theweatheroutlook

Remove ads from site

richardabdn
17 December 2023 10:14:40
This is turning into the worst winter month of my lifetime. A torturously awful and depressing horror show.

Another ludicrous frost-free period with nothing close to a frost since the 6th, the wettest week I have ever recorded with more rain than in all but two of the previous 18 Decembers in their entirety 🤮

Almost no sunshine at all just relentless soul destroying grey day after day. Just 2 of the past 10 days have had more than half an hour of sun and we have yet another of the dismal sunless grey Sundays we've endured all year like no other.

It's yet another month of 2023 with no redeeming qualities 🤢

This repulsive mild spell is just the strychnine laced icing on the mould infested cake. Absolutely godawful. Windy, cloudy, highest temperatures at night, barely any diurnal range. Utterly detestable. Is there any set-up that produces a diurnal range of more than 2C any more? Doesn't seem like it 🤬

December 2002 has to be the ultimate foul winter month but after a first half of relentless cloud we got a decent 3-day dry spell - sunny, crisp and frosty. The contrast with the current dross of cloud wind and temperatures stuck around 10-11C day and night is stark.

I truly loath winter now. It's just an endurance test year after year. Don't even bother looking at the models for snow as I've lost all interest. Just want to count down the days until it ends. Although after last spring can't even do that with the knowledge that better conditions will be on the way 🤢
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything


2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November
2024 - 2023 without the Good Bits
johncs2016
17 December 2023 13:17:51

This is turning into the worst winter month of my lifetime. A torturously awful and depressing horror show.

Another ludicrous frost-free period with nothing close to a frost since the 6th, the wettest week I have ever recorded with more rain than in all but two of the previous 18 Decembers in their entirety 🤮

Almost no sunshine at all just relentless soul destroying grey day after day. Just 2 of the past 10 days have had more than half an hour of sun and we have yet another of the dismal sunless grey Sundays we've endured all year like no other.

It's yet another month of 2023 with no redeeming qualities 🤢

This repulsive mild spell is just the strychnine laced icing on the mould infested cake. Absolutely godawful. Windy, cloudy, highest temperatures at night, barely any diurnal range. Utterly detestable. Is there any set-up that produces a diurnal range of more than 2C any more? Doesn't seem like it 🤬

December 2002 has to be the ultimate foul winter month but after a first half of relentless cloud we got a decent 3-day dry spell - sunny, crisp and frosty. The contrast with the current dross of cloud wind and temperatures stuck around 10-11C day and night is stark.

I truly loath winter now. It's just an endurance test year after year. Don't even bother looking at the models for snow as I've lost all interest. Just want to count down the days until it ends. Although after last spring can't even do that with the knowledge that better conditions will be on the way 🤢

Originally Posted by: richardabdn 



Not all that long ago, you were saying that you would rather have been in a long-fetched mild SW airflow than those not-so-cold easterlies which we were experiencing at the time.

Now, we are currently experiencing a very mild SW airflow and you can't say in any way that you didn't actually ask for that.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
Col
  • Col
  • Advanced Member
18 December 2023 17:15:13

Not all that long ago, you were saying that you would rather have been in a long-fetched mild SW airflow than those not-so-cold easterlies which we were experiencing at the time.

Now, we are currently experiencing a very mild SW airflow and you can't say in any way that you didn't actually ask for that.
 

Originally Posted by: johncs2016 



Aberdeen Richard's posts often contain inconsistencies & contradictions. But don't expect him to reply to address the matter, as he never does.
Col
Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg
Bolty
18 December 2023 17:28:44
I'm just thankful the winter solstice is this week. I know people enjoy and look forward to winter, but the low daylight really does drag me down at this time of year. Luckily, December feels as though it has progressed quite quickly this year, which is a relief because November felt as though it completely dragged.

For those looking for snow, I hope it happens for you, but for me personally, roll on spring.
Scott
Blackrod, Lancashire (4 miles south of Chorley) at 156m asl.
My weather station 
johncs2016
18 December 2023 18:42:10

I'm just thankful the winter solstice is this week. I know people enjoy and look forward to winter, but the low daylight really does drag me down at this time of year. Luckily, December feels as though it has progressed quite quickly this year, which is a relief because November felt as though it completely dragged.

For those looking for snow, I hope it happens for you, but for me personally, roll on spring.

Originally Posted by: Bolty 



Steve (known on here as Gusty) has said a few times recently on his own YouTube channel (known as Weather Focus) that the shortest day is on 21 December, and that is when it normally would be in most years.

However, the exact time of the winter solstice is when the Sun is overhead on the Tropic Cancer and that is what determines the actual date of the shortest day. As far as this year is concerned, the Sun will be overhead on the Tropic of Capricorn (the exact location of that will be in the east of Western Australia) at 3:27am GMT (03:27 UTC) on Friday 22 December 2023.

This means that the night of 21/22 December 2023 will be the longest night, but this also means that it will be 22 December on this occasion rather than 21 December which will be the actual shortest day this year.

However, next year (2024) is a leap year and this will result in next year's winter solstice going back to being on 21 December once again.

As for this year (or any year for that matter), the coming of the winter solstice always marks the start of that gradual ascent towards the following summer as we can then look forward to it gradually getting lighter at nights once again (although the actual process of that happening is a bit more complicated than that).

As far as this winter is concerned, we have had one cold spell at the beginning of this month which carried over from the end of November (which  is technically, part of our autumn), but that has been our lot for this "winter" so far and the most recent days have been ridiculously mild here and completely frost-free (as well as snow free of course).

This is in complete contrast to the same time last year when the milder weather didn't arrive until just before Christmas, thus allowing us to enjoy a couple of back to back ice days before then.

The one thing which I would therefore ask the weather gods to deliver, is just a wee bit of actual winter weather for a change.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
tierradelfuego
18 December 2023 19:09:23

This means that the night of 21/22 December 2023 will be the longest night, but this also means that it will be 22 December on this occasion rather than 21 December which will be the actual shortest day this year.
 

Originally Posted by: johncs2016 



At least the earliest Sunset/Civil Twilight has been and gone, 6 days ago on the 12th, the evening dark is very slowly but surely getting later already.
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
DEW
  • DEW
  • Advanced Member
18 December 2023 19:40:57



However, next year (2024) is a leap year and this will result in next year's winter solstice going back to being on 21 December once again.


 

Originally Posted by: johncs2016 



Yes. to a first approximation, because the year is 365 1/4 days long, the time of the solstice moves forward 6 hours each year until reset by a compensating 24 hours in leap year.

But can anyone explain in words of one syllable why it starts to get lighter in the evenings while it's still getting darker in the mornings? And similarly at the summer solstice. I heard an excellent explanation once, one of those explanations where you understand everything perfectly until you get home and suddenly you can't work out what it was about☹
War does not determine who is right, only who is left - Bertrand Russell

Chichester 12m asl
tierradelfuego
18 December 2023 20:00:32

Yes. to a first approximation, because the year is 365 1/4 days long, the time of the solstice moves forward 6 hours each year until reset by a compensating 24 hours in leap year.

But can anyone explain in words of one syllable why it starts to get lighter in the evenings while it's still getting darker in the mornings? And similarly at the summer solstice. I heard an excellent explanation once, one of those explanations where you understand everything perfectly until you get home and suddenly you can't work out what it was about☹

Originally Posted by: DEW 



Axis Tilt in two words - redshift-live.com/en/magazine/articles/Astronomy/12950-Long_and_short_days-1.html
Bucklebury
West Berkshire Downs AONB
135m ASL

VP2 with daytime FARS
Rainfall collector separated at ground level
Anemometer separated above roof level
WeatherLink Live (Byles Green Weather)
johncs2016
18 December 2023 21:17:14

At least the earliest Sunset/Civil Twilight has been and gone, 6 days ago on the 12th, the evening dark is very slowly but surely getting later already.

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 



... which is why I said that the actual process is a bit more complicated when I talked about everyone looking forward to it getting lighter again at nights after the winter solstice.

At this time of the year, the length of the actual solar day is slightly longer than 24 hours (which is how we normally define a day according to the time on our clocks and watches) and this means that solar noon (the exact moment in time when the overhead Sun is right on the Greenwich Meridian) is occurring slightly later on each day at the moment.

However, the actual length of daylight varies very little at the solstices and because of that, we get a period centred around the solstices when the times of both sunrise and sunset get later at the same time.

There is also a similar effect at the summer solstice in June, but the Earth is actually closer to the Sun at the winter solstice than it is at the summer solstice and travels more quickly on its orbit around the Sun as a result, thereby causing that effect to be more frofound around the time of the winter solstice.

For here in Edinburgh, this results in the day of the earliest sunset occurring a week before the winter solstice with the day of the latest sunrise occurring a week after it.

According to the data from timeanddate.com, the earliest sunset here in Edinburgh occurred at 3:38pm GMT (15:38 UTC) on 14/15 December 2023 (since that is only reported there to the nearest minute, it could actually be either of those days).

This means that it is now already technically, getting lighter at night as mentioned. That at least, is something positive even though it hasn't yet stopped getting darker in the mornings because the latest sunrise hasn't yet happened (according to the data from timeanddate.com, the latest sunrise in Edinburgh won't occur until 8:44 am GMT (08:44 UTC) on Friday 29 December 2023).
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
johncs2016
18 December 2023 21:23:38

Axis Tilt in two words - redshift-live.com/en/magazine/articles/Astronomy/12950-Long_and_short_days-1.html

Originally Posted by: tierradelfuego 



That is one excellent source for that information, and another source for is here  as well.
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
johncs2016
18 December 2023 21:51:52

Yes. to a first approximation, because the year is 365 1/4 days long, the time of the solstice moves forward 6 hours each year until reset by a compensating 24 hours in leap year.

But can anyone explain in words of one syllable why it starts to get lighter in the evenings while it's still getting darker in the mornings? And similarly at the summer solstice. I heard an excellent explanation once, one of those explanations where you understand everything perfectly until you get home and suddenly you can't work out what it was about☹

Originally Posted by: DEW 



That approximate year length of 365 and a quarter days is actually only correct if you go by the old Julian Calendar which was later superceded by the currently used Gregorian Calendar which was first devised in 1582, but which didn't come into effect here in the UK until 1752 (before then, Scotland was a separate independent country until the 1707 Act of Union which created what we now know as the UK, but used the same Julian calendar which was used by England even then).

According to the Gregorian Calendar, a year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4, but only if it is not a century year (which is a year that is divisible by 100). However, century years are considered to be leap years if they are divisible by 400.

Going back to the year 2000, that was a leap year, but only because it was a century year which was also divisible by 400, and not because it was divisible by 4. This means that the years 1800 and 1900 were not actually leap years, and the year 2100 won't be a leap year either for that same reason.

Taking all of that into consideration, we find that the average length of a year according to the Gregorian Calendar is 365.2425 days which is actually slightly less than 365 and a quarter days.

Because the year 2000 was a leap year, the approximation of an average year length being 365 and a quarter days will be good enough for most of us. However, it should be borne in mind that there are now much younger people around who are likely to live beyond the year 2100 with more and more people being around who will do so as time goes on. For those people, that approximation of 365 and a quarter days for an average year length can't really hold as being correct because the year 2100 itself, won't be a leap year.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
lanky
18 December 2023 22:26:55

Yes. to a first approximation, because the year is 365 1/4 days long, the time of the solstice moves forward 6 hours each year until reset by a compensating 24 hours in leap year.

But can anyone explain in words of one syllable why it starts to get lighter in the evenings while it's still getting darker in the mornings? And similarly at the summer solstice. I heard an excellent explanation once, one of those explanations where you understand everything perfectly until you get home and suddenly you can't work out what it was about☹

Originally Posted by: DEW 



The total length of time between sunrise and sunset is at a minimum on the shortest day but even though our watches have every day at 24 hours exactly  this is really just an average varying between 24 hr and 30 seconds in September and 23 hours 59 minutes and 30 seconds in December. So the "real" time is just displaced a bit from "watch" time over the year and manifests itself by mornings appearing to carry on getting darker after the shortest day.

read it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/38560106 
 
Martin
Richmond, Surrey
+1
johncs2016
18 December 2023 23:05:40

The total length of time between sunrise and sunset is at a minimum on the shortest day but even though our watches have every day at 24 hours exactly  this is really just an average varying between 24 hr and 30 seconds in September and 23 hours 59 minutes and 30 seconds in December. So the "real" time is just displaced a bit from "watch" time over the year and manifests itself by mornings appearing to carry on getting darker after the shortest day.

read it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/38560106 
 

Originally Posted by: lanky 



That anomaly between the length of a day as shown on our watch (which is 24 hours) and the actual solar day (which the time difference between two successive transits of the Sun over any given meridian) is known as the Equation of Time and it can be great fun taking photos of the Sun every day at exactly the same time at exactly the same location (assuming that the weather would actually allow us to do so of course, which wouldn't generally be the case here in the UK), and then seeing that figure of 8 appear as we go throughout the year when we trace out that path.
 
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
The Beast from the East
19 December 2023 02:19:28



I truly loath winter now. It's just an endurance test year after year. Don't even bother looking at the models for snow as I've lost all interest. Just want to count down the days until it ends. Although after last spring can't even do that with the knowledge that better conditions will be on the way 🤢

Originally Posted by: richardabdn 



I sadly agree. Maybe its old age kicking in but the cold and damp does affect me much more than when I was younger. Even in the current mild spell I need to warm myself with a fan heater before bed. If we cant have snow, then I would rather it was not cold at all with sunshine as must as possible
"We have some alternative facts for you"
Kelly-Ann Conway - special adviser to the President
Retron
21 December 2023 04:50:08
The worst Christmas Day forecast you can get, really, apart from a bit more wind. Gloomy, wet, windy and exceptionally mild.

It'll be 54 years next year since the last "falling and settling" Christmas here.

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/xmas.jpg 

UserPostedImage
Leysdown, north Kent
Jiries
21 December 2023 07:13:38

The worst Christmas Day forecast you can get, really, apart from a bit more wind. Gloomy, wet, windy and exceptionally mild.

It'll be 54 years next year since the last "falling and settling" Christmas here.

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/xmas.jpg 

UserPostedImage

Originally Posted by: Retron 



Last time I saw white Xmas was in Toronto in 1997 and I never like Xmas time in the UK becuase of the weather unlike Xmas spent in Cyprus, Los A twice, Toronto 3x was all the best than here due to better weather.
Snowjoke
21 December 2023 11:09:21
Why is our winter climate turning to s***? It's becoming so unendurable. I actually get completely depressed in winter because of a lack of sunshine hours and bright days. The short days is bad enough, bit it is the interminable grey and gloomy days where it is not mild but not cold and just wet and dingy. Nothing ever dries out and our garden has turned to mush!

We left the UK in 2014 for a (supposedly) better climate in France and the s*** weather has followed us here. We are in the Massif Central, where cold snowy winters used to be the norm. This autumn into winter we have had over 88cm of rain and less than a week of sunny days in nine weeks!!

If you live further south than this the summers are now completely punishing and it's difficult to grow anything. The winters are better further south but the payoff is the summers which are too hot for us.

Just for context we are 810 metres above sea level and we can't even manage a bit of snow. Endless days of 3-4 degrees with rain is so depressing and uncomfortable. The damp gets into your bones.

The French used to make jokes about the UK weather but honestly it is so awful here now for much of the time. It goes from searing hot in the summer with plus 40 degrees to this year an endless autumn of gloom and constant humidity. I have never known it so wet! I mean 88cm of rain in nine weeks is insane!! (not as bad as Northern Queensland TBF!!) 

Is El Nino the prime culprit for the vile autumn and winter (so far) of 2023? Please tell me it is!!

Hopefully January and February will deliver high pressure, blue skies and snow/frost.
Snowjoke
21 December 2023 11:15:53
Hey Richard...you are not alone. Here in Central France I cannot recall a worse spell of weather. For nine weeks now it has been largely vile. In November we had three dry days. October was slightly better, but intensely wet in the second part. December has had two or three dry sunny days but has been mainly......meh. No seasonaal weather around and despite the fact we are at over 800 metres asl no snow as yet. 

Copious rain, I mean 880mm of rain in only nine weeks is kind of ridiculous. 

Personally I think climate change is ruining the European climate. It's just becoming extreme, unpredictable and at times deeply depressing.

 
richardabdn
21 December 2023 18:28:12
The grotesque start to winter continues. Ice followed by cold and wet then mild and cloudy now wind. Relentless garbage and everything I despise the most 😴

Storm Pia? Who came up with that? It's making me think of the excruicating song 'I am the Music Man' which is appropriate because the weather nowadays is the equivalent of having to constantly listen to that atrocity playing in a never ending loop. How long can it be endured before it breaks you completely?

Temperatures are horrific as 2015 but with more rain and less sun. It's beyond vile. Yet again the temperature is failing to drop in the evening due to wind. It’s beyond tedious. How the hell can it have got so difficult to even get a frost? 🤬

Even in 2015 it got down to -2.0C on the 13th, 0.5C on the 11th and 0.7C on the 14th  whereas there hasn't been a single frost since the 6th and only one min below 2C with nothing below 1C 🙄

2023 has to have had the worst winter months of any year in recorded history. December seemingly on track to be the wettest winter month I've known, no measurable snow in any of the three months and just 11 frosts with February having none at all. The previous worst year in my records was 2020 when the three months still got a total of 18 frosts with a snow cover on Christmas Eve.  To be struggling to get two thirds of the very worst is beyond the pale. Even 1989 wouldn't have been this bad as December was cold with a lot of frost but not much snow. Perhaps only 1932 could be comparable to this complete and utter dross.

The 2020s are so bad they almost make the bland and uninteresting preceding two decades seem appealing by comparison. It's just completely killed any lingering interest and enthusiasm for the weather in this woeful country. A never ending endurance test 🤢
 
Aberdeen: The only place that misses out on everything


2023 - The Year that's Constantly Worse than a Bad November
2024 - 2023 without the Good Bits
Saint Snow
21 December 2023 18:50:35


Personally I think climate change is ruining the European climate. It's just becoming extreme, unpredictable and at times deeply depressing.

 

Originally Posted by: Snowjoke 



In winter especially, the wrong sort of 'extreme'

I find myself echoing Aberdeen Richard's depressed thoughts.

Mild, wet and windy is the worst December weather.

Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
A TWO addict since 14/12/01
"How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics."
Aneurin Bevan
johncs2016
21 December 2023 20:57:05

In winter especially, the wrong sort of 'extreme'

I find myself echoing Aberdeen Richard's depressed thoughts.

Mild, wet and windy is the worst December weather.

Originally Posted by: Saint Snow 



Yes, and it's hard to believe now that this winter actually got off to a very promising start right at the start of the month with even a little bit of snow in these parts.

Indeed, the number of air frosts here in Edinburgh were actually running well above average for a while at that time as a result.

All of that feels like a very distant memory though and now, we are nearly two-thirds of the way through this month already and yet we haven't yet had even half of our 1991-2020 December average number of air frosts during this month up until now.

That in itself, should tell you just how it's been in that regard since that very promising start to the month.😡
The north of Edinburgh, usually always missing out on snow events which occur not just within the rest of Scotland or the UK, but also within the rest of Edinburgh.
Col
  • Col
  • Advanced Member
22 December 2023 15:13:27
Just wish this incessant wind would stop, it's been going on for two solid days now. Usually not quite strong enough to be interesting but certainly strong enough to be thoroughly unpleasant.

Enough already!
Col
Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg
+3
NMA
  • NMA
  • Advanced Member
22 December 2023 15:54:09

Just wish this incessant wind would stop, it's been going on for two solid days now. Usually not quite strong enough to be interesting but certainly strong enough to be thoroughly unpleasant.

Enough already!

Originally Posted by: Col 


I'll echo that. It seems an age since there was a calm day here. Technically mild at 11C but unpleasantly chilly in the nagging breeze. 
Lovely sunset this evening though through the clouds.
Vale of the Great Dairies
South Dorset
Elevation 60m 197ft
The Beast from the East
22 December 2023 16:57:20
Looks like an horrific end to the year, mild very wet and windy. 

 
"We have some alternative facts for you"
Kelly-Ann Conway - special adviser to the President
The Beast from the East
22 December 2023 17:01:04

The grotesque start to winter continues. Ice followed by cold and wet then mild and cloudy now wind. Relentless garbage and everything I despise the most 😴

Storm Pia? Who came up with that? It's making me think of the excruicating song 'I am the Music Man' which is appropriate because the weather nowadays is the equivalent of having to constantly listen to that atrocity playing in a never ending loop. How long can it be endured before it breaks you completely?

Temperatures are horrific as 2015 but with more rain and less sun. It's beyond vile. Yet again the temperature is failing to drop in the evening due to wind. It’s beyond tedious. How the hell can it have got so difficult to even get a frost? 🤬

Even in 2015 it got down to -2.0C on the 13th, 0.5C on the 11th and 0.7C on the 14th  whereas there hasn't been a single frost since the 6th and only one min below 2C with nothing below 1C 🙄

2023 has to have had the worst winter months of any year in recorded history. December seemingly on track to be the wettest winter month I've known, no measurable snow in any of the three months and just 11 frosts with February having none at all. The previous worst year in my records was 2020 when the three months still got a total of 18 frosts with a snow cover on Christmas Eve.  To be struggling to get two thirds of the very worst is beyond the pale. Even 1989 wouldn't have been this bad as December was cold with a lot of frost but not much snow. Perhaps only 1932 could be comparable to this complete and utter dross.

The 2020s are so bad they almost make the bland and uninteresting preceding two decades seem appealing by comparison. It's just completely killed any lingering interest and enthusiasm for the weather in this woeful country. A never ending endurance test 🤢
 

Originally Posted by: richardabdn 



I have given up on winters. only SSWs can provide any interest and disrupt the jet enough to allow blocking for a brief period. 

If we cant have snow I would rather we had no winter at all, perhaps a southern med climate, which is perhaps where we are heading with accelerated climate change
 
"We have some alternative facts for you"
Kelly-Ann Conway - special adviser to the President
#climate #snow #coldwinter #globalwarming #jetstream #El-Nino

Remove ads from site

Ads