Moans, ramps and banter

[Frigid]

  @raz.org.rain

56 minutes ago, raz.org.rain said:

winter isn't over until March has passed for me. Even if it's ludicrously mild t-shirt weather, I still call it winter as the risk of winter weather will always be around the corner until spring has properly set in.

Tbf we still get cold weather in May.. think 2021, 2020, 2019, 2013 etc. May 2020 had a potent northerly with -10C uppers in Scotland, many forget this due to the warmth a week later. 

[SunnyG]

  @marky810 Sincere commiserations, but here it looks like it's gonna be decent enough for the foreseeable

[raz.org.rain]

  @Frigid many forget that most months of the year pose the risk of wintry weather, and it's not unheard of for them to deliver. It just so happens that in the dead of winter, when you want the cold weather to deliver, it's nowhere in sight. Instead we get an extended autumn and get to look forward to the prospect of winter arriving between March and June instead when we want it to be unilaterally spring-like. I wouldn't say that warm weather fans get it easy in this county, much like cold weather fans don't.

 

I'd much prefer a more well defined continental climate where we'd have a clearer idea of what to expect. By the sounds of things that could very well happen under a theoretical AMOC collapse, but that likely won't be happening this century and the cons massively outweigh the pros.

Edited January 29 by raz.org.rain

[SollyOlly]

  @CharlieBear9 Yes, exactly. I don't get the carping at folk who are just really enthusiastic about their hobby and preferences...why does that trigger others? Personally, I don't get caught up in the ramping and don't have enough knowledge to make really meaningful contributions to the model thread, but I don't feel the need to belittle those who do...

[Metwatch]

3 hours ago, raz.org.rain said:

winter isn't over until March has passed for me. Even if it's ludicrously mild t-shirt weather, I still call it winter as the risk of winter weather will always be around the corner until spring has properly set in.

Very true, winter is winter and even March can pack a punch a coldness. However by late winter early spring I tend to find easterlies are the coldest and northerlies are less cold on the surface as it has to combat the strengthening sun. Even early April 2021 despite incredible synoptics and quite cold airmass, it wasn't that cold on the surface. Some of the deepest snow events here have happened in late April, 1908 and 1981, but I feel those freak events, similar with early June 1975 is just not possible in today's climate.

In the context of this winter which will now very likely be a mild one, the best way to describe said mild winters is like a chilly second half of autumn. October 1992 and November 2016 are good examples.

 

2 hours ago, Frigid said:

May 2020 had a potent northerly with -10C uppers in Scotland, many forget this due to the warmth a week later. 

As much as I remember the warmth and sunshine of that lovely month, the chilly snap is defintely underrated. Quite a few stations which have been recording for not too long got close to the coldest May temperatures they've seen.

Coleshill just outside B'ham coldest May temp so far was in 2020. Benson 0.1C away from May record set in 1996, and it's been recording since 1974. Few others I can see as well.

Edited January 29 by Metwatch

[cheese]

57mm so far in January here. 

What I find interesting though is that 41mm of that fell on just 3 days. That’s a nice contrast to December where it felt like we had small amounts of rain every day. 

[raz.org.rain]

Hmm, things are certainly looking very dire in the model outputs thread. I can't say I'm too excited over the thought of more rain through February... which, let's face it, is the inevitable outcome whenever mild is mentioned in winter.

Edited January 29 by raz.org.rain

[East Lancs Rain]

5 hours ago, StingJet said:

Lovely July / Aug 23 synoptics today   very wet & a nagging Nor'easter here
The only difference - temps .. Jul-23 18c feels like 14c,  Jan-24 7c feels like 3c 

Horrible day here too, heavy rain and very gloomy all day and high of about 6-7°C. About as grim as it gets. 

7 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Hear Hear! My sentiments exactly, which I imagine are amplified from your perspective as its even wetter and duller/cloudier in your part of the country...

Indeed. I’m finding it’s really starting to affect me now. Just so fed up of the constant rain and gloominess. It’s wet enough around here even with average rainfall, but since late September it’s just been so gloomy and wet. Four months of this now. Ever since  the clocks went back it felt like we were plunged into winter. November was close to average temperature wise but it felt like a cold month with temperatures in the single digits most days. In fact it was barely any warmer than the winter, And it was also a gloomy and wet month as well which didn’t help. This year the autumn and winter have kind of just seemed merge into one long cold, gloomy, wet period. Autumn 2019 and winter 2019/20 was like that with the cold and wet autumn and the very mild but very wet winter. Just six months of deluge conditions. ️

 

GavsWeatherVids (a weather channel I watch on YouTube said how it felt this winter was really dragging on, and I agree. Really hoping we get a warm and sunny March this year. March 2017 was a nice month. I don’t think we’ve had a better March since. I would be quite happy with a repeat of Spring 2017. Yes spring 2020 was better but March 2020 wasn’t as warm as March 2017. Spring 2017 had all three months above average, whereas March 2020 was only around average,

7 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Wouldnt mind that if it also delivery plenty of sunlight - which April 2021 definitely did! I actually really enjoyed that month on the whole.

Yes I would be quite happy with a repeat of April 2021 as despite being below average, it was much drier and sunnier than average. Sunshine and dryness is more important than temperature for me.

[Metwatch]

This month looks to be the first ever so slightly drier than average month in the England Wales region since June, took a while. Hopefully more drier months this year, 5 drier than average months would be a good benchmark after last year's deluge.

[ANYWEATHER]

3 hours ago, Metwatch said:

Some of the deepest snow events here have happened in late April, 1908 and 1981, but I feel those freak events, similar with early June 1975 is just not possible in today's climate.

Nothing is impossible with nature and weather ,when you think something is not possible it happens! Never say never, a lesson I've learned over the years

[raz.org.rain]

  @ANYWEATHER 35°c in February.

[Metwatch]

45 minutes ago, ANYWEATHER said:

when you think something is not possible it happens

That's mostly the case with excessive heat or rainfall records rather than cold or snowfall in this country now.

[marky810]

Still raining with a heavy burst now lashing against a northerly facing window. It hasn't stopped since 5am but the radar finally shows it could be gone in the next hour or so. No more rain now please for the next 10 days!

[Alderc 2.0]

First part of Feb looks decent, no cold and mostly dry, in fact gfs only has 1mm of rain across most of England in the first 10days of Feb. 

[raz.org.rain]

  @Alderc 2.0 I'd take that. Now, if only we could guarantee that the cold won't be making a comeback in March or April...

[raz.org.rain]

Windows weather update says "pollen tomorrow"??? 

[stainesbloke]

A beautiful few days here with lots of crisp winter sunshine and sharp frosts at night. A very acceptable spell of weather and thankfully a break from the rain. Though as often happens by the end of January, some of my joints are very sore and I’m beginning to crave warmer weather 

[East Lancs Rain]

13 hours ago, markyo said:

Seriously? Your quoting a month from nearly 14 years ago!!! Doesn't that prove how long it has been since a proper winters month?!!!

Nope, we’ve had plenty of wintery months since then, February and March 2013, February and March 2018, January 2021 and December 2022…
 

Today has been heavy rain all day and a NE flow. A very miserable day. Very similar to this day in July last year in the screenshot below, only about 10C colder. 

4 hours ago, SunnyG said:

Sincere commiserations, but here it looks like it's gonna be decent enough for the foreseeable

Doesn’t look great here, but a drier and brighter day (hopefully) on Tuesday and Thursday. Although considering how they forecast Sunday to be partly cloudy here and turned out to be fully overcast… I might not even get that.

 

1 hour ago, cheese said:

57mm so far in January here. 

What I find interesting though is that 41mm of that fell on just 3 days. That’s a nice contrast to December where it felt like we had small amounts of rain every day. 

122 mm here at the nearest weather station, and 26 mm of that fell today.. Amazing how much wetter East Lancashire is than Leeds, despite there only being around 30 miles or so between them. Amazing how the Pennines make so much difference over such a short distance. Honestly I wish the Pennines didn’t exist so my area would be drier and sunnier (Can’t someone just flatten them down?) Although it would mean Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear would be duller and wetter…

 

The damp climate was the reason East Lancashire had so many cotton mills. Because the damp air stopped the cotton thread from snapping. However, all of the cotton mills have long since closed down, but the rain hasn’t gone away, in fact, the annual rainfall has increased since the 1961-1990 period. The climate is still very wet, but the excessive rainfall is now useless. It’s also become a deprived area due to the mills closing and people being out of work. Lots of run down terraced housing, and some of the terraced houses are now even boarded up because they are so bad no one wants to live in them. Luckily I live in a nicer neighbourhood although there still isn’t much to do and of course the climate is still miserable. It wouldn’t be so bad if there was a nice coastal town 10 miles away, but the nearest coastal towns to me are Blackpool, Lytham and St Annes, which are around 50 miles away… Takes over 2 hours on the train.. Yorkshire even has a better train service than Lancashire, at least the Airedale line (Skipton to Leeds) has a fast and frequent service with modern electric trains, whereas my local line is only hourly and much slower, operated by a clapped out 2 coach 1980’s diesel train…  It certainly is grim oooop north, and I find the gloomy and wet weather depressing at times. Even in the summer sometimes the weather is depressing. But I am finding this winter particularly difficult. It’s been gloomy and wet since late September, other than a couple of cold, dry, brighter periods and if anything it feels like the climate is getting even worse.. About time everyone deserted this rain soaked cr*phole.

[raz.org.rain]

6 minutes ago, East Lancs Rain said:

Amazing how the Pennines make so much difference over such a short distance. Honestly I wish the Pennines didn’t exist so my area would be drier and sunnier (Can’t someone just flatten them down?) Although it would mean Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear would be duller and wetter

I'm not that far further south in the Cheshire plains and we always get very similar weather to the midlands and even the southeast sometimes 

[raz.org.rain]

Potential SSW scuppered yet again by the looks of things. It sounds like it's heading for eastern/central Europe... like I joked it would a few weeks back! 

[*Stormforce~beka*]

  @raz.org.rain Good!! I totally don't want one! Not now!!

[East Lancs Rain]

  @raz.org.rain Cheshire is one of the driest and warmest parts of NW England. You are shielded from the worst of the cloud and rain by the welsh mountains. On the other hand, the Lake District is the wettest and probably also the coldest, thanks to all those pesky mountains. I once went on a day trip walking in the Lake District in early October a few years ago and when I arrived it was very cold and cloudy. Felt like winter rather than October. Then it came on raining and rained for the rest of the day. Stopped off at a cafe and one of the cafe staff said “we’re sorry about the rain but it is the Lake District, so…” Got on the coach and the outside temperature indicator said 11°. A cold and wet day. ️

Back at home however, it had been dry and sunny all day… So the Lake District has an even worse climate than here.

 

Ambleside in the Lake District records a whopping 2100 mm of rain a year on the 1990-2020 averages! ️️️

Hard to imagine somewhere with an even wetter climate than here.

 

 

3 hours ago, marky810 said:

No more rain now please for the next 10 days!

It’s looking wet on some days this week, at least here anyway, though I suspect the rain will be mostly light and drizzly. Living in West Yorkshire, you might be slightly more sheltered by the Pennines than I am however.

[cheese]

  @East Lancs Rain it’s always interesting how effective the Pennines are at blocking precipitation even though they’re not particularly big. I dread to think how much rain we’d get without them! 

[January Snowstorm]

Having looked at the charts this morning it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Winter is over! Even the 240hrs leaves us in mild Southwesterlys. Of course I joke because something must have started in order for it to finish..

[HurricaneSteve]

ok, no sustained cold is showing but today for me, a max of 7c, and getting down to 2c tonight

can still manage some cold nights, even down in the south-west

But yeah, watch the "winter" synoptics arrive sometime in March or April now

A snow-fest for Easter perhaps