Stormy Weather II

[Serial_Apologist]

Genuinely hot here today! Is it summer? Or some kind of weird happening in the cosmos?

Very stormy skies just to the south of here - loud thunder a few minutes ago!

[oddoneout]

Feeling very uncomfortable today especially after midday. Very warm(getting to 26), muggy and headache inducing, getting the chores done at work was hard. Visitors were spending more time inside taking advantage of a large draughty cool building and the many seating points. Lumpy dark cloud has been gathering for about an hour but the forecast doesn't indicate any rain - rather a change from yesterday when we were forecast rain off and on for much of the day, which the veg would have welcomed. As it is, I'll now need to water the patio containers and the rack of propagated plants in small pots this evening, as rain now seems unlikely to appear in time, if at all, and today's heat and breeze has dried things out.

[Joseph K]

I was anticipating this afternoon being a bit of a washout, but am pleased to see there is now only a 40% chance of rain in a few hours, when I'll be going out... otherwise it's again been nice today.

[Serial_Apologist]

The few degrees lower on today's thermometer is a welcome change from yesterday's unbearable heat and humidity. At one point yesterday afternoon mist was rising from wet road surfaces following heavy rain, indicating a dewpoint temperature way above what would usually be experienced in a country such as ours, but more commonly in tropical forest regions. Today's maximum of 21C, 5 degrees cooler than yesterday's, and around average for late August, feels comfortable.

[DracoM]

Ahem.............at 5.28 p/m/, Temp here as I post is 13C.

[Old Grumpy]

Ahem.............at 5.28 p/m/, Temp here as I post is 13C.

Norf/Sarf divide, innit...


...warmer here (max 18°C today) manifesting the West/East divide!

[Joseph K]

Still no rain materialised here... Which is good because I'm in Brum coming back from a party and have to walk home from the train station...

[Serial_Apologist]

Nice thunderstorm just after midday here - by which I mean not a severe storm, but nevertheless releasing about half a dozen lightning strikes, all cloud-to-cloud (no sudden bangs), and 20 minutes of heavy rain. One I can chalk up to successful forecasting, having predicted we would get one to some of our residents and a neighbour. It did get very dark for a while, indicating considerable depth of cloud, which is further being substantiated by looking right now up at the outer edge of an impressive spreading anvil from another storm just now blasting off over towards Shepherd's Bush, where resideth one of our posters. Loud thunder now audible from a strike near Clapham Junction. This one appears to be taking a right turn, and could well be headed our way - right turning thunderstorms are often more severe than straight lining ones, being stoked up with extra energy from convergence from colder air sucked in from behind.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yep, right again: storm just arrived, right on cue, torrential rain this time with hail in the mix! Lightning strike within 200 metres.

I am counting 38 strikes from this particular storm on UK Lightning Maps - some of which could easily be one single flash reported from multiple sites.

[Serial_Apologist]

Extremely violent weather is being reported from eastern Spain and the Balearics as a long snaking cold front moved east, sweeping away the phenomenal record-breaking heatwave in its path. Numerous pictures of broken palm trees along beach promenades, which are usually whippy enough to withstand even F3 hurricanes. A large MSC with a hive-full of continuous lightning activity indicates the present location of the cold front, midway between Majorca and Corsica/Sardinia; any shipping in the area will certainly wish it wasn't! These two islands will probably experience the full force later this afternoon and tonight before it goes on to affect Italy, with an unusually "wound up" low pressure centre forming in the Gulf of Genoa and most unseasonal hurricane-force winds revolving around it affecting neighbouring W and SW-facing coastlines for the next couple of days. Is anyone from here "enjoying" their summer break down there right now?

If I'm right in my assessment we are going to be hearing more about this one in the next few days. Here by contrast the worst of the unsettled weather now seems to have moved away towards E Holland, Denmark and S Norway, leaving a few residual thunderstorms currently* sparking off in Norfolk, Lincs and E Yorks; it looks as if it's going to be cool and rather wet at times both here and right across N Europe until at least next weekend.

*(Pun there too obvious to mention!)

[oddoneout]

Extremely violent weather is being reported from eastern Spain and the Balearics as a long snaking cold front moved east, sweeping away the phenomenal record-breaking heatwave in its path. Numerous pictures of broken palm trees along beach promenades, which are usually whippy enough to withstand even F3 hurricanes. A large MSC with a hive-full of continuous lightning activity indicates the present location of the cold front, midway between Majorca and Corsica/Sardinia; any shipping in the area will certainly wish it wasn't! These two islands will probably experience the full force later this afternoon and tonight before it goes on to affect Italy, with an unusually "wound up" low pressure centre forming in the Gulf of Genoa and most unseasonal hurricane-force winds revolving around it affecting neighbouring W and SW-facing coastlines for the next couple of days. Is anyone from here "enjoying" their summer break down there right now?

If I'm right in my assessment we are going to be hearing more about this one in the next few days. Here by contrast the worst of the unsettled weather now seems to have moved away towards E Holland, Denmark and S Norway, leaving a few residual thunderstorms currently* sparking off in Norfolk, Lincs and E Yorks; it looks as if it's going to be cool and rather wet at times both here and right across N Europe until at least next weekend.

*(Pun there too obvious to mention!)

Like this? https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...es-with-tanker

[Serial_Apologist]

Like this? https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...es-with-tanker

Yes, that will be the sort of thing. Right now, before going to bed on what is a lovely calm night here in London, I am checking the lightning map to indicate where it's happening, and an area of continuous lightning flashes the size of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk combined is now moored in the Gulf of Genoa, all ready to pounce.

[Serial_Apologist]

The link below rather confirms what I surmised in my last two posts, sadly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDTJaeEUsQ&t=89s

I am going outside now to enjoy some nice late August sunbathing!

[Joseph K]

Very pleasant, sunny and about 18C, though with the first stirrings of autumn while I was on my walk, I thought. Looks like it's going to warm up over the weekend and into next week.

[Serial_Apologist]

Very pleasant, sunny and about 18C, though with the first stirrings of autumn while I was on my walk, I thought. Looks like it's going to warm up over the weekend and into next week.

Just now I stopped a young lass about to eat pyracantha berries she'd been picking, warning her that they are poisenous. On now checking it turns out I was wrong - they are very mildly so, but no more than the tinned plums I was carrying. I was going on warnings about red berries given to us by adults as children. But better to be safe than sorry, eh?

Much the same kind of weather here, where it has struggled to exceed 18C despite 50/50 warm sunshine and cloud. A repeat of yesterday when I took book and rug onto the afternoon lawn for some free Vitamin D only to have it cloud up! Tomorrow promises to be very wet, as the so-called triple point-centred low is pretty reliably predicted to slice across the south. The triple point is the point where warm and cold fronts join up on an occluding depression, and this being a concentrated moisture and convergence point is frequently where the heaviest "organised rain" is despatched. All being well that should be the last rain for a week or so as a ridge spreads up from the Azores High to bring dry conditions and warmer temperatures, excepting for Scotland and the north of Ireland, still under the vigorous jet stream.