Spring 2023 - Moans, Ramps & Chat

[stainesbloke]

Some interesting cloudscapes here today. After a lovely sunny but chilly morning, some beefy wet snow and hail showers swept through at various points during the afternoon, accompanied by gusty winds. 

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, markyo said:

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.

Yeah, my ideal feeling is a light breeze, but nothing too windy with clear blue skies and 25-27c. Granted it would feel very hot and uncomfortable for you, but this is where I can actually feel comfortable enough without having my knuckles turn blue.

That being said, a 21-23 day with light winds or no wind at tall is pleasant enough, but add on the breeze at the coast and those low 20s temps are still on the chilly side for me.

Once we hit 29-30c I start to feel the heat and even by then I can find it too hot at times, especially if it turns humid. 
 

I tend to enjoy a breeze and some cool weather following a hot spell or thunderstorm in summer.

2018 was kind of like that during the summer. We had several weeks of consistently hot weather, then we had a couple of weekends dotted about in July where the temps went from high 20s to barely hitting 20c and the drop was notable. People were back wearing light jackets, but most people including myself did enjoy the cooler interlude.

We didn’t really get that last summer until the thunderstorms rolled in from the 24th August or so.

[al78]

This March seems to be in competition with the government and the transport network for the most unpleasant aspect of the UK at the moment. I book rail tickets a month ago, there is disruptive weather on the day I am due to travel resulting in a line closure. I end up driving as it is too much hassle to try and negotiate failed public transport, and lose £86 as a result because the fare is non refundable. Who'd have thought at the end of January that the worst weather of the winter would be in the middle of March. Six hours and 15 minutes to do a five hour journey coming home again on Monday in mostly intermittent rain. Almost up to the monthly average rainfall for March in SE England despite only being half way through the month. I am not surprised there is a mental health crisis in this country.

[Severe Blizzard]

7 minutes ago, al78 said:

This March seems to be in competition with the government and the transport network for the most unpleasant aspect of the UK at the moment. I book rail tickets a month ago, there is disruptive weather on the day I am due to travel resulting in a line closure. I end up driving as it is too much hassle to try and negotiate failed public transport, and lose £86 as a result because the fare is non refundable. Who'd have thought at the end of January that the worst weather of the winter would be in the middle of March. Six hours and 15 minutes to do a five hour journey coming home again on Monday in mostly intermittent rain. Almost up to the monthly average rainfall for March in SE England despite only being half way through the month. I am not surprised there is a mental health crisis in this country.

Well said and my sentiments exactly.

Add job insecurity and low morale in the workplace, grumpy customers in-yer-face whinging and whining barking orders, personal issues with council flat refits and contractors not communicating along with bereavement to deal with. 2023 not got off to a good start. Lack of sunshine definitely not helping and holiday uncertainty as rail strikes typically scheduled to coincide with dates of the much needed holiday (no other transport available). More tedious waiting and not knowing until it is probably too late. At least the incessant rain of the last week now has bigger time gaps between fronts allowing chance to get out on the bike. Lovely ride last night, although cold, made things feel better for a time. Exercise really helps. With the exception of the bit of snow on Wednesday 8th, I agree that this month has been simply terrible and could eclipse other 'difficult' periods like the start of 2015 and autumn 2019, especially November.    

[Dark Horse]

3 hours 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

Most of September can be like March but in the opposite way. It still feels warm and summery and the leaves still aren't turning, the last week of the month usually heralds the change as you start to see subtle colour changes and temps start to fall away both day and night. By the 2nd week of October it's pretty much the start of full-blown Autumn.

[markyo]

It is becoming very clear now we need a very wet Spring, certain Southern and Eastern areas will be in drought conditions by May if not, worrying times

[Nick L]

March has to be one of my least favourite months of the year. You get all geared up thinking it's going to be pleasant but in reality it's just a lighter November. 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

16 minutes ago, Nick L said:

March has to be one of my least favourite months of the year. You get all geared up thinking it's going to be pleasant but in reality it's just a lighter November. 

Even worse, not looking forward to dark mornings 6am again from 26th

[Nick L]

2 minutes ago, I remember Atlantic 252 said:

Even worse, not looking forward to dark mornings 6am again from 26th

Definitely not worse in terms of light levels. There are the best part of an extra 4 hours of daylight end of March vs end of November.

[BlueHedgehog074]

I can kinda understand needing the wet weather at the moment, but already getting pretty fed up of it. The snow last week was nice, mind, but a few mild, sunny, days would just be great right now. If there was a guarantee, however, April this year was a brighter, less unsettled (or drier) month, I could perhaps put up with with the next 2 weeks bringing further damp conditions. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by DiagonalRedLine
Replacing 2 days with 2 weeks (typo)

[sunny_vale]

Conditions do look pretty wet and a bit on the windy side, but a bit more sun about than last week at least, and mid-teens for some! Will feel very spring like in sheltered areas  First morning I didn't take my big coat in to work since October I think! Felt very mild and humid. 

[Earthshine]

Exeter has been abysmally grey recently.  I read somewhere that 13 of the last 15 days have recorded 0 hours of sunshine.

[al78]

The irony of worrying about drought conditions in the UK when there were around 100 flood alerts across the UK recently. Are the water companies managing to save some of this water?

[johncam]

Looking mostly cloudy for the foreseeable up here , booked a wee holiday in Lanzarote leaving the 25th , need some vit D

[Nick L]

4 minutes ago, johncam said:

Looking mostly cloudy for the foreseeable up here , booked a wee holiday in Lanzarote leaving the 25th , need some vit D

Just got back from a cruise around the Canary Islands + Madeira, weather was fantastic. Slightly sun burned though! I think I need to make an early spring sunny getaway a regular thing.

[LetItSnow!]

It’s interesting reading it being so dull because I haven’t really noticed it and I’m usually one to notice when a month has been dull. I’m gonna be honest, I’ve not found March 2023 a struggle that much. I think I’m just accepting that this time of year often brings trying conditions. I am thankful for the rain after a very dry February and hope the spring continues being very wet. Wet springs usually bring quite a lot of showery, thundery weather, so that’s something a lot of people could enjoy. I do enjoy calming days of frontal rain and grey skies, I cherish them just as much as sunny days. In my opinion, we haven’t recovered just quite enough to be wanting overly dry conditions to be honest. I’d honestly take a wet summer and a wet year. I’ve noticed that in previous times we’d go through 2-5 years of wet weather then 2-5 of dry weather but since 2012 we’ve mainly seen above average rainfall and dry periods often short and followed by wet weather. 2022 was the first properly dry we had since 2011… I’m wondering if this is the start of a couple years of dry weather or whether we’ll just go back to generally wet conditions. I’ll be interested to see how 2023 pans out. 

[johncam]

5 minutes ago, Nick L said:

Just got back from a cruise around the Canary Islands + Madeira, weather was fantastic. Slightly sun burned though! I think I need to make an early spring sunny getaway a regular thing.

Been going late November and March to canaries for a good few years now, can't beat it for a pre and post  winter boost  

[Downburst]

You know it's proper spring when you can put out washing and have that exciting feeling of getting away with it when you take them back in. I write this as I have another load in the tumble dryer. April can be great for the odd dry northerly air with a the chance of the odd shower, sometimes hail. All part of the fun.

[Sun Chaser]

For me this month has been quite trying but not on the level of May 2021/2015 or June/July 2012. It's so early in the season that I don't mind losing this part to poor weather as much as I know things can switch at any time and we could get a lovely spell in April or May instead.

We've had less than 20 hours of sunshine this month so far which is pretty miserable but it's not too noticeable, it just feels like a standard February and that we haven't left winter yet, which is a mindset that helps I guess. It also comes on the back of a sunny and dry February which was good for my mental health, and tbh I'm now just thinking about getting this wet weather out of the way and looking forward to something better. Optimism is the way!

[ANYWEATHER]

3 hours ago, markyo said:

It is becoming very clear now we need a very wet Spring, certain Southern and Eastern areas will be in drought conditions by May if not, worrying times

It’s coming matey it’s coming

[ANYWEATHER]

3 minutes ago, ANYWEATHER said:

It’s coming matey it’s coming

I only want the rain at night though!!!!

[SunSean]

Bored of seeing people moaning about "drought conditions" after having a wet September, soaking November, half of January & December being wet & March currently super wet. The perfect month would be 20-25 dry and mostly sunny days with 5-10 days where it rains or thunders (mostly at night) but people are actually wanting entire months to be soaking wet throughout?? So what that last year we had most of the 1st half of the year dry. Before that, from May to December 2021, 6 out of those 8 months had over 50mm rainfall and 3 over 80mm. Dread to think what the "its a drought" guys would have thought if they lived through June 75 to August 76 with only 2 months out of 15 recording over 40mm lol. Bring on the dry sunny days!

[Summer8906]

On 15/03/2023 at 00:19, Sunny76 said:

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

Ah ok, that's not nearly so bad!

I think that's my feeling too, an average, changeable but sometimes warm and sunny April perhaps with some late snow. However I do have a gut feeling for a warm and thundery May with frequent E winds, perhaps because of similarity in Jan/Feb with some other years which had that, i.e. 1993, 1998 and 2008.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Summer8906

[markyo]

4 minutes ago, SunSean said:

Dread to think what the "its a drought" guys would have thought if they lived through June 75 to August 76 with only 2 months out of 15 recording over 40mm

I did, i was stood at the road side waiting to collect water from a stand pipe. Trust me not flushing the toilet everytime on a hot day can result in a lovely fragrance.......

[Nick L]

11 minutes ago, SunSean said:

Bored of seeing people moaning about "drought conditions" after having a wet September, soaking November, half of January & December being wet & March currently super wet. The perfect month would be 20-25 dry and mostly sunny days with 5-10 days where it rains or thunders (mostly at night) but people are actually wanting entire months to be soaking wet throughout?? So what that last year we had most of the 1st half of the year dry. Before that, from May to December 2021, 6 out of those 8 months had over 50mm rainfall and 3 over 80mm. Dread to think what the "its a drought" guys would have thought if they lived through June 75 to August 76 with only 2 months out of 15 recording over 40mm lol. Bring on the dry sunny days!

I don't think anyone is "moaning" about it? We have had a significant rainfall deficit over the last years despite a couple of very wet months thrown in. it's simply a matter of fact rather than moaning. The situation has eased over recent months but a dry spring would bring us close to some real problems in the summer. Like it or not, we do need continued regular rainfall before the warmer months arrive.

But the main cause of this is a lack of investment in our water infrastructure, I refuse to accept that we should constantly be at the edge of water shortages in a country that receives so much rainfall!

Edited March 16, 2023 by Nick L