Stormy Weather

[Petrushka]

'A mixed bag' pretty much describes the past couple if weeks or so in this neck of the woods, too. One two or two pleasant days broken up by some heavy rain or spoilt by persistent wind. It's not too bad at all today, following a very wet day yesterday, but the week ahead looks beyond belief dire. The promised maximum temperature for Wednesday is an appalling 11 degrees - colder than last Christmas Day.

Average daytime temperature for the past fortnight would probably be 17 degrees at a guess so fairly normal without being anything to get excited about.

This utterly bizarre headline appeared in last week's Daily Express http://www.express.co.uk/news/weathe...st-UK-Sunshine

[Serial_Apologist]

Storm Troopers: the Fight to Forecast the Weather

Tonight seens the first of this new must-see 3-parter on BBC 4, starting at 9 pm:

Journalist Alok Jha charts the history of weather forecasting from its origins in the early 19th century to the modern day, investigating how it was transformed from superstition into science. He reveals how pioneer Robert FitzRoy was driven by a desire to prevent disasters at sea, issuing Britian's first storm warnings and devising the first forecast to be published in a newspaper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cy596

There's a beautiful picture of his wet and dry-bulb thermometer-flanking barometer on P 67 of this week's RT. I hadn't realised they'd worked out how to calculate air humidity as far back as that.

(Title spelling should be troupers btw - apologies)

[Simon B]

This utterly bizarre headline appeared in last week's Daily Express http://www.express.co.uk/news/weathe...st-UK-Sunshine

Key words to look out for in such articles: Nathan Rao. Eventually one prediction of killer coldwaves or killer heatwaves containing these keywords will come true, on the basis that if the occurrence of an outlier of an essentially random variable is predicted enough times, reality will eventually oblige. Probably not for a while though!

See http://www.monbiot.com/2015/04/09/a-...d-of-nonsense/

The boost to newspaper sales apparently still triggered by such stories is very depressing to anyone who likes to let evidence get in the way of a good headline

[BBMmk2]

Sounds good to me, re the pubs, you mentioned SA!(Rather than a show :) )

[DracoM]

Gorgeous day....then succession of powerful thunderstorms early evening

[David-G]

It had looked to be a fine evening at Glyndebourne last night ... until suddenly in the middle of the long interval we had a torrential downpour.

[BBMmk2]

They must've missed uas, aswe didn't have any, as we live not far from Glyndebourne. thank heavens(pun not intended!)

[Petrushka]

Yesterday was the coldest day in May that I can recall. The daytime afternoon temperature dipped to 12 degrees while today has been marginally better at 17 degrees it hasn't felt like it and the heating has been on both at home and work. It's also been overcast and dreary.

When are we going to get some decent weather?

[greenilex]

Has been pretty springlike and even summery at times here in the Deep South, but Wednesday was very chilly.

Have been sorting out summer clothes in optimistic efficiency...

[Serial_Apologist]

When are we going to get some decent weather?

It's been lovely down yurr today - cloudless sky now, gentle easterly breeze, and the shade temperature a very comfortable 18 degrees C. To get my regular Vanilla ice cream slicing block I had to cycle the two miles down to the large E Dulwich branch of St Sprees. I packed it into my back pack with a load of other deep frozen merchandise to delay it melting on the return uphill journey. I always get the slicing block, which is so much easier to use than the tub range, because all you need do is slice through the cardboard to the thickness required, starting at one end, whereas the tubs require scooping out the product, which results in dessert spoons ending up looking as if Uri Geller has got his hands on them! But after ten years the smaller local branch, a mile away, has stopped stocking it - can you imagine that, right at the start of summer? I'm afraid I had a bit of a hissy fit there when told that they would no longer be selling it - poor girl in Customer Enquiries, it wasn't any of her fault!

I expect there will be thunder here and across the south tomorrow as the cool north-easterly undercuts hot humid air coming up from the Med setting off extreme instability. BH Monday is anybody's guess: they're chancing it on a deep low advancing into the SE from the east, bringing us rain and very strong winds.

[vinteuil]

. . . the tubs require scooping out the product, which results in dessert spoons ending up looking as if Uri Geller has got his hands on them!

... I recognize the problem. This is what you need -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PTSTST2

[Serial_Apologist]

... I recognize the problem. This is what you need -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PTSTST2

Thanks vints, that's just given me an idea: the garden trowel!

[teamsaint]

Hellish big thunderings right here, right now......

[Pulcinella]

Hellish big thunderings right here, right now......

3.47 kW on the Sunny Jim meter as I type, here, ts!
15.4 kWh so far today (and at 50p per kWh that's tonight's bottle of wine sorted!).

[BBMmk2]

Started out great, then gradually became muggy! Yuk!