Spring 2023 - Moans, Ramps & Chat

[al78]

2 hours ago, B87 said:

It can't really get much worse to be fair. Whatever replaces this pattern will be an improvement.

Yes it can theoretically. Despite the abnormal rainfall there has been very little flooding, which for suc a wet season is unusual. The south of England is primed for a major flood event and it won't need the equivalent of June 2012 to deliver it.

[al78]

31 minutes ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

I have over the past week come to accept that this is our weather here to stay. Summer will return in September as usual. I'm writing off summer this year. Not because I'm a abcde but because of after 3 months of this I'm mentally done. It's better to accept this weather is here to stay now than keep holding out hope it will change and forever be disappointed. I just can't take anymore. Not got my garden furniture out yet. Not planted any flowers. I'm done. Exhausted, drained. I've given up

Oh dear, you sound like you could do with a hug.

14 minutes ago, TwisterGirl81 said:

Bless you, the nice weather will come, just a little later than usual, I'm sure we will pleasantly be compensated this summer.  It's been tough going, many of us have had times of feeling fed up for different reasons and hoping for the warmth and sun to shine to make us feel better, it will come. 

I saw that comment on the MAD thread, rolled my eyes, it was probably one of those that were getting all excited about a late season SWW and look what it gave us, didn't just delay spring, it ruined it lol  Even I knew it was most likely bad news for spring and I am by no means at all an expect but I have common sense

Is one SSW really capable of ruining an entire season? I can't help thinking there is more to this prolonged spell of dross.

[danm]

Well would you adam and eve it. It's basically stayed completely dry today so far. Some showers have made it into the London area, but they've tended to fizzle out overhead - at least over here. 

Plenty of sunshine too, peaked at about 19c. It's been far better than I expected it would be, which was essentially frequent, heavy showers. 

Still think we may see one or two showers before the day is out, but considering the forecast showed showers for much of the day, I'll take that. 

[Methuselah]

2 minutes ago, danm said:

Well would you adam and eve it. It's basically stayed completely dry today so far. Some showers have made it into the London area, but they've tended to fizzle out overhead - at least over here. 

Plenty of sunshine too, peaked at about 19c. It's been far better than I expected it would be, which was essentially frequent, heavy showers. 

Still think we may see one or two showers before the day is out, but considering the forecast showed showers for much of the day, I'll take that. 

It's been the same here, Dan: the longer the day has gone on the longer the sunny periods have become!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

26 minutes ago, al78 said:

Oh dear, you sound like you could do with a hug.

Is one SSW really capable of ruining an entire season? I can't help thinking there is more to this prolonged spell of dross.

I'll take it. I'll hug anyone I will! 

[B87]

Forecast is now showing actual normal temperatures for May, though still much cloudier and wetter than should be expected for the time of year. It's a start.

 

[richie3846]

2 hours ago, sunny_vale said:

Call me crazy but this May has been ok to me. Since the last weekend in April, I've seen just about enough sun, a couple of rainy days, some sunshine and showers days and Sunday was great. It's not felt cold at all either really. And this coming weekend is starting to look good too. Probably IMBYism and personal standards involved though. Of course, I'm searching for some heat and extended periods of warm and sunny weather, but I do believe that will come at some point before the month is out - it rarely doesn't in May, even 2021 had that lovely ending. 

I've got the same IMBYism here. We've not had the rain some have had, about 50 percent of the month average, only 3mm yesterday and none today. We've had some sun both yesterday and today, and other good days during the month. Temperatures are decent too. We're only a third of the way through, a good weekend looks likely too, absolutely nothing to grumble about in this location, though I know it's different story for those who've had 2 days of torrential storms to contend with. 

[Guest]

Just 17% of the May sun total here up to yesterday should be at 29% now so barely over 50% of what we should have had! Grim! 

[markyo]

Some of the best weather i have driven through in a long time today, storm after storm, loved it, proper weather. Got to be very honest now this Spring is proving to be by far one of the best for decades, love it. So comfortable, so easy to work in, less tiring, hayfever down. Its just perfect! ....not for every one i know!

[chris888]

best place for summer this year is Greenland

[I remember Atlantic 252]

my imagination, or is Friday looking a washout

[Sunsetglimmer]

Have to admit I ain’t gunna complain about this spring, it’s been wet wet wet; but it’s not been as cold as 2021, I don’t mind the showers, in fact here on the Essex Rivera had very few showers and nice amounts of sunshine and temps have reach 19 past few days! So ain’t gunna grumble at 19 degrees back in 2021 it stuck around 12 

[Sunsetglimmer]

Also after spending last week in the Norwegian fjords where temps were still only reaching a max of 4 degrees, coming back to London and having high teens/ 20 degrees, it has felt tropical 

[NEVES SCREAMER]

After 3 of the last 4 days have lashed it down I suppose today's one brief shower, 17c and a blustery wind is something of a triumph. 

[Sun Chaser]

Interested to see where people would rank spring 2023 (so far) compared to some other recent poor springs, eg 2013, 2016, 2021.

For me the bottom 5:

2018 - cold wet March and April. May was stunning so saves it from bottom

2021 - March was decent. April was sunny but cold. May was horrendous worst in living memory. Overall enough warm sunny memorable moments to save it

2016 - March meh. April awful. May was decent but not enough to save

2023 - very wet and dull. Synoptically uninteresting. There have been some nice days, at least it hasn't felt properly cold, however the constant threat of rain gets annoying. Could drop below 2013 if May ends poorly

2013 - only worse as it was just as dull and the cold NEVER went away. March and first half of April was soul destroying, the rest of spring was just poor. Drier than 2023 though

[ANYWEATHER]

To be honest I think Spring 2023 is what you would call one of the infamous Springs when we look back in a while..,..,

[danm]

Only ended up having one shower today, about an hour ago. The radar shows remaining showers dying out so all in all it’s been a far better day than forecast. Warm with a lot of sunny spells, 19c. 

[al78]

Met Office forecast for Horsham looks decent for the next five days. Plenty of sunny intervals and only occasional light showers, excellent weather for outdoor work. I'll take that over the days with eight hours of continuous rain.

[Sunny76]

4 hours ago, markyo said:

Some of the best weather i have driven through in a long time today, storm after storm, loved it, proper weather. Got to be very honest now this Spring is proving to be by far one of the best for decades, love it. So comfortable, so easy to work in, less tiring, hayfever down. Its just perfect! ....not for every one i know!

To be fair, it was one of the better days, despite cloudier periods. It did manage to stay dry until later into the evening, and wasn’t as bad as the forecasts. 
 

 

[Nick L]

Tomorrow has gone from pleasantly warm and sunny, to gloomy, to raining all in a few days. This spring is just the pits.

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, Nick L said:

Tomorrow has gone from pleasantly warm and sunny, to gloomy, to raining all in a few days. This spring is just the pits.

The supposedly good day of Saturday and Sunday starting to look like they are going to be increasingly cloud, pressure not high enough and strong sunshine is a perfect recipe for infill, even some showers on Saturday. 

[Nick L]

Just now, Alderc said:

The supposedly good day of Saturday and Sunday starting to look like they are going to be increasingly cloud, pressure not high enough and strong sunshine is a perfect recipe for infill, even some showers on Saturday. 

As I'm on night shifts I'm not too upset about the weekend going downhill at least

[NEVES SCREAMER]

I'm rather looking forward to Monday (day off). Wind gusts from the north 30mph. 13c max. Drizzle/cloud. Looking elsewhere I note Seattle in USA which is famed for its cool wet climate and ave of 17c/18c for May has 6 consecutive days of sunny skies temps mid to high 20's incoming over their weekend. It seems to work both ways. Only we are consistently on the rubbish end of the deal with persistent below average temps and endless cloud and rain.

[B87]

Saturday and Sunday both have forecasts of 21c and partly cloudy now, it does feel like spring is finally on the way.

Early next week is chilly with 14-15c, but after that it reverts to normality, with highs 17-21c. Still cloudy though. There's very little chance we can salvage even average sunshine from this month now, and there is no chance at all for spring as a whole.

Edited May 11, 2023 by B87

[richie3846]

23 minutes ago, B87 said:

Saturday and Sunday both have forecasts of 21c and partly cloudy now, it does feel like spring is finally on the way.

Early next week is chilly with 14-15c, but after that it reverts to normality, with highs 17-21c. Still cloudy though. There's very little chance we can salvage even average sunshine from this month now, and there is no chance at all for spring as a whole.

I wouldn't write off the sunshine yet. Many a month with normal sunshine levels have much of that sun in a block. A sunny week could add 70 to 80 hours to the total, and we are only a third of the way through the month. Cloud forecasting seems to be like reading tea leaves - it's so sketchy I personally completely ignore cloud forecasting, especially on apps/met office particularly. With all this supercomputing capacity, the met still can't tell me if the sun will or will not come out. My own forecasting, by looking at the sky and making a prediction for the next few hours, coupled with the my knowledge of the general weather situation, is considerably more accurate than the met office app.

Also, sunshine levels aren't massively behind in terms of hours overall, for the month of May, because it's still early in the month, and percentages are disproportionate as a result. Heathrow is currently on 20 percent, 41 hours, and I think that gets some sort of adjustment which I don't fully understand, something to do with changes in equipment over the years I think, so that figure may turn out slightly higher anyway. Not only that, at least we haven't got day after day of grey skies. The sun that is about seems to be more generally spread, in between showers etc. That's surely better than grey days for ages then full sunshine. In the weather we have been experiencing, it is very easy to achieve boosted levels of vitamin D by spending time outside in the partially cloudy conditions. The sun is very strong now, and vitamin D is available virtually every day.