Sunshine level watch July 2023

[damianslaw]

There is a CET and rainfall thread, as well as a max temp thread, but as far as I can see no dedicated thread to sunshine levels.

Please can someone post where can view sunshine levels and report on how we are doing so far this month.

Here it has felt an incredibly dull first half to July. One of dullest in a long time...

[Weather-history]

42 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

There is a CET and rainfall thread, as well as a max temp thread, but as far as I can see no dedicated thread to sunshine levels.

Please can someone post where can view sunshine levels and report on how we are doing so far this month.

Here it has felt an incredibly dull first half to July. One of dullest in a long time...

I don't think it has been as bad as July 2020 up to now but I can only speak for my location but that was a shocker that first half (July 2020).

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Weather-history

[BruenSryan]

Both July 2020 and July 2021 here had less than 35 hours of sun up to the 13th in Dublin. July 2023 is significantly ahead of both with 63.3 hrs albeit that's still hardly great, just not as bad and 2021 got a very sunny spell soon after with a heatwave so got a huge boost and became the sunniest since 2013 here. 2023 will not be the same.

A good place to view sunshine (aside from SunSean's tables) is Roostweather: 

Starlings Roost Weather

STARLINGSROOST.DDNS.NET

 

Here's the latest to 14th.

[damianslaw]

5 hours ago, BruenSryan said:

Both July 2020 and July 2021 here had less than 35 hours of sun up to the 13th in Dublin. July 2023 is significantly ahead of both with 63.3 hrs albeit that's still hardly great, just not as bad and 2021 got a very sunny spell soon after with a heatwave so got a huge boost and became the sunniest since 2013 here. 2023 will not be the same.

A good place to view sunshine (aside from SunSean's tables) is Roostweather: 

Starlings Roost Weather

STARLINGSROOST.DDNS.NET

 

Here's the latest to 14th.

Thanks for this. Perhaps not quite as low as thought, but hardly great.

July 2020 was a poor month and dull.

 

[Terminal Moraine]

57.5 hrs here up to the 15th which is 75% of the average for the first half of July. Not in the same league as 2010 which recorded only 88.9 hrs in the whole month.

[SunSean]

July 1st-15th current sunshine levels per county-

[Maz]

9 minutes ago, SunSean said:

July 1st-15th current sunshine levels per county-

Thanks Sean.  I commented in May and June when you showed these that Shap being in the top handful would be an aberation that would not last.  It is 2nd dullest for July so far, which must be more normal.  The whole table is almost completely switched around from late May/ early June in fact.  July is a far more typical order I would think, although not exactly brilliant anywhere.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Maz

[reef]

Just passed 108 hours for July here so it is far better than July 2020 in which I recorded 97 hours all month.

The 1991-2020 average is exactly 200 hours for us, so we're still on course to hit that unless it turns really dull.

[damianslaw]

4 hours ago, Maz said:

Thanks Sean.  I commented in May and June when you showed these that Shap being in the top handful would be an aberation that would not last.  It is 2nd dullest for July so far, which must be more normal.  The whole table is almost completely switched around from late May/ early June in fact.  July is a far more typical order I would think, although not exactly brilliant anywhere.

Yes shows this July so far has been very westerly. Surprised Shap is beating Herefordshire mind. Shap though high, is quite inland and sheltered from westerlies and south westerlies, clouds often break over the eastern fells. Akas I suspect stations further west in Cumbria including here will be fairing less well. 

[reef]

16 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Yes shows this July so far has been very westerly. Surprised Shap is beating Herefordshire mind. Shap though high, is quite inland and sheltered from westerlies and south westerlies, clouds often break over the eastern fells. Akas I suspect stations further west in Cumbria including here will be fairing less well. 

This is why we have faired so well I think. In showery westerly or south-westerly flows we often remain mainly dry and have lots of sunshine thanks to shelter from The Pennines.

We've seen just 30.8mm of rain and 112 hours of sunshine so far this month and all but 4 days have surpassed 20C.

[MP-R]

87 hours up to the end of yesterday here, which puts it 

ahead of:

2020, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2010

behind:

2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2011

[Sun Chaser]

Very very dull. 67 hours so far, an average of 3.7 hours per day. If this continues we would finish at 115 hours which is atrocious for July, even 2012 managed 118 hours!

Hopefully a turn around in things soon. Suppose this is our climate paying us back for the sunniest June on record in these ends. 2023 really turning out to be a very fickle, up-and-down year!

[Summer8906]

3 hours ago, MP-R said:

87 hours up to the end of yesterday here, which puts it 

ahead of:

2020, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2010

behind:

2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2013, 2011

With the caveat I'm out of the country, I'm surprised it would be beating 2010 and 2016 which were half-decent, if rather cloudy, and even 2015 which had a decent first 11 days.

Even still 87 hours is pretty poor for this stage in the month.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Summer8906

[damianslaw]

5 hours ago, reef said:

This is why we have faired so well I think. In showery westerly or south-westerly flows we often remain mainly dry and have lots of sunshine thanks to shelter from The Pennines.

We've seen just 30.8mm of rain and 112 hours of sunshine so far this month and all but 4 days have surpassed 20C.

Expect the July anomaly maps will show increasingly below levels of sun from east to west, also above average rain further west you go, and the classic NW- SE divide temp wise. All quite normal compared to June.

Its lack of sun more than lack of warmth which is making this July a very poor one here so far.

Edited July 18, 2023 by damianslaw

[MP-R]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

With the caveat I'm out of the country, I'm surprised it would be beating 2010 and 2016 which were half-decent, if rather cloudy, and even 2015 which had a decent first 11 days.

Even still 87 hours is pretty poor for this stage in the month.

2010 and 2016 both suffered a similar issue of anticyclonic cloud in the first half. 2010 continued rather cloudy throughout whereas 2016 turned much sunnier. 2015 had sunny and full days strewn throughout the month here so each third was quite similar in totals.

As for this month, could be worse but should be up to minimum 100 hrs by half way.

[Scorcher]

Rostherne (Cheshire) is around the 80 hour mark after today. That's after 2 rather sunny days today and yesterday so it really has been very dull.

Sunshine hours as a whole don't always tell the whole story.

Months that have two or three very sunny days that boost the overall figure can appear to be 'less bad' on the stats.

What the overall figure doesn't show is the runs of days with barely any sun at all.

At Rostherne, the 8th recorded 13.4 hours which has inflated the overall figure. There were only 21 hours between the 10th and the 18th which is really pitiful at the height of summer.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Scorcher

[SunSean]

Tried to wait until all the data was caught up but unfortunately the station at Lancashire has had its data wiped back to zero and the station at Hertfordshire may have no staff to update the rest of the month as its a university station. We shall see if the data can be recovered!

As of now- July 1st-20th

[richie3846]

On 20/07/2023 at 22:52, Scorcher said:

Rostherne (Cheshire) is around the 80 hour mark after today. That's after 2 rather sunny days today and yesterday so it really has been very dull.

Sunshine hours as a whole don't always tell the whole story.

Months that have two or three very sunny days that boost the overall figure can appear to be 'less bad' on the stats.

What the overall figure doesn't show is the runs of days with barely any sun at all.

At Rostherne, the 8th recorded 13.4 hours which has inflated the overall figure. There were only 21 hours between the 10th and the 18th which is really pitiful at the height of summer.

Yes, I believe the months which have limited sun, with the sun spread out/more brightness and broken cloud, are much less grinding than those with those inflated days as you say. We've had around 100 hours of sun in this area so far this month, yet it has been tolerable and mostly pleasant, except a small number of grey washout days like today. Also from a growing perspective, crops appear to grow more productively with regular sun and brightness, even when below average, rather than the odd sunny day here and there with overcast days between.

I've always thought that the way we measure sunshine is rather limited, because it really doesn't represent how the day goes. When there's haze, or thin cloud, or cumulus with gaps, or overcast with thin or thick cloud, there's different amounts of light and energy coming arriving at ground level.

[SunSean]

1st-25th July 2023

[Catbrainz]

1 minute ago, SunSean said:

1st-25th July 2023

Awful sunshine figures. It seems a number of locations may finish July with double digit sunshine totals. Could pass for October sunshine totals

[reef]

We were doing well up until the 18th, but the last 8 days have seen only 25 hours of sunshine so its looking like a dull month now.

We're on 136 hours as it stands.

[richie3846]

31 minutes ago, SunSean said:

1st-25th July 2023

I've a raised eyebrow over the Lyneham figure. I noticed the numbers barely increased even on fine days. Something is awry imo. Brize Norton has increased in line with what I experienced in the local area, but Lyneham not.

[SunSean]

4 hours ago, richie3846 said:

I've a raised eyebrow over the Lyneham figure. I noticed the numbers barely increased even on fine days. Something is awry imo. Brize Norton has increased in line with what I experienced in the local area, but Lyneham not.

Could be. I ditched Herstmonceux and another station from West Yorkshire for anomalously low readings. I shall keep tabs on that one.

[dryfie]

Difficult to be sure of Scotland figures, as contender for highest UK mainland, Leuchars, has data missing end of month.  No daily totals available for 28th or 30th, with hourly reports also incomplete for these days.  Best estimates for 28th and 30th each 6 hours.

Monthly totals are Leuchars 177.6hrs (est) and Tiree 166.9hrs.

[SunSean]

Final sunshine table for July 2023-

Every station under 200 hours including Isle of Wight & East Sussex!

Lancashire failed to reach 100

Dull all round!