Moans, ramps and banter

[LetItSnow!]

 Summer8906 Good luck getting one of those in today's day and age lmao.

[Summer8906]

 LetItSnow! One can but wish. To be fair, the end of May / start of June 2023 was just like that. Sunny with moderate temps for much of the UK, and somewhat changeable in the Mediterranean.

Edited May 10 by Summer8906

[Don]

 Summer8906 Yes, no worries!

The second week of August 2020 was awful and the worst I've known for being oppressive!

[WYorksWeather]

1 hour ago, CryoraptorA303 said:

Ross-on-Wye got just as warm so none of that.

The people who write those comments under Met Office posts won't be inconvenienced by such trivial things as facts!

[richie3846]

The August 2020 spell was tough going yes, but people seem to have forgotten the second heatwave in 2022, in August also. It has probably been overshadowed by the 40c in July, even though the second heatwave was longer, higher humidity, no breeze, and generally more difficult to get through than the 40c blip. I even started to wonder if people were sensing the heatwaves through the hype and the numbers, rather than the reality of what was there. I work outside a lot, and people were going crazy, schools shut etc when it was 40c, yet the second heatwave was fairly long and really hot also, and now it's forgotten already. The second heatwave was crippling for work, but the 40c heatwave had a lovely dry breeze to help us cope. 

[Addicks Fan 1981]

 WYorksWeather currently listening to the tune to a particular summer that was ironically the curse of that particular summer and her record featuring jay z said it all about that particular summer.   Need we say what that infamous year was as it caused mass problems for insurance firms because people's homes were flooded out.   

[Metwatch]

What a perfect hazy sunset, at last!

Time to focus on the aurora now, perhaps the strongest solar storm since the early 2000s!

[Summer8906]

 Metwatch There is an aurora due tonight? Or next few days?

For me I've only ever seen two: 13 March 1989 (which was absolutely phenomenal) and then a less strong one in November 1991 on a Sunday night (a quick google would suggest this was on November 10th).

Strangely, just weeks before the 1989 spectacular, I had a vivid dream about seeing the aurora.

Edited May 10 by Summer8906

[Don]

 richie3846 I do indeed remember the heatwave in August 2022 and although I found it to be rather oppressive, it was far more comfortable than August 2020.  However, to be fair I was in a different part of the country then!

Edited May 10 by Don

[raz.org.rain]

Classic British warm evening. A strong smell of the nearest takeaway and for some reason petrichor.

[danm]

59 minutes ago, Don said:

Sounds like you don't need your sleep?

I’m fine if I have a fan on me. I’d bloody love a 2018 or 2022 repeat. 

[Don]

Definitely warmer this evening and certainly feels like summer!

 danm 2018 was ok for the most part ref to sleeping and 2022 wasn't too bad either.

[CryoraptorA303]

August 2022 definitely has its special place in hell but the raw discomfort of those two or three extremely hot days in July will always trump it imo. By the time that August heatwave happened the high temps had become somewhat normalised and it didn't quite have the same impact anymore, physically or emotionally. Of course I'd take an entire summer's worth of August 2022s over another August 2020, christ that was an absolutely miserable heatwave. Second to only July 2019 of course, that heatwave was Satan incarnate. I would genuinely suffer a consecutive week of Coningsbys over going through another July 25th 2019.

 danm Your house must cool down quite easily; by mid-August 2022 I was borderline going delirious from the poor sleep quality due to how much of a heat sink my house is.

2018 was admittedly not quite as bad overall but towards the end it definitely had its moments.

[Summer8906]

What was unusual about August 2020 was that it was introduced immediately behind an active warm front, so the air was very, very warm from the outset - no gradual heating up from near-normal temps.

Very high DP and humidity the whole time. The change from moderate rain to clear blue skies on Aug 6th was plain bizarre.

As it happened, the afternoon of Aug 6th was the best period of the whole spell. Most days after that were rather hazy with some mid-level cloud in addition to the heat and the humidity. Mon 10th and Tues 11th were better.

[CryoraptorA303]

 Summer8906 The whole heatwave was nothing short of disgusting, the only memories I have are being inundated with sweat and the sheer oppressiveness of it. Surely even heat lovers don't want heatwaves like that.

Edited May 10 by CryoraptorA303

[Don]

2 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

What was unusual about August 2020 was that it was introduced immediately behind an active warm front, so the air was very, very warm from the outset - no gradual heating up from near-normal temps.

Very high DP and humidity the whole time. The change from moderate rain to clear blue skies on Aug 6th was plain bizarre.

As it happened, the afternoon of Aug 6th was the best period of the whole spell. Most days after that were rather hazy with some mid-level cloud in addition to the heat and the humidity. Mon 10th and Tues 11th were better.

A rather peculiar month was August 2020.  The second half went on to be cool and unsettled/stormy at times.

[WYorksWeather]

Just posted the following GFS perturbation on the model thread. Goes without saying this is a highly unlikely outcome at this stage, but given the discussion of heatwaves above I thought it was worth sharing here!

[Don]

 WYorksWeather I wouldn't bet against it, even at that range!  

[danm]

8 minutes ago, CryoraptorA303 said:

Your house must cool down quite easily; by mid-August 2022 I was borderline going delirious from the poor sleep quality due to how much of a heat sink my house is.

No my house also stays very hot upstairs in a heatwave. I’m usually fine though as long as I have a strong fan on me. 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

going to suck if it gets say above 30, assholes opposite party at weekends, cannot have window open to sleep, hearing very acute

[richie3846]

 CryoraptorA303 before August 2020, I'd have said the combination of heat and humidity was impossible in the UK. I believed up until then, that to reach such high temperatures in the UK, it had to be arid. I was proved wrong. I came close to heatstroke through mild exertion at work, with no Aircon in my work van, and out all day working. I didn't get near that in 2022. 

I personally never want to experience another August 2020 heatwave.

[CryoraptorA303]

 WYorksWeather W00t, perhaps the May 30°C will happen after 12 years of hibernation? I really don't want to be waiting another month+ for a haircut, I doubt we'll get as lucky as we did last June to have temps spike so early in the month.

 richie3846 Wow that sounds horrific, my condolences. I was mostly just sitting in my room waiting for the heatwave to pass and I managed to still become absolutely drenched in sweat doing absolutely nothing. My fish tanks reached 32°C during that heatwave, to this day their record since 2017. Even in July and August 2022 they barely got above 30°C, the overnight temps during August 2020 were also staggeringly high and helped the fish tanks stay stupid hot.

I would like to banish August 2020 to the seventh circle of hell but unfortunately September 2023 was just as bad if not worse in terms of relative DP/humidity vs temperature (literally around 70% humidity at ~32°C here on Saturday 9th, incredibly oppressive conditions), plus July 2019 was also disgustingly humid for the temperatures being reached, so it seems these humidwaves are becoming exponentially more common.

[danm]

 richie3846 I always say August 2020 is the most oppressive UK heatwave I’ve experienced, because it featured 6 consecutive days above 33c here in London, with four of those six days above 35c:

 

Pretty exceptional. Add in a 28.4c and a 29.7c either side and it was a really hot 8 or 9 days. 

[CryoraptorA303]

 danm And that doesn't even mention the absolutely rancid humidity throughout. That heatwave must've set the highest humidexes ever recorded in the UK.

[MP-R]

 richie3846 I actually recorded my joint lowest ever humidity reading during that August heatwave. July’s blip was much more humid.

June 2018 was the other occasion.

Edited May 10 by MP-R