Spring 2023 - Moans, Ramps & Chat

[Sun Chaser]

59 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

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

2007? 2011? 2012? Or 2015 I think people forget what a horrible year that was.

2021 wasn't too bad outside of the SE. June was warm and sunny and July's 2 weeks of heat was a really lovely spell of weather. And August 2021 was far from the worst August we've had recently. Outside of that 2021 wasn't great though I agree, but not awful by any means.

[KTtom]

Whether its wet or dry, its certainly looking mild for the majority for the rest of the month, mean is well above average from tomorrow with no signs of a Very Cold month that was being predicted.

 

[Cheshire Freeze]

14 minutes ago, KTtom said:

Whether its wet or dry, its certainly looking mild for the majority for the rest of the month, mean is well above average from tomorrow with no signs of a Very Cold month that was being predicted.

 

My take away from looking at the models this morning is wet and cool. Colder the further N you go.

Under precipitation 12C isn’t going to feel mild anyway.

[StretfordEnd1996]

3 hours ago, KTtom said:

Whether its wet or dry, its certainly looking mild for the majority for the rest of the month, mean is well above average from tomorrow with no signs of a Very Cold month that was being predicted.

 

Let's not forget we're already almost half way through the month though and we're already -1.5 on the CET. May still take a bit to shift that back to above average
The same model you posted was relatively cool/cold for the mean just a few days back, it's not a guaranteed fixture IMO. Chopping and changing at the moment 

[ItNeverSnowsInWindsor]

Most likely finishing close to average after a mild week coming up.

Also quite remarkably wet!

I wonder what the record is for March rainfall.

[KTtom]

6 hours ago, CreweCold said:

 

Under precipitation 12C isn’t going to feel mild anyway.

Maybe not, but my enthusiasm for 12 c compared to 8 c is the seismic difference it makes to the feel inside of my house no matter what its doing outside.

[Weather Enthusiast91]

A dull overcast day today. It feels colder than the cold spell we had in December, as there's no sun. 

 

[*Stormforce~beka*]

1 days sun and cloud and now we are doomed to cloud again. Sigh ... I detest this month

[A Face like Thunder]

There were times when it snowed in Surrey in March. This is 15th - 16th March 1964.

 

 

[Snowyowl9]

How wet will this march end up..

Back to the 1980s march weather this year..

[78/79]

3 hours ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

1 days sun and cloud and now we are doomed to cloud again. Sigh ... I detest this month

Must admit Spring isn't  my favourite season to be honest Becca, Just seems to promise the earth in terms of things warming up , and generally delivers diddly squat most years.

Edited March 15, 2023 by 78/79

[Summer8906]

36 minutes ago, Snowyowl9 said:

How wet will this march end up..

Back to the 1980s march weather this year..

Marches in the 1980s were indeed a fairly poor lot. The warm, sunny March of 1990 was repeated many times in the following 25 years but at the time it seemed quite exceptional, and following a hot summer and exceptionally mild winter it really felt like the climate was flipping to something perhaps more like that of central western France.

From a mix of memory and reading the Monthly Weather Report (not always recently, so details may be missed) it was something like the following. I have added April's weather in brackets to show that there was not always a link between the weather of the two months.

1980 - cloudy, changeable, short cold spell (warm, sunny and dry)

1981 - exceptionally dull and wet, second wettest in 250 years, with very mild nights (warm and dry followed by late snowy spell, exceptional snowstorm on April 26th)

1982 - rather changeable and dull becoming warm and sunny later (warm, sunny and dry)

1983 - nondescript, mild, somewhat changeable (cool, dull and wet)

1984 - cloudy, rather cool, damp at times, frequent N-ly winds (warm, dry and sunny)

1985 - cold and changeable, some late snow (cool and changeable, occasional warm sunny weather)

1986 - cold, major snowfall March 1st, dry first half, stormy second half, briefly mild round mid month (cold and dull)

1987 - cold and changeable, some late snow (warm ,dry and sunny)

1988 - dull, mild, rather wet (very mixed, a typical April)

1989 - dull, mild, rather wet, warm dry and sunny final week (cold, changeable)

So no settled Marches at all! Contrast that to 1990-2014 when, following 1990, they also occurred in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 (changeable at times), 2000, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

6 minutes ago, 78/79 said:

Must admit Spring isn't  my favourite season to be honest Becca, Just seems to promise the earth in terms of things warming up , and generally delivers diddly squat most years.

Is that the case? These days, spring seems to be by far the most settled and sunny season, though admittedly April is the most reliable month. Summer, by contrast, has been a disappointment most years since 2007; autumn tends to be either cloudy and nondescript, or wet and stormy; and winter is generally mild, nondescript, and sometimes very dull and wet.

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, A Face like Thunder said:

There were times when it snowed in Surrey in March. This is 15th - 16th March 1964.

 

 

Depending on what the rest of March 1964 was like, I think I'd prefer that to what we're actually getting!

Snow is not the problem IMO this time of year. Dull and damp is the problem and just makes it seem like an eternal late autumn/winter season.

[cheeky_monkey]

17 hours ago, plymsunshine said:

 2015 I think people forget what a horrible year that was.

 

what was wrong with 2015? i thought it was decent 

[Summer8906]

7 hours ago, prolongedSnowLover said:

Most likely finishing close to average after a mild week coming up.

Also quite remarkably wet!

I wonder what the record is for March rainfall.

Not sure what the record is, but in modern times, March 1981 was the most extreme (see Monthly Weather Report link, posted up-thread yesterday). Second wettest in 250 years. Hope we don't have to endure another month like that!

1 minute ago, cheeky_monkey said:

what was wrong with 2015? i thought it was decent 

Some months were poor (Aug, Nov, Dec) and May was unseasonably zonal and westerly (and consequently a bit bland for May) but the other months were varying degrees of reasonable so I'd tend to agree.

June 2015 was the last June that was properly sunny, in fact, IIRC. June 2018 was pretty cloudy except for the final 10 days.

[Summer8906]

13 hours ago, CreweCold said:

My take away from looking at the models this morning is wet and cool. Colder the further N you go.

Under precipitation 12C isn’t going to feel mild anyway.

12C isn't especially mild for March anyway. The average in the south is about 11 so very marginally above average for mid-March, and bang-on average for late in the month. So if every day from now to the end of the month is 12C, the month will presumably still end up cold.

However with a lot of wet and dull and no real interesting cold (snow, frosts) it will still, depending on model accuracy, be quite possibly the qualitatively "worst" March since 1981.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

23 hours ago, reef said:

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.

The difference though was that 1984 and 1996 were not nearly so wet. They were a little changeable but neither had constant southerly-tracking lows. So unless something changes late in the month, I suspect this month will be far worse than either. 1996, in particular, I remember fairly well and, due to frequent dry days, really didn't mind that one at all.

[Summer8906]

18 hours ago, plymsunshine said:

2007? 2011? 2012? Or 2015 I think people forget what a horrible year that was.

2021 wasn't too bad outside of the SE. June was warm and sunny and July's 2 weeks of heat was a really lovely spell of weather. And August 2021 was far from the worst August we've had recently. Outside of that 2021 wasn't great though I agree, but not awful by any means.

Definitely depends where you are; here (neither SE nor SW) June was very dull and damp after mid-month, July had about 10 days fine weather and 20 days of dull, cool and damp, and August was, well, I'd agree not the worst, but very dull, changeable and cool until about the 21st and then dry, but with variable cloud and still often cool. A poor summer, probably third-worst in recent years behind 2012 and 2007.

April, September and November (relative to November norms) were probably the best months of 2021.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Summer8906

[78/79]

20 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Is that the case? These days, spring seems to be by far the most settled and sunny season, though admittedly April is the most reliable month. Summer, by contrast, has been a disappointment most years since 2007; autumn tends to be either cloudy and nondescript, or wet and stormy; and winter is generally mild, nondescript, and sometimes very dull and wet.

Must admit it certainly doesn't seem like it sometimes, I suppose my expectations might be a tad high after freezing my b.....cks  off all winter working outside.  Just get sick and tired of  being wet, and cold by the time March comes along.

[Sunny76]

9 minutes ago, 78/79 said:

Must admit it certainly doesn't seem like it sometimes, I suppose my expectations might be a tad high after freezing my b.....cks  off all winter working outside.  Just get sick and tired of  being wet, and cold by the time March comes along.

Same here.

I appreciated the colder periods this winter, but I’m not sick to the back teeth of it.

I can’t wait until we start reaching 20-25c in April or May. I hate feeling cold, and even today it was freezing in that wind.

[Downburst]

May as well bark at the moon, or the weatherman if you prefer, as debate good or bad feelings about this month. It’s simply a transition month and always will be an interface between winter and early spring. I don’t mind it at all to honest given I have no other expectations. Then again some expect the coldest in hundreds of years and others expect summer, and of course England now has a Mediterranean climate  so one should expect clear blue sky and some heat in the bones, hotter than “name somewhere less warm” kind of science

[Sunny76]

13 minutes ago, Downburst said:

May as well bark at the moon, or the weatherman if you prefer, as debate good or bad feelings about this month. It’s simply a transition month and always will be an interface between winter and early spring. I don’t mind it at all to honest given I have no other expectations. Then again some expect the coldest in hundreds of years and others expect summer, and of course England now has a Mediterranean climate  so one should expect clear blue sky and some heat in the bones, hotter than “name somewhere less warm” kind of science

Yeah I see what you mean about March. There’s still that lingering feeling of winter with the evenings still dark after 7pm. The real change and mood shifts once we head into the last weekend of March and early part of April. 
 

Still about 2 weeks away from that feeling of real spring. Even April can feel sometimes cool or cold. 

[markyo]

37 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I hate feeling cold, and even today it was freezing in that wind.

I honestly find it fascinating, how we all feel and perceive weather, how it can change your mood and well being. How we all feel so differently, i love feeling cold in a freezing wind, would take that over a hot summers day any time, just feel alive. You are the opposite, same feelings i bet but different conditions....totally different!.  Thankfully we are all different, that's what makes us unique.

[Sun Chaser]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

what was wrong with 2015? i thought it was decent 

May was miserable, up there with 2013 and 2021 in terms of persistent coolness and the dullest in recent memory by far.

June was decent; quite sunny (similar sunshine levels to June 2022) but a little on the cool side. Not particularly memorable but the only okay part of that summer

July was the coolest in my entire life bar 2012.

I think down in Plymouth we got the worst deal in the entire country for August as the entire month was miserable, more so than 2014, never left the high teens. August 2015 was the dullest summer month of my lifetime except June 2012.

The one redeeming interesting weather event, the heat spike on 1 July 2015, we definitely missed out as we got a maximum of only 23.6C down here as well. Perhaps up country 2015 was better but for the west it was truly grim. In fact we had only one day that reached above 25C that entire summer, and not one month had an average maximum above 20C!! At least April was lovely until the final week and September was sunny. Nothing else good stands out from that year, probably my least favourite following the weather.

Thankfully every year since then has at least provided us with at least a short period of weather to enjoy 

Edited March 15, 2023 by plymsunshine