Amazing consistency in recent days from GEFS and ECM ENS.
Someone on X (I think) mentioned similarities with October - November 1988. Reanalysis charts from here
Originally Posted by: Brian Gaze
Ugh. Following the lovely snowy early to mid 80s, winter 87/88 and 88/89 shattered my world view - and showed that my old gran (in her 60s!) was actually right when she said that some years it didn't even snow.
That said, if there's one thing we've learned over the past 25 years or so it's that pattern matching doesn't really work reliably. There's always
something that pops up to skew things, most easily noticed in the event of pattern matching throwing up a cold outcome in winter.
The fact the AI models show a slightly better accuracy compared to deterministic/traditional ensemble forecasting is interesting, mind you, and perhaps there's potential if we improve our understanding more.
The only thing that's certain, it seems, is that it's going to be a very dull and mild week ahead for most of us. It's a pity in a way that the sun can't make more of an appearance, as with 850s widely into double figures - on a par with August's average - it would perhaps get into the high teens or even 20C, which would be noteworthy.
(And despite it all, I've no complaints really. It's nice to not be wondering whether the neighbour's fence is going to blow down again, or whether that bit of the main road will flood again due to blocked drains!)