SE, London and East Anglia Weather Discussion - Dec 2023 on

[Stroudley]

14.8C and 71% humidity at 21:30. 

What a contrast to just a few days ago. 

[Neilsouth]

[Harry's House]

Frequent lightning in my SE quadrant

[SenlacJack]

Lightning now here in St Leonards on Sea

[Neilsouth]

Lightning way way off to the south...

Wind picking up

[alexisj9]

lol its missing to my east north south and west of me, not that thanet has been hit.

[Damp and dreary]

 alexisj9 No where has been hit with it yet! It is in the channel but none have made land yet. i can see constant lightning out to sea but if anything i think it is dying off as it approaches. Time will tell

Edited May 1 by Damp and dreary
bad spelling!

[Summer tyre]

Lots of people on this thread right now

 

[Eagle Eye]

New storm moving more Ashford way. No idea where to photograph. 

[Neilsouth]

Lightning everywhere around me haha

[Harry's House]

Faint distant thunder to W or WSW. I think the breeze has drowned out some of the thunder considering the frequency and brightness of the lightning. Still no rain here yet.

[This Moody Sky]

Rumbling away up here

[DJ Fart]

Very distant rumblings here in North Essex but did just see a flash of lightning to the south. 

[lassie23]

Got thunder and lightning without any rain

[Tom Montalbano]

 lassie23

Good Morning all,

I hope I find yourselves and your Families, well.

Long time, no post on the S.E. Thread.

Yes Lassie, this Brontophobe was rudely woken up at precisely 2.10 A.M., by quite a loud crack of Thunder.

It was one of those, "what woke me up moments?" I'm guessing it was a bright flash of lightning, that came before.

There were a few more rumbles of Thunder, before this first Thundery Shower moved away.

But a little while later, a more active cell could be heard,

No doubt associated with these impressive looking 'fellas, in the Radar image below: 

Although the Thunder wasn't loud, the frequency of the grumbling was notable.

Being still on the nervous side regarding Lightning/Thunder and having done a lot of researching regarding the time these events are most likely to occur, I now know that once we get close to Dawn, the likelihood of Lightning/Thunder, diminish greatly.

I've noticed this is certainly the case, in our Region.

Between 6 and 9 A,M., is the least likely time to experience Lightning/Thunder.

By this time, any French imports are starting to lose their "oomph" and the Sun hasn't had time to heat the atmosphere enough, to trigger the develipoement of further Thundery activity.

Many Years ago, I remember a few Thunder events as April transitioned into May.

I've also noticed that we've had quite a bit of Thunder in May, in recent Years but fortunately for Brontophobic me, virtually no Lightning/Thunder, during the following Summers.

As the clock ticks towards 6, I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

P.S. , with regard to my comment above.

Despite another loud rumble of Thunder 15 minutes ago, the Meteox Radar link below, shows that diminishing intensity of Ppn after 6 A.M.

Rain radar & weather forecast | Meteoradar

Regards,

Tom M. 

Edited May 2 by Tom Montalbano

[Lauren]

And that was a bust for me. Saw some flashes and rumbles but it went either side of me by quite a margin

[Summer tyre]

I feel quite sorry for brontophobes; I love storm watching and have never felt scared at all. It's an exhilarating experience.

[Tom Montalbano]

 Summer tyre 

Hi St.

Yes, I feel quite unique in a way.

My hobby has been Meteorology for nigh on 60 Years, of my 68 Years on this Planet.

I wish I could fully appreciate the majesty of a Cumulonimbus cloud but I can only look at one, if I know it's going to miss my location or I'm certain it's moving away after affecting my location.

This Phobia started way back in June 1966, my Mother had been taken into Hospital early to give birth to my youngest Sister. As I was much closer to my Mum than my Dad and was worried about my Mum's condition, the appearance of a violent T/Storm which began at Midnight and was still rumbling away at 6 A.M., was the catalyst for the start of my Brontophobia.

I remember our local Newspaper at the time [Bromley and Kentish Times], reported that 3 T/Storms converged on Bromley that Night. Sounds very much like I had experienced a M.C.S.

I actually started to have Counselling back in the 1980's, so severe was my continuing Brontophobia.

But unfortunately my Counsellor discussed my personal information with the Receptionist, at the G.P. Practice where I was receiving the Counselling. This breach of confidence prompted me to end the Counselling sessions, straight away.

One thing that the Counsellor did try to get me to do, was to break the chain of cognitive behaviour leading up to a spell of Thundery Weather. She suggested I stopped viewing Weather Forecasts and reading about the chances of experiencing a Thundery spell. Of course, that is easier said than done when your hobby is Meteorology and you're a Member, of a Weather Forum.

One thing that my Counsellor did tell me, that I totally agree with is that having lived with a lot of stress and trauma due to having a serious illness in my Family, I've been implanting my fears on to something more tangible such as Lightning/Thunder, than coping with the mental trauma a serious illness can have on your psyche. My first Wife passed away after inheriting Huntingdon's Disease from her Father and sadly our two children inherited the HD gene from their Mum, from which our Son sadly passed away as a result of HD, back in late February 2021.

Both my Wife and myself were woken by this Morning's event at just after 2 A.M., and all those fears came back to haunt me again.

As I commented to my Wife earlier, having been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer a Week before Christmas 2023, that cycle of implanting my fears on to something more tangible, still continues.

Regards,

Tom M.  

Edited May 2 by Tom Montalbano

[Jimmyh]

It's really stupidly humid here next to the bridge. I have just walked down to vote and walked back and the air is really clammy

[Reefseeker]

I woke up at 3am to quite distant thunder to the south/south east and south west of here, which was nice as the rumbles and flashes of lightning were quite gentle but I still got to enjoy it all. It sounds like this was quite a storm covering multiple locations, although that early direction of travel almost direct west from around Ostend last night was so strange to watch on the radar. Grey skies this morning and still humid.

Edited May 2 by Reefseeker

[Uxbridge90]

Like others, was woken up at around 3/4am with plenty of fireworks and thunder. Grey and miserable now, yuck. Let's get onto some proper high-pressure weather and kick-start Spring/Summer! 

[claret047]

 Tom Montalbano 

Hello Tom. I am truly sorry to hear of your current medical condition and wish you all the best and a complete recovery.

[lassie23]

 Tom Montalbano It ended up hissing down with loads of thunder and lightning here but after half an hour of listening to the storm, I ended up falling asleep.

[Summer tyre]

Hi @Tom Montalbano

Thank you for your interesting and heartfelt posting. I think your counsellor may well be quite right. I have a list-making approach to these free floating anxieties, and it starts with asking what the worst thing is that could happen? Once you have understood what that may be, you develop a coping strategy for it. I do recognise that you have had some awful times, but many people have told me that they find it a valuable approach to phobias and anxieties.

Edited May 2 by Summer tyre

[Emz by the Thames]

Some fantastic strobe lightning as dawn broke today! It was the first time hearing thunder at night in my new place and woah, the noise hit different.  We're on a flood plain now (I know, I know) and its very flat and very dark here where as I'm used to watching storms from an urban valley with lots of motorway noise and light pollution. Definitely scarier here!

On a pedantic note, on my old P.C, my Met Office nearest location is still set to my old address in High Wycombe. It lists the nearest location as Wycombe Summit Ski Centre.... which burned down almost 20 years ago!  They need to update the listing!