 4 days.

Or, put it this way, and controversially, give me the May Day bank holiday weekend of 1996 over what we have for this weekend.

Agreed there...

22 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Admittedly its pretty chilly out there today and tomorrow, but the overall outlook looks good for both Riga and Vilnius (perhaps its different in other parts of the countries)? Solid days-back-to-back of sunshine, heading well into the teens and upper teens by beginning of next week. Tallinn is similar albeit a tad cooler.

Cold at night yes, but I'd happily take 17-19c daytime temps with sun atm. So far this year In London / SE, I can count days like that on one hand. 

The point is that the region is the Baltics, literally renowned for being brisk, yet even they regularly have warmer (and certainly sunnier!) daytime weather than we do here in Britain. I don't really give two-hoots about night-time temps, because it's, well, night. I'd happily have 1 or zero degrees at night if that also meant sunny and 18c during the day....

A more continental climate there, I guess the 'Baltic' phrase wasn't coined from their summers

Agreed with you in that respect, I prefer sunny crisp days (although perhaps not -10C 850s and hard frost in May) as sunshine is more important for mood. It just made me think of April 2021, which I didn't think was too bad as it was quite sunny despite loads of frosts (and I've noticed a few others say that recently). However, in this thread it certainly didn't sound ok at the time, people were moaning just as much as now.

As for this weekend, and combined with 2012, the weather really doesn't seem to be a royalist..

[richie3846]

Bad timing for today's show, but looking at the forecast for the next few days, tomorrow looks decently warm with good sun, at least around these parts. Monday wet but not too cool with it, and after that temps look reasonable, sunny spells, some rain. If anything temps are actually quite favourable for early May, slightly above average. Many Mays take a temperature tumble during the first half, but there doesn't seem to be anything like that in the 7 day forecasts. 

Nature also appears to be bang on with timings. The last of the ash is now leafing up, always one of the last to come. During a typical spring, the mix of cold and mild spells dictate the speed our trees come into leaf. April turned coolish towards the end, but there wasn't much deep cold at night, so it didn't cool the ground very much at all. With some decent warm temperatures for early May, as we've enjoyed over the last few days, and mild nights, the last of the stragglers are now rapidly opening up, and we'll have a full canopy in the woodland we live next to, within the next few days. Almost everything is already out, except the ash, in this particular woods. 

On that note, in the cold spring of 2021, the ash in our woods, did not fully leaf until the first week of June. It appears we are around 3 weeks ahead of that this year. 

That's the view from our bedroom window this morning.

[Summer8906]

42 minutes ago, Evening thunder said:

Agreed there...

A more continental climate there, I guess the 'Baltic' phrase wasn't coined from their summers

Agreed with you in that respect, I prefer sunny crisp days (although perhaps not -10C 850s and hard frost in May) as sunshine is more important for mood. It just made me think of April 2021, which I didn't think was too bad as it was quite sunny despite loads of frosts (and I've noticed a few others say that recently). However, in this thread it certainly didn't sound ok at the time, people were moaning just as much as now.

Not sure if I was on this forum in April 2021, but if so I wouldn't have moaned. A great month because it was dry, often sunny, and the air was clear, low-DP and thoroughly healthy. Beautiful red sunsets, rather than the drab wishy-washy white sunsets you get if the sky does clear momentarily during a SWly. In fact, I would rate April as the best month of 2021, though that does say a lot about how rubbish most of the rest of the year was...

Likewise the first 16 days (and last 2 days) of May 1996. An unfairly maligned month. Plus, even during the "bad" period, two of the three days of the late-May holiday were good due to ridges of high pressure, so in the last week we had good days on the 25th, 27th, 30th and 31st. Looking at it that way, the "bad" period could be cut right down to 8 days, the 17th-24th!

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

9 minutes ago, richie3846 said:

Bad timing for today's show, but looking at the forecast for the next few days, tomorrow looks decently warm with good sun, at least around these parts. Monday wet but not too cool with it, and after that temps look reasonable, sunny spells, some rain. If anything temps are actually quite favourable for early May, slightly above average. Many Mays take a temperature tumble during the first half, but there doesn't seem to be anything like that in the 7 day forecasts. 

Mind you, arguably colder but drier would be better than this SAD-inducing damp, gloomy, SW-ly mush. As I said, give me the first half of May 1996 any day.

[danm]

Wow must be the first forecast of 21c on the map since last Autumn:

[Summer8906]

What can I say about today?

I'm not a royalist but I do enjoy the general atmosphere of these royal events. Bad weather just destroys it for me, and unfortunately two of the three days of this weekend are being wrecked by the weather.

The Platinum Jubilee was mercifully better last year, with two good days (Thursday and Saturday), one meh but kind-of OK day (the Friday) and only the Sunday truly dire. It meant the weather was "good enough" to enjoy the atmosphere.

This weekend the big days are today, and Monday. And guess which days have dire weather?

The northwestern European climate really is a millstone around our region of the world. I honestly think it's the worst temperate-zone climate in the world for my tastes. Other areas can have problems with excessive heat and cold, but the key thing is that it's restricted to small parts of the year. Excessive heat in Mediterranean countries is generally limited to late June, July and August - 2.5 months of the year. Excessive cold is generally limited to Dec/Jan/Feb in climates subject to it - 3 months of the year.

In NW Europe, every one of the twelve months is at risk of excessive rain and gloom. And April and May should,  by rights, be the best time of year for weather here. Not this year!

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[richie3846]

1 minute ago, Summer8906 said:

Mind you, arguably colder but drier would be better than this SAD-inducing damp, gloomy, SW-ly mush. As I said, give me the first half of May 1996 any day.

We had quite a bit of sun here yesterday, and sunshine has been about average for the month so far. Checking in at sunshine levels on the south coast met office stations, they are also at least average, so nothing like the cloudfest we endured during March:

 

Brize Norton 28 hours

Lyneham 24

Yeovilton 28

Heathrow 30

Bournemouth 29

Sunshine hours for the first 5 days of May, not SAD inducing weather at all.

 

[B87]

Just now, richie3846 said:

We had quite a bit of sun here yesterday, and sunshine has been about average for the month so far. Checking in at sunshine levels on the south coast met office stations, they are also at least average, so nothing like the cloudfest we endured during March:

 

Brize Norton 28 hours

Lyneham 24

Yeovilton 28

Heathrow 30

Bournemouth 29

Sunshine hours for the first 5 days of May, not SAD inducing weather at all.

 

If you convert those to true values and extrapolate to the end of the month, you get 207 hours for Heathrow. That's pretty close to the May average of 208!

[kold weather]

First part of May has been running drier than normal but that's obviously about to end once yesterday and today's rain gets added into the mix. I suspect we won't be going back below average until the month is over.

Not to say that means it's going to be terrible, hopefully rain us more convective in nature this month rather than weak craggy stalled out fronts.

[Summer8906]

12 minutes ago, richie3846 said:

We had quite a bit of sun here yesterday, and sunshine has been about average for the month so far. Checking in at sunshine levels on the south coast met office stations, they are also at least average, so nothing like the cloudfest we endured during March:

 

Brize Norton 28 hours

Lyneham 24

Yeovilton 28

Heathrow 30

Bournemouth 29

Sunshine hours for the first 5 days of May, not SAD inducing weather at all.

 

True, Monday pm, Tuesday and Wednesday were nice. But I'm talking more specifically about the weather right now, or more generally the weather which moved in on Thursday afternoon and is likely to be in place until Wednesday.

By the end of Monday I suspect sunshine levels will have barely risen at all, and we'll be clearly running below average. And rainfall significantly above average.

Thankfully the outlook beyond midweek remains better, but it really is unfortunate that the coronation weekend is coinciding with a truly atrocious period of weather.

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[Guest]

Nearly 15hrs of daylight and at 10am I’ve got the lights on! What a rotten day! 

[richie3846]

5 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

True, Monday pm, Tuesday and Wednesday were nice. But I'm talking more specifically about the weather right now, or more generally the weather which moved in on Thursday afternoon and is likely to be in place until Monday, or maybe Wednesday.

By the end of Monday I suspect sunshine levels will have barely risen at all, and we'll be clearly running below average. And rainfall significantly above average.

 

Tomorrow might offer some good sunny spells, so I suspect by Monday, sunshine will still be about average, but we'll have to wait and see. Yes, it's definitely wetter than average to start the month, however we did get particularly lucky in Swindon itself yesterday, with barely any rain at all, all the hefty showers missed us entirely, and rainfall totals at the official stations are starting to show the hit and miss nature of showers. 

[Summer8906]

1 minute ago, Alderc said:

Nearly 15hrs of daylight and at 10am I’ve got the lights on! What a rotten day! 

Indeed, I've known winter solstices when it's been brighter mid-morning! 21 Dec 1992 springs to mind immediately, but I am sure there are others.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, richie3846 said:

We had quite a bit of sun here yesterday, and sunshine has been about average for the month so far. Checking in at sunshine levels on the south coast met office stations, they are also at least average, so nothing like the cloudfest we endured during March:

 

Brize Norton 28 hours

Lyneham 24

Yeovilton 28

Heathrow 30

Bournemouth 29

Sunshine hours for the first 5 days of May, not SAD inducing weather at all.

 

But we average over 220hrs of sun in May so should have had around 36hrs of sun by now, so still nearly 20% below average. 

[Summer8906]

6 minutes ago, richie3846 said:

Tomorrow might offer some good sunny spells, so I suspect by Monday, sunshine will still be about average, but we'll have to wait and see. Yes, it's definitely wetter than average to start the month, however we did get particularly lucky in Swindon itself yesterday, with barely any rain at all, all the hefty showers missed us entirely, and rainfall totals at the official stations are starting to show the hit and miss nature of showers. 

There were no showers here yesterday either, but what was unpleasant was the low cloud base and humid, claggy nature of the air - typical of a summer rPm.

It did briefly become more pleasant after about 5pm until dark. This seems to be an odd feature of summer rPm - mornings and midday periods are often claggy and humid, and it becomes sunnier in the early evening. Then after dark the cloud moves in again. A different pattern to "classic" Pm which invariably feature sunny mornings and clear nights, with convection peaking in the midday-to-afternoon period.

I'd actually have preferred heavier showers in a "classic" Pm northwesterly, if I'm honest, due to the clearer air!

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[richie3846]

Just now, Alderc said:

But we average over 220hrs of sun in May so should have had around 36hrs of sun by now, so still nearly 20% below average. 

13 percent is the figure given on 'the month so far in the British isles' for Bournemouth'. The month is one with increasing daylight also, so the average will naturally be skewed by daylight hours. If daylight hours were the same all month then it would be about 16 percent by now, as an average, so maybe between 14 and 15 percent would be the average for the first 5 days of May. 13 is so close to that, that it's approximately average IMO 

4 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

There were no showers here yesterday either, but what was unpleasant was the low cloud base and humid, claggy nature of the air - typical of a summer rPm.

It did briefly become more pleasant after about 5pm until dark. This seems to be an odd feature of summer rPm - mornings and midday periods are often claggy and humid, and it becomes sunnier in the early evening. Then after dark the cloud moves in again. A different pattern to "classic" Pm which invariably feature sunny mornings and clear nights, with convection peaking in the midday-to-afternoon period.

I'd actually have preferred heavier showers in a "classic" Pm northwesterly, if I'm honest, due to the clearer air!

That's what I enjoyed about yesterday! The warmth and humidity, it felt really summery and the sun was lush too.

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Yeah looks to be hovering around the mid teens for the foreseeable future. 

Yesterday was pretty warm, the first day in ages I actually felt like it was properly "Spring", but of course, we'd never get 2 or *gasp* multiple days like that in a row. Don't be silly, its 1 pleasant day then back to 14c and drizzle for 12hrs straight.

Were Tuesday and Wednesday not good where you were? Here, they were very much better than yesterday which felt rather like a bad day in late August, or an unsettled but mild day in October.

Here, those days did feel genuinely May-like but it's gone very much downhill since.

1 hour ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Back in April, loads of people were saying not to write-off May because yet. Well, here we are, and it's basically the same as April just a smidge less cool....just like I thought it would be.

Theres just nothing in the weather patterns this year allowing us to have any settled sunny, warm runs. Even early next week we are wallowing in 15c and rain whilst the entirety of the Baltics is in 18-20 and unbroken sunshine.

Somewhat better from midweek it seems, with higher pressure though always with occasional weak fronts from time to time so probably not that sunny and probably not bone-dry.

While it may not be dire, I'd expect May to be average at best, more realistically slightly below-par, as in, somewhat cloudier and somewhat wetter than normal but not drastically so. So this spring will have completely lacked a "good" month, which is rare for what has recently been by far our best season.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Summer8906

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, richie3846 said:

13 percent is the figure given on 'the month so far in the British isles' for Bournemouth'. The month is one with increasing daylight also, so the average will naturally be skewed by daylight hours. If daylight hours were the same all month then it would be about 16 percent by now, as an average, so maybe between 14 and 15 percent would be the average for the first 5 days of May. 13 is so close to that, that it's approximately average IMO 

That's what I enjoyed about yesterday! The warmth and humidity, it felt really summery and the sun was lush too.

Not so much though, we barely gain an hour of daylight in May down here.