Moans, ramps and banter

[danm]

28 minutes ago, CryoraptorA303 said:

I think I'd rather live through a combination of 1976, 2022 and 2003 than that dung heap of a summer again. Incredibly humid and warm to hot, ew.

2019 is one of those Summers I view as underrated. The only really poor spell was early June. You're right, it was quite humid but it was often warm, sometimes hot and there were decent amounts of sunshine. 

[Bristawl Si]

 richie3846 agreed. Councils just cant wait to get on the 'Rush to Green'.

[SizzlingHeat]

I am very fortunate to be able to work from my laptop anywhere in the world and I am seriously considering booking an 8-10 week Airbnb stay down in the canaries, returning only if/when this disgusting weather pattern changes. 

[Summer8906]

 raz.org.rain Mind you Azores low and continental high would not be SWlies - it would presumably be SElies.

21 minutes ago, danm said:

2019 is one of those Summers I view as underrated. The only really poor spell was early June. You're right, it was quite humid but it was often warm, sometimes hot and there were decent amounts of sunshine. 

The middle two weeks of August (4th-18th) were also pretty rubbish here: cool, unsettled, breezy and damp, though apparently it wasn't so bad further east. The last few days of August, from the 27th-31st, were once again unsettled.

Also, while I was out of the country in June, it was apparently cool, dull and wet for the majority of the month, except the last few days - bit like May 2021 perhaps?

Even July, while dry and on the warm side, was pretty cloudy, IIRC.

So not a great summer, though better than 2021 or 2023.

Edited April 26 by Summer8906

[danm]

2 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

he middle two weeks of August were also pretty rubbish: cool, unsettled, breezy and damp, though apparently it wasn't so bad further east.

There was a wetter spell in the middle but that August started warm and ended hot. 

[CryoraptorA303]

 danm That's the problem, the high temps combined with the insane humidity made it disgusting to live through.

[B87]

At least it remained warm in the shade, even during any breeze. That is a minimum requirement for May-Sep. If you have to stand in direct sunlight for it to feel warm, then it's not warm.

[Summer8906]

 CryoraptorA303 For me it was really only that short extreme spell in July that was especially humid and even then, down here the temps were moderate as they always are in a southerly due to an onshore breeze.

The week in August was unseasonably hot but perhaps because it was so late in the summer it didn't feel so very hot, due to the weaker sun perhaps.

Aside from that, most of August was cool and breezy here. The first 3 days had a half-hearted warmish spell of around 24C, there was then the hot week or so leading up to the 26th - aside from that unsettled, Atlantic-driven, and cool by day.

It was a pretty drab summer to live through for me too (or at least the bits when I was in the UK) but for other reasons!

Edited April 26 by Summer8906

[Weather Enthusiast91]

 Alderc 2.0 I despise those e-scotters and more so many of the people who ride them (excluding those who are considerate). 

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Edited April 26 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Summer8906]

 B87 Sadly that was August 2019 for me. A nagging onshore breeze which was difficult to escape...

[LetItSnow!]

To me, summer 2019 was pathetic as it was a summer that couldn’t seem to fully achieve being really poor or really good. I’d have far preferred the novelty of the entire summer panning out like the first half of June because while miserable it would have been interesting to me. The heat spike was detestable and as commented before, it seemed humid and nasty a lot of the time. I have the same issue with summer 2020. Two irritating summers weather wise. I far preferred summer 2021 and summer 2022 because at least they had “conviction” in their weather patterns per se  

[B87]

 LetItSnow! Having the entire summer like the first half of June would have been catastrophic for the environment. Cool, wet and extremely dull throughout.

More like a mild October than a summer month.

 

[danm]

July 2019 had an average max of 25.5c and August was 25.3c in London. July had about average sunshine (slightly above for the SW), August was sunnier than average. 

The Summer had loads of days in that warm to very warm category (24-28c) and then 8 days above 30c. 

It was by no means a classic like 2018 and 2022, but was a very decent modern British Summer. Yes there were a couple of cooler and wetter spells, but we live in the UK, so that will happen in almost every Summer. 

Edited April 26 by danm

[B87]

 danm It was certainly far better than the cloudfests of 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021.

Summer 2019 was average for sunshine.

[Metwatch]

7 minutes ago, LetItSnow! said:

a summer that couldn’t seem to fully achieve being really poor or really good.

This describes the vast majority of british summers

[danm]

 B87 undoubtedly better than some other Summers. 

I’ve just gone back and looked at the records. July 2019 had 19 of the 31 days above 24c:

 

August was very similar, bar a brief cool and wet spell mid month:

 

[Summer8906]

 B87 I would probably rate 2016 better than 2019 overall, despite the truly and utterly dire June.

July 2016 was very dry (though cloudy) and August 2016 was probably the best August from 2006 to 2021 inclusive.

 danm Interesting August was so warm for you though this has come up before; I very clearly the cool, damp and unsettled Atlantic air arriving during the late afternoon on the 4th (following a reasonable first 3 days). Incredible that most of the following week was around 25 for you.

In coastal South Hampshire, around 19-20C was the norm from the 5th-18th, IIRC. Certainly it seemed to be constant Atlantic air and a nagging onshore breeze.

Edited April 26 by Summer8906

[danm]

 Summer8906 I suppose coastal Hampshire can be quite different to inland SE England, including London, at times. It's always cooler on the coast and if the wind is from the SW, you're always a little more likely to drag in some sea mist and low cloud from time to time. 

Edited April 26 by danm

[Summer8906]

 danm Indeed. There wasn't too much low stratus cloud or mist IIRC (it wasn't Tm, but rPm) but, as is typical for many or even most summers in the past 10 years there was a constant onshore (hence cool) breeze and extensive areas of "dishwater" low-based cumulus.

I don't remember any heavy rain events but I think there were frequent light showers and occasional light to moderate frontal rainfall in this period. Main thing I remember was the cool humid air and nagging breeze.

Previous unsettled summers (before the past 10 years) seemed to have more in the way of straight W-ly or NW-ly winds, so no onshore wind here hence it wasn't so disproportionately cool and damp here compared to places further east.  There definitely seems to have been an exaggerated anomalous SW-ly in recent summers meaning this area is getting disproportionately poorer summers than London and East Anglia for example.

Contrast that to something like August 1987 which was OK in this part of the world, with frequent NW-lies.

Edited April 26 by Summer8906

[baddie]

 SunSean Wasnt April 2012 worse. Much colder and a complete washout, at least we had a few nicer days this month (E.g Storm Kathleen, 11th-14th, 20th/21st and Today). April 2018 was also horrific outside of that hot spell mid-month

[Summer8906]

 baddie I'd say 2012 was worse but 2018 about the same.

2018, like this year, had about one week of decent weather (16th-21st in 2018, 15th-21st this year) with a few scattered decent days elsewhere. Strangely, the "good" week was Week 3 in both cases. Obviously the 2018 version was much warmer but both provided some much needed sunshine in an otherwise gloomy month.

What Spring 2024 has completely lacked so far is a proper anticyclonic spell. From memory, the last such spring completely devoid of any meaningful settled spell was 1994. Will May provide one, I wonder?

Edited April 26 by Summer8906

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Spring looks like starting around 1st May, maybe last day of April for SE

[SunnyG]

 I remember Atlantic 252 Tbf today wasn't bad either. Sunny spells and warming up. And no wind. Unfortunately in London as soon as the weather is remotely nice, we get the blight of builders and the curse of scaffolders. I don't think there's another country as obsessed with building and renovations as ours.

Edited April 26 by SunnyG

[danm]

 SunnyG today has been surprisingly very nice. Lot's of sunshine all day. 

[B87]

 baddie The difference being that spring 2012 had a mostly settled and sunny March and 2nd half of May. 2024 hasn't had more than 1 or 2 settled days at a time.

 danm Today has seen just over 6 hours of sun here, which makes it the 5th sunniest day of the month. Shows how gloomy it has been when the typical April would be averaging about 6 hours of sun a day.

The last 10 hour day was 14th September.