Spring 2023 - Moans, Ramps & Chat

[Sun Chaser]

5 hours ago, KTtom said:

Currently looking good for Friday, Thursday, however is something else! Anyway, we need the rain so I keep getting told.

Lucky!! The next time we're even set to see sunny spells here is next Tuesday afternoon. Thoroughly depressing. I don't often moan about the weather here as usually a saving grace can be found, like at least February, though boring, was dry and quite sunny, and even the wet spells in November and New Year had some nice sunny days chucked in once or twice a week. But this month is reminding me of May 2021 in that it just refuses to stop being hideously gloomy.

Saying that, surprisingly today turned out quite nicely and it was great to catch the sun! Did my best to ignore the bitter northerly breeze as the skies were clear and I'll happily take that compared to what's forecasted. Could've been a lot worse! Not a great forecast for the next week or so, but at least the only way is up from here 

[Summer8906]

2 minutes ago, plymsunshine said:

Lucky!! The next time we're even set to see sunny spells here is next Tuesday afternoon.

I would say same here too, looking at the GFS 12z. On that run we get another transient NW-ly which might bring the sun out for a while.

But three days of sunshine in the first 21 days of the month, in what is supposed to be a spring month, is quite simply appalling. At this rate, March will be duller than quite a few Decembers, I suspect.

2 minutes ago, plymsunshine said:

Thoroughly depressing. I don't often moan about the weather here as usually a saving grace can be found, like at least February, though boring, was dry and quite sunny, and even the wet spells in November and New Year had some nice sunny days chucked in once or twice a week. But this month is reminding me of May 2021 in that it just refuses to stop being hideously gloomy.

Yes, that was a bad month to be sure.

But at least if the May 2021 parallels continue, the month might go out with a week of warm, sunny weather.

[Sun Chaser]

8 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

I'm not sure it's normal, looks incredibly cyclonic for March. I'd say likely to be one of the wettest and dullest on record, on current GFS runs. Certainly the worst March since 1981, on current runs, by the looks of things.

I hope April does improve; an April as bad as March will be disastrous. I've said this already but given how gloomy life is in general at the moment, we need spring to arrive to cheer us up. At this rate, it'll be April before spring arrives! Like 2013, but without the interesting cold which was the saving grace of that year.

Luckily, March and April weather are often different, and the worst Aprils did not follow particularly bad Marches.

 

Hoping for a March 2020 style flip, I think people forget that month was very dull and cyclonic until about the 22nd. Then came over 2 months of almost non-stop wall to wall sunshine - spring 2020 was the favourite of my lifetime by a mile, no other spring even comes close. A good mid April heatwave would do me nicely this year  

[Summer8906]

3 minutes ago, plymsunshine said:

Hoping for a March 2020 style flip, I think people forget that month was very dull and cyclonic until about the 22nd. Then came over 2 months of almost non-stop wall to wall sunshine - spring 2020 was the favourite of my lifetime by a mile, no other spring even comes close. A good mid April heatwave would do me nicely this year  

Actually, here it did improve from about the 15th, so a little bit earlier. But more generally I certainly don't want a repeat of spring 2020!

Edited March 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

10 hours ago, sunny_vale said:

Looking at historical data, it appears that climate has shifted slightly 'South'. To say for example, that the climate in London now is more or less what Paris would have had about 40 years ago, more so April to October - not an exact science but generally. Far from Mediterranean but there has been a shift.

Paris must, in the main, and bar the odd exception, have had pretty dull, and sometimes damp, summers in the 70s and early 80s then

Edited March 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

12 hours ago, KTtom said:

Very happy with the model output this morning. The threat of a cold March is quickly receeding, after todays nucence cold, my location is back to double figures, even 15 c possible by the end of the week..1st beers of the year  in the beer garden after work friday

Have to say this doesn't really look like beer-garden weather

Wetterzentrale - Top Karten - GFS Europe 00Z

WWW.WETTERZENTRALE.DE

---

Wetterkarten GFS Europe 00Z

 

[Sun Chaser]

10 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Actually, here it did improve from about the 15th, so a little bit earlier. But more generally I certainly don't want a repeat of spring 2020!

We definitely could do with something a little more balanced I guess given any potential drought issues! And I certainly don't want a repeat of what was going on in the world in spring 2020 either lol. But despite that I have some good memories of admiring the weather and stopping to sunbathe on my daily walks for weeks on end.

I distinctly remember having one beautiful day on 16 March 2020, then a week of constant low cloud stuck under high pressure before things really changed a week later

[Summer8906]

On 13/03/2023 at 12:59, RJBingham said:

Feels like this abysmal winter is finally over, looking forward to a long sunny summer now, hopefully!!  

Not so sure. When we get a few dry, calm days in a row, then it will feel like winter is over.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[KTtom]

7 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Have to say this doesn't really look like beer-garden weather

Wetterzentrale - Top Karten - GFS Europe 00Z

WWW.WETTERZENTRALE.DE

---

Wetterkarten GFS Europe 00Z

 

It has to be said it has gone down hill a little, still we're tough here, 30 mph gusts off the sea, heavy showers 11 c almost feel like august 

Edited March 14, 2023 by KTtom

[Sunny76]

6 hours ago, S Bragg said:

Today is a nice illustration of why I tend to prefer sunny weather in the Spring than the Summer - the Sun feels pleasantly warm out there now but it's still cool enough that I can tat around in the garden and not sweat.  Now once we reach mid/late May, it gets too hot when it's sunny (at least for my taste).  

It was nice in the sun, but it still feels chilly when there’s a wind or some clouds come in.

[Summer8906]

Some detail on the March to "beat" (March 1981) for sheer weather awfulness:

 

MWR_1981_03 | Met Office UA

DIGITAL.NMLA.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

52.9 hours of sunshine at the London Weather Centre, so less than 2 hours a day, and the second wettest March in 250 years, behind 1947, it appears.

Mildish days and exceptionally mild nights, so little or no cold interest either.

I was around then, and remember the weather of many of the other months of 1981, but don't remember the weather of March. Likely this month was probably so awful my mind has suppressed all memories of it

April 1981 was much better (in more than one way), though the southeast didn't do as well as other parts of the country - buts it's further evidence that a dire March does not mean a dire April:

 

MWR_1981_04 | Met Office UA

DIGITAL.NMLA.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[matt111]

7 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

It was nice in the sun, but it still feels chilly when there’s a wind or some clouds come in.

Yes if it wasn't for that it would have been a really pleasant day today but the breeze was still quite cold. Still was nice to actually see the sun today and even blue skies for a time. 

[reef]

March this year has been poor so far, but recent years have made March feel like a sunnier month than it actually is.

Here, up until 2003 the sunniest March on record was 1995 with 157 hours. In the 20 years  since we've had 6 sunnier Marches. There's only been five with less than 90% of normal sunshine in the last 30 years.

The worst ones were 1984 (49 hours) and 1996 (46 hours). We've had 40 hours so far in 2023 after 14 days so its safe to say this year will be much better.

[Andy Bown]

51 minutes ago, plymsunshine said:

Hoping for a March 2020 style flip, I think people forget that month was very dull and cyclonic until about the 22nd. Then came over 2 months of almost non-stop wall to wall sunshine - spring 2020 was the favourite of my lifetime by a mile, no other spring even comes close. A good mid April heatwave would do me nicely this year  

The flip pretty much coincided with the first Covid lockdown! 

[Frigid]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

I'm not sure it's normal, looks incredibly cyclonic for March. I'd say likely to be one of the wettest and dullest on record, on current GFS runs. Certainly the worst March since 1981, on current runs, by the looks of things.

I hope April does improve; an April as bad as March will be disastrous. I've said this already but given how gloomy life is in general at the moment, we need spring to arrive to cheer us up. At this rate, it'll be April before spring arrives! Like 2013, but without the interesting cold which was the saving grace of that year.

Luckily, March and April weather are often different, and the worst Aprils did not follow particularly bad Marches.

 

That's true, only have to go back 11 years to see such a big contrast. March and April 2012 couldn't be more different

[NEVES SCREAMER]

Was ok here until about 14:00. Rather chilly but pleasant in the sun. Then the cloud approached from the north with wind and sleet. You could see the hills to the NW covered in snow. I'm not that bothered with early spring being sunny and warm days/chilly nights. I do look forward to May warming up if possible. And the chilly nights fade away. Followed by a 1989 style summer!  

[Sunny76]

32 minutes ago, matt111 said:

Yes if it wasn't for that it would have been a really pleasant day today but the breeze was still quite cold. Still was nice to actually see the sun today and even blue skies for a time. 

It’s a slow gradual transition away from winter into spring. Kind of see this year being a mixed bag, with April and even May producing some warm and cool damp spells. Could be until June before things really pick up properly, with still some cooler days thrown in. 
 

 

[MP-R]

1 hour ago, plymsunshine said:

We definitely could do with something a little more balanced I guess given any potential drought issues! And I certainly don't want a repeat of what was going on in the world in spring 2020 either lol. But despite that I have some good memories of admiring the weather and stopping to sunbathe on my daily walks for weeks on end.

I distinctly remember having one beautiful day on 16 March 2020, then a week of constant low cloud stuck under high pressure before things really changed a week later

You’re right… it wasn’t until the weekend of the 21st/22nd that it finally turned settled and very sunny in the last week. The 19th was a particularly dull wet day.

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

It’s a slow gradual transition away from winter into spring. Kind of see this year being a mixed bag, with April and even May producing some warm and cool damp spells. Could be until June before things really pick up properly, with still some cooler days thrown in. 
 

Do you mean warm and dry, or warm and damp? Hoping not warm and damp; a mixture of cool/damp and warm/damp would be a really miserable spring!

And hope we don't have to wait until June, by then it's only a few weeks until the nights start drawing in, and of course only two months until August, which is cloudy and changeable in a majority of years these days.

But I still think April will be much less bad than March. I don't think I've lived through a year with a dire March and a dire April.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

11 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

 

But I still think April will be much less bad than March. I don't think I've lived through a year with a dire March and a dire April.

 

2001 must’ve been close… while not completely dire, April was not great and we all know March was cold, dull and wet.

[Sun Chaser]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

Do you mean warm and dry, or warm and damp? Hoping not warm and damp; a mixture of cool/damp and warm/damp would be a really miserable spring!

And hope we don't have to wait until June, by then it's only a few weeks until the nights start drawing in, and of course only two months until August, which is cloudy and changeable in a majority of years these days.

But I still think April will be much less bad than March. I don't think I've lived through a year with a dire March and a dire April.

 

2013 definitely comes close but at least it wasn't especially wet, and early April was sunny. Honourable mentions to 2008 and 2016, which both lacked any warmth but also any real interesting weather (in these parts at least).

 

1 hour ago, MP-R said:

2001 must’ve been close… while not completely dire, April was not great and we all know March was cold, dull and wet.

Had I been old enough to notice the weather in 2001, I would've absolutely hated that spring. May looks like it was decent though.

[alexisj9]

4 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I would say same here too, looking at the GFS 12z. On that run we get another transient NW-ly which might bring the sun out for a while.

But three days of sunshine in the first 21 days of the month, in what is supposed to be a spring month, is quite simply appalling. At this rate, March will be duller than quite a few Decembers, I suspect.

Yes, that was a bad month to be sure.

But at least if the May 2021 parallels continue, the month might go out with a week of warm, sunny weather.

I didn't realise the sun amounts have been so bad centrally, feel lucky to live where I am right now.

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

Do you mean warm and dry, or warm and damp? Hoping not warm and damp; a mixture of cool/damp and warm/damp would be a really miserable spring!

And hope we don't have to wait until June, by then it's only a few weeks until the nights start drawing in, and of course only two months until August, which is cloudy and changeable in a majority of years these days.

But I still think April will be much less bad than March. I don't think I've lived through a year with a dire March and a dire April.

 

I meant a mix of days in April, May and early June with warm sunny days and cooler dull wet ones.

[Sunny76]

5 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I would say same here too, looking at the GFS 12z. On that run we get another transient NW-ly which might bring the sun out for a while.

But three days of sunshine in the first 21 days of the month, in what is supposed to be a spring month, is quite simply appalling. At this rate, March will be duller than quite a few Decembers, I suspect.

Yes, that was a bad month to be sure.

But at least if the May 2021 parallels continue, the month might go out with a week of warm, sunny weather.

2021 was bad full stop. I’ve never know such a rotten horrible May to August period.

[MP-R]

41 minutes ago, plymsunshine said:

2013 definitely comes close but at least it wasn't especially wet, and early April was sunny. Honourable mentions to 2008 and 2016, which both lacked any warmth but also any real interesting weather (in these parts at least).

 

Had I been old enough to notice the weather in 2001, I would've absolutely hated that spring. May looks like it was decent though.

Yes May 2001 was one of the better ones, sandwiched between the poor ones if 2000, 2002 and 2003. Pretty sunny in the main and quite settled bar a midmonth blip.