The Great Meteorological Thread

[jeangenie]

Either that or some comic-book type baddie had erected an invisible weather shield over our town without us realising it.

We always think that here in the New Forest we're 'protected' by the Isle of Wight, so if you're similarly protected by continental Europe you'll never get rain!!

Jean

 

[Ian D J]

We always think that here in the New Forest we're 'protected' by the Isle of Wight, so if you're similarly protected by continental Europe you'll never get rain!!

Jean

That's true! The close proximity of the continent does tend to keep it that bit drier and warmer over here when compared to the rest of the UK.

Incidentally, I woke up at 2 am last night sweating like a loon as it felt so muggy (either that or I'm going through the menopause), looked though the window and noticed a slight bit of dampness on the ground. I almost passed out in amazement.
I woke up at 6 am and this is what it looked like at 7.15 am . . .

 

[jeangenie]

Looks like more of the same, Ian - for you and for us.

Jean

 

[Ian D J]

And several hours later . . . no change (apart from the position of the sun as it swings around to the front of my west-facing house).

 

[Ian D J]

And it continues. Yet another crackin' fine start to the day - as this photo taken at 7.15 am this morning shows.

Oh, by the way we did have a little shower the other night which actually showed up on my rain gauge! That now brings the total rainfall amount for so far in May at my location to . . . 1 mm. Do I need to start stacking sandbags on my front door?
However, there is one group of people who are doing very well out of this fine, sunny and warm start to Spring and they are strawberry farmers. Not only had it caused the growing season to start two weeks earlier than usual, but the quality and quality of those fruits are described as being at it's best in twenty years, so expect to be able to buy them easily and cheaply.
So, if you love your strawberries then it looks set to be a good summer for you.

 

[ladysue]

Hello Ian. Any idea what Sunday at Colchester might be like?My family are taking me out for a birthday picnic! ( its s special birthday)

 

[Doog]

Gonna close this thread cause it ain't stopped raining since it was posted

 

[Ian D J]

Hello Ian. Any idea what Sunday at Colchester might be like?My family are taking me out for a birthday picnic! ( its s special birthday)

Hi Sue. While showers will tend to break out more widely over the UK on Saturday, it does look like they will tend to fade back and be more concentrated to the North on Sunday.
So as a result, it is looking set to be a fair ol' day at your end on Sunday; staying dry with decent sunny spells. Although you may need to have a light coat to hand due to that rather coolish north-west wind pegging temperatures at around 15 C.
But if you can get yourselves in a south-facing sheltered area away from that breeze then it will still feel very pleasantly warm in the sunshine.
So, all in all, not really at all a bad day!

Gonna close this thread cause it ain't stopped raining since it was posted

And over here at Kent, since I posted that photo, I've STILL not picked up any rainfall in my rain gauge - nor have I observed any rainfall in the past 24 hours.
With none forecasted for my area for today, today will be the 39th straight day with no "useful" rainfall (1 mm so far for May) and my lawn - as well as everyone else's - isn't looking very good for it.
One thing is clear though, there is a definite North West/South East divide as far as the UK's weather is concerned for so far this year.

And yes, right now at 7 am it's clear skies with only the odd bits of cirrus (feathery-type high cloud) here and there.

 

[*Babs]

I'm finding this all very interesting. Thanks for starting the thread

I noticed this week that the land surrounding a lake near us is all cracked already. Lake levels have fallen a lot in the last few weeks. Given we're only in May it could be a long summer!

Who's running the book on when the hosepipe bans will kick in?!

 

[Ian D J]

I'm finding this all very interesting. Thanks for starting the thread

I noticed this week that the land surrounding a lake near us is all cracked already. Lake levels have fallen a lot in the last few weeks. Given we're only in May it could be a long summer!

Who's running the book on when the hosepipe bans will kick in?!

Aww, thanks for the positive comment, Babs. Ever since I joined up TP four years ago, I think this is turning out to be one of my more successful threads, hehe. But as a nation we do love talking about the weather, it's in our blood (well, more especially mine -I have rainwater coursing through my veins!) and I think this thread reflects it.

And one again, this morning started off on a crackin' note. I went down to Greatstone at 8 am this morning, and this is what greeted me when I got there . . .

However, cumulus cloud is bubbling up and filling in more of the sky as I type this post. Miiiiiiight even squeeze a passing shower out of it if I'm lucky!

 

[jeangenie]

Well - we had one heavy shower yesterday and a few (very few) drops of rain about half an hour ago. But there are some black clouds around, and although I wanted to go to the allotment today, I'll gladly stay home if we get some decent rain!

Sue - I hope you have a wonderful birthday, whatever the weather.

Jean

 

[*Babs]

Oooh - there's water falling from the sky. What is this strange phenomenon?!

 

[Ian D J]

Oooh - there's water falling from the sky. What is this strange phenomenon?!

Oh my. And in Kent?! Actually, I, too got to see one or two bijou spit-ettes of droplets blowing about in the wind - while the sun is trying to break through at the same time.

 

[*Babs]

Oh my. And in Kent?! Actually, I, too got to see one or two bijou spit-ettes of droplets blowing about in the wind - while the sun is trying to break through at the same time.

In Ashford!

It's stopped now though!

 

[Ian D J]

Oh look, another crackin' start to the day - at 7 am this morning.

The Groundhog Day effect continues - although I am expecting cloud to bubble up later on this morning and into the afternoon.
Next week does look like being wet, changeable and cool for most parts - hopefully bringing some much-needed actual useful rainfall for this neck of the woods in the process!

 

[jeangenie]

The Groundhog Day effect continues - although I am expecting cloud to bubble up later on this morning and into the afternoon.
Next week does look like being wet, changeable and cool for most parts - hopefully bringing some much-needed actual useful rainfall for this neck of the woods in the process!

I dunno, Ian - Is that a few wisps of cloud I see near the horizon?

The two overnight rain falls we've had must have been heavier than I thought - the rain-collecting tubs at the allotment yesterday showed about half an inch, and the weeds have shot up! There were also more worms about when I was planting.

Jean

 

[Ian D J]

I dunno, Ian - Is that a few wisps of cloud I see near the horizon?

The two overnight rain falls we've had must have been heavier than I thought - the rain-collecting tubs at the allotment yesterday showed about half an inch, and the weeds have shot up! There were also more worms about when I was planting.

Jean

Those are plane contrails. But it does show that humidity is increasing in the upper air layer so I expect more in the way of extensive high cloud (cirrus, cirrostratus, etc) later on today (as well as cumulus bubbling up nearer to the ground surface).
I've got my fingers crossed for us catching a shower or three tomorrow as they lumber in from the north west.
However, Sunday looks like becoming dry again for Southern parts!

 

[ladysue]

Well - we had one heavy shower yesterday and a few (very few) drops of rain about half an hour ago. But there are some black clouds around, and although I wanted to go to the allotment today, I'll gladly stay home if we get some decent rain!

Sue - I hope you have a wonderful birthday, whatever the weather.

Jean

Thanks Jean. I'm going to be getting my bus pass

We havent had any decent amount of rain in my part of Essex for weeks and the ground is rock hard.

 

[tiler65]

Thanks for this thread...my gutter at the front has just collapsed because of all the rain in the last 10 mins............off to B & Q

 

[Keebsuk]

Thanks for this thread...my gutter at the front has just collapsed because of all the rain in the last 10 mins............off to B & Q

Rofl

Andy

 

[Cobra]

b****r me, you lot still bloody whinging about the lack of rain fall?
You wait till the "summer" arrives, then you will be whinging about
the flooding

I'm going to be getting my bus pass

Cool have a good one Sue

 

[Ian D J]

Thanks for this thread...my gutter at the front has just collapsed because of all the rain in the last 10 mins............off to B & Q

Whoops, sorry to hear about that. :shake:

Over here, I've got three sparrow's nests in my gutter as there hasn't been any rain to wash them away!
Haven't got the heart to remove them so I might as well leave them alone.

 

[ladysue]

b****r me, you lot still bloody whinging about the lack of rain fall?
You wait till the "summer" arrives, then you will be whinging about
the flooding

Cool have a good one Sue

Thanks Chris. I think my family have a little lens surprise for me too, so very excited about that.

 

[Ian D J]

b****r me, you lot still bloody whinging about the lack of rain fall?
You wait till the "summer" arrives, then you will be whinging about
the flooding

Cool have a good one Sue

Actually, there does seem to be firm agreements on a dry and warm June and July. But that's really entering fortune-telling guesswork territory.

And, Sue, hope you have a good birthday weekend.
Tomorrow will be a day of showers for most areas. But on Sunday there'll be far less showers about as cloud begins to thicken up from the west bringing some rain to Scotland and, later on, the Northern half of England - but Southern parts will remain dry and fairly warm (around 18 C).

 

[Ian D J]

The record-breaking dry and sunny spell continues. And I'm not sure if we are even going to get today's forecasted showers.

This is what greeted me upon awakening at 7 am this morning. . .

Yes, it is getting a bit boring for those living in the North, but you can see why I created this thread.

 

[Somelier]

We've certainly had some lovely weather during the last few weeks, but over the last few days things have equalised here in the Peak District with plenty of rain.

I was reading the weather note in the Daily Telegraph a few Saturdays ago, where Philip Eden was writing about how the Met Office had released a statement saying that March 2011 (I think it was) was the driest March for many, many years. The problem was that they released the statement on 28th. So much rain fell during the last 3 days of the month that it made a nonsense of their statement.

I'm of the opinion that the weather sorts itself out over time. What makes water shortages is the idiots who wash their cars frequently (the neighbour of a friend of mine washes his car each morning, then washes it again if he's gone out in it!) and the unrepaired leaks in the infrastructure.

We get weather, and weather is unpredictable!

 

[Ian D J]

We've certainly had some lovely weather during the last few weeks, but over the last few days things have equalised here in the Peak District with plenty of rain.

I was reading the weather note in the Daily Telegraph a few Saturdays ago, where Philip Eden was writing about how the Met Office had released a statement saying that March 2011 (I think it was) was the driest March for many, many years. The problem was that they released the statement on 28th. So much rain fell during the last 3 days of the month that it made a nonsense of their statement.

I'm of the opinion that the weather sorts itself out over time. What makes water shortages is the idiots who wash their cars frequently (the neighbour of a friend of mine washes his car each morning, then washes it again if he's gone out in it!) and the unrepaired leaks in the infrastructure.

We get weather, and weather is unpredictable!

. . . Unless you're like me and can forecast the weather to a certain degree at least for the next couple of days.

As for Philip Eden's statement, as far as the South East is concerned, he is still spot on correct as many locations across Kent, Sussex, Cambridge and Surrey saw to between 10 mm to 25 mm of rain since the beginning of March - only 3 mm in the last six weeks in a few places, including my home location. And all that after a dry (and snowless!) January and February, and thus making for WELL below average rainfall amounts so far in 2011 - about 4% to 10% of our average.
In my books, that is exceptionally dry - and it's still only Spring. But, indeed I do agree with you about mother nature tending to balance things out in the end. We could end up with a soggy weather summer - or a 1976 style one and go onto having a record breaking wet Autumn (the latter I'm tending to lean to personally).
That's why suddenly I think metered water supply has become a great idea as it is having the effect of making us more frugal when it comes to water usage. Those who wash their cars in an OCD way are going to end up with whacking big water bills anyway.

However, Northern and Western parts of the UK are still getting normal amounts of rainfall - even slightly above over the far North West, so I should imagine this thread will get lost for those living in that part of the world.

But thanks for that great post, though, Richard.

 

[ladysue]

. . . Unless you're like me and can forecast the weather to a certain degree at least for the next couple of days.

As for Philip Eden's statement, as far as the South East is concerned, he is still spot on correct as many locations across Kent, Sussex, Cambridge and Surrey saw to between 10 mm to 25 mm of rain since the beginning of March - only 3 mm in the last six weeks in a few places, including my home location. And all that after a dry (and snowless!) January and February, and thus making for WELL below average rainfall amounts so far in 2011 - about 4% to 10% of our average.
In my books, that is exceptionally dry - and it's still only Spring. But, indeed I do agree with you about mother nature tending to balance things out in the end. We could end up with a soggy weather summer - or a 1976 style one and go onto having a record breaking wet Autumn (the latter I'm tending to lean to personally).
That's why suddenly I think metered water supply has become a great idea as it is having the effect of making us more frugal when it comes to water usage. Those who wash their cars in an OCD way are going to end up with whacking big water bills anyway.

However, Northern and Western parts of the UK are still getting normal amounts of rainfall - even slightly above over the far North West, so I should imagine this thread will get lost for those living in that part of the world.

But thanks for that great post, though, Richard.

Ian, I dont know the figures but I would say that we, in Halstead, Essex have had no more rain than you this year.I cant remember when we last had a proper rain. All we have had in the last few weeks was a little bit that fell at night, on two nights.

 

[Ian D J]

Ian, I dont know the figures but I would say that we, in Halstead, Essex have had no more rain than you this year.I cant remember when we last had a proper rain. All we have had in the last few weeks was a little bit that fell at night, on two nights.

Indeed, I should have included my neighbouring county, Essex, in the list.

Hope your birthday picnic will go along in a fine, dry and bright manner tomorrow. There may be a little bit of cloud about but it will be slightly warmer than today and it should stay dry as those showers of today's decay back.

 

[jeangenie]

Those are plane contrails.

and there I thought they were storm clouds building up!

Thanks Jean. I'm going to be getting my bus pass

Very happy birthday, Sue. You're still just a youngster though! :razz:

Thanks for this thread...my gutter at the front has just collapsed because of all the rain in the last 10 mins............off to B & Q

Life just isn't fair sometimes!

b****r me, you lot still bloody whinging about the lack of rain fall?
You wait till the "summer" arrives, then you will be whinging about
the flooding

Of course!

Thanks Chris. I think my family have a little lens surprise for me too, so very excited about that.

Oooh - What's on your wish list, Sue?

Indeed, I should have included my neighbouring county, Essex, in the list.

Our part of Hampshire isn't faring much better in the rain stakes.

Jean

 

[ladysue]

and there I thought they were storm clouds building up!




Very happy birthday, Sue. You're still just a youngster though! :razz:



Life just isn't fair sometimes!



Of course!



Oooh - What's on your wish list, Sue?

Well for ages I have been trying unsuccessfully to save up for a 50mm. 1.8 so I asked for one of those. When my son found out that it wouldnt autofocus on my camera he said they could get me a 35mm lens that would autofocus which would be great. I think that is what they have bought me. They have all clubbed together I hope.



Our part of Hampshire isn't faring much better in the rain stakes.

Jean

 

[ladysue]

Lots of cloud around today but still no rain here and the sun is out now.I know I want it dry tomorrow but we really could have done with that rain that was forecast for today.

 

[scottishguy]

Dont get this worrying about not having enough water thingy.
If I run out, I just turn that wee tap thing at the sink and loads comes out.
The joys of living in Scotland I suppose.

 

[Ian D J]

Dont get this worrying about not having enough water thingy.
If I run out, I just turn that wee tap thing at the sink and loads comes out.
The joys of living in Scotland I suppose.

Whereas over here, agriculture crop are waaaay behind schedule as the showers forecasted for the South East have failed to turn up (or were very scattered and light), thus we are set to complete our 41st day without any measurable rainfall.

 

[*Babs]

Ian - since you've been keeping records any idea what the longest period without measurable rainfall has been?

I think we're forecast for rain next week, aren't we? It was definitely colder today than it has been of late. Almost cold enough to register as the height of summer in Glasgow ;-)

 

[Ian D J]

Ian - since you've been keeping records any idea what the longest period without measurable rainfall has been?

I think we're forecast for rain next week, aren't we? It was definitely colder today than it has been of late. Almost cold enough to register as the height of summer in Glasgow ;-)

Mornin' Babs and everyone else reading this bit.

Indeed, I do have an idea on what is the longest period without any rainfall. According to my little Guinness Books Of Weather Records - it's 73 Days straight at Mile End in 1893, between 4th March to 15th May in 1893 (naturally before my time).
The driest year ever recorded was 9.2 inches at Margate in 1929. So far this year I have recorded 6.23 inches here at Folkestone. So it is still possible for this record to be broken (we normally pick up around 20 ins per year).

Indeed, it is quite chilly at the moment as we are under the influence of a polar maritime westerly airflow so it is having the effect of preventing temperatures from climbing too high - hence this fresh feel about things.
As far as the weather for the coming week is concerned, it does look like the Southern half of the UK will continue to be under the influence of an Azores high as it ridges in from the south west.
In a nutshell, the dry weather over the South looks set to continue until at least Wednesday while at the same time it will remain windy and unsettled over the North.
It does seem that for those living over the South East of the UK, the next chance for some rain should occur on Thursday. By then we will have reached the 45th day without any appreciable rainfall.

Oh, and woke up to this at 7 am this morning . . .

Just came across this in a weather forum, freshly posted this morning by a fellow Kent person . . .

"The farm at the school where I work looks like it has a failed turnip crop - planted a few weeks ago but nothing showing whatsoever (the plan was to use them as feed). By the sounds of it hay will be very expensive too, they were muttering something about how expensive round bales are when I popped in last week.

The wolf centre planted 2 hectares of woodland at the end of March in one of the fields surrounding the Trust (which was purchased from a neighbouring farmer). There's no sign of life, meaning not only was the money perhaps wasted on the trees (albeit they were very cheap as part of some environmental scheme) they may end up being dug up again. I'm hoping they're just dormant, but it's not looking good.

Just two small examples of the havoc this lack of rain is causing in the agricultural world.

The costs to agriculture across the UK as a whole must be immense."

 

[Kerioak]

Like Ian I am in the south east and the met office forcast rain from 4pm onwards for the evening in my approximate area - what did we get - four drops per square yard !! I know because we have a glass topped table outside and I counted them.

There is still enough dew most mornings to keep some of the grass green but it is starting to die off around the edges where there is little soil which normally does not happen until mid-late summer.

Not worried though as no point in worring about something you can do nothing about.

 

[Cobra]

A bit of a stiff breeze this morning Incorporated with a light rain fall.
"It" decided to Hiss down yesterday afternoon though.

MK does seem to get more than its fair share of rain

 

[Ian D J]

A bit of a stiff breeze this morning Incorporated with a light rain fall.
"It" decided to Hiss down yesterday afternoon though.

MK does seem to get more than its fair share of rain

Hi!

It's late afternoon and it's gone overcast here now (as forecasted by me), and since we've lost the sun we've also lost the warmth.

Unsurprisingly, it's still staying bone dry. :bonk:

 

[jemdna]

Temp dropped, clouds rolled in but still no sodding rain My poor garden doesn't appreciate it

Bry