Moans, ramps and banter

[cheese]

 Catbrainz it’s February so people just automatically assume it’s cold. 

[TheOgre]

 baddie  I’d quite happily have dross until the equinox if it means we could have an April and May 2020 repeat. We’re certainly due a lengthy drier spell.

Anyway, what is it with these mild dull and ultra boggy Februaries we’ve been having in this decade? 2020, 2022 and now 2024! I used to think January was the Atlantic wet dank one and February was the start of the “dry(ish) season”. The 2020s have reversed that so far!

[tom_f123]

Truly disgusting ‘winter’ weather

[Summer8906]

On 16/02/2024 at 23:27, WYorksWeather said:

What I could really do without is too many days going well into the 30s, or night time temperatures above around 15C or so

My guess is the former probably won't happen, but the latter will.

We do seem to get many days in the summer now with maxima around 19C and minima around 15C (in the south, at least) due to the constant damp Atlantic feed from the southwest.

The big difference now compared to unsettled 80s summers is that the latter had more NW-lies, hence cool nights as well as days.

Edited February 19 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

15 hours ago, raz.org.rain said:

God I hope so, we need a good warm and dry spell to compensate for this appalling excuse of a winter.

Looking at how the mildness of this month has disrupted nature, what we arguably need is a a good cold and dry spell!

A March with mean min around freezing and mean max in the high single digits would be just right, along with 150% of the normal sunshine and 20% of the normal rainfall.

Edited February 19 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

 MP-R Wetter than March 2023 then? Beginning to wonder on those charts!

9 wet months on the trot would truly be unprecedented, when did that happen last? 1960/61?

Bet on the next dry month?

Being extremely cynical, I'll go with November. Dry but also boring; mild (2C above average) and dull (50% average sunshine).

 

Edited February 19 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

 Summer8906 I really hope not!

At worst I could take a 2019 or 2020 which at least turned settled and sunny by the equinox.

[reef]

Another day where it was supposed to be sunny all day, but by half 11 its completely cloudy. Just what does it take to get a clear day in this country?

[baddie]

 TheOgre Knowing our luck so far, probably a March 2023 then April/May 1983 and June 2012

 reef I kind of want Feb 2024 to be very dull, so it can offset a very sunny March

[Atmogenic]

lovely day yesterday, was at the beach but further inland I was able for the first time to take off my winter coat and sit in the sun (with a wind break ) which had some warmth to it finally.

[baddie]

 Summer8906 I think May now. Looking like March might still be dry but not completely settled, and perhaps some unsettled weather in parts of April (Maybe a warmer and slightly drier version of 2023). Hoping we see May 2023s synoptics in March (Looking like an unsettled first third), to see what good sunshine we could get

Edited February 19 by baddie

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 BlueSkies_do_I_see

Some people do that at any time of year, "wild swimming" and "'cold weather swimming" is a thing now. There's clubs for it too. I did it in Finland in February some years back. Cold was an understatement, but the coldness is kind of the point (health benefits etc) because then you go to the sauna after  

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 reef Special sacrifices to the weather gods of 12 sheep, 11 goats, and 6 willing human volunteers. 

I'm struggling to find the human participants at present. 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Blue tits in the garden already...the mildness has definitely created some fauna problems!

[Rain All Night]

 Summer8906 Are we actually in a notably long series of wetter than average months? I know it feels like it sometimes...

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 Rain All Night Yes! If you look at the stats most of the months in 2023 were at average or above average wetness for alot of the UK. And considering the UK is pretty wet as average, that means it's been rather wet indeed! 

Some 2023 months were in the top 5 wettest of all time for many regions of the country. March, October, November and December being standouts. July also very poor.

The only properly dry spells we have had in the last 12 months have been:

- Feb 2023

- The June 2023 warm and dry spell

- The Sept 2023 heatwave

- Jan 2024 cold and sunny spell 

Edited February 19 by In Absence of True Seasons

[Rain All Night]

 In Absence of True Seasons Has there been any particular skew towards an increase in the number of wet days compared to average vs. an increase in the amount of precipitation on wet days compared to average, or has it been a fairly balanced combination of both those things?

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Adding on to my prior comment, thought it was worth collating some of the Met Office rainfall maps from last year. Very telling. Some regional disparity of course, such as April which I've included because whilst it was a fairly standard month in alot of the UK, it was very wet in the SE where I live.

Edited February 19 by In Absence of True Seasons

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 Rain All Night good question tbh! I'm not quite sure on the specifics.

Certain months like March definitely had both. 

I remember talking about this before, but ultimately, alot of places have higher annual rainfall mm than the UK (excluding the very wet areas like the Lake District etc), but the UK's rainfall is spread out quite consistently which makes the climate far wetter to actually experience.

Having your rainfall condensed into 3 days of a month via heavy bursts and the rest of the days be sunny / dry, is very different to live in vs having your rainfall spread out over many days of a month via slow misty rain and persistent drizzle, regardless of whether it's the same total rainfall mm. 

My point is, rainfall days definitely matter. I'd actually say that personally, I'd rather have a month with above average rainfall mm if said rainfall was purely on just a few days of the month, than around average or even a bit below average rainfall if that rainfall was spread over most/all of the month via light rain and drizzle 

Edited February 19 by In Absence of True Seasons

[Metwatch]

23 minutes ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Having your rainfall condensed into 3 days of a month via heavy bursts and the rest of the days be sunny / dry

June 2023 was a perfect example of that with the strong t-storms on the 11th, 12th, 18th, and another burst of rain on the 20th, otherwise dry for most of the month for many, but some managed above average rainfall for the month, one of my favouite months as a result. Only issue was flash flooding on the 11th when it fell onto ground that didn't receive any rain for a few weeks.

Edited February 19 by Metwatch

[Downburst]

 In Absence of True Seasons Put a jumper on, if they are going blue it's too cold.

[baddie]

Ughhh what we need, more unsettled weather in March 2024. Please give us some sanity by the equinox, or preferably before

[raz.org.rain]

 baddie we're seeing more hints of a return of Azores highs tonight, so I guess we've got that going for us.

[HurricaneSteve]

 WYorksWeather I see blokes with shorts on in winter, even on the freezing days, when it hardly gets above freezing by day. I just assume they don't check themselves in the mirror before heading out.

Jacket up top, but bare, hairy, spindly legs lower down

[Alderc 2.0]

Proper awful from tomorrow with it turning wetter and colder, nothing worse than cold rain and showers! Roll on spring!