To be fair, I went for 18*C based on signals in the middle part of June (as I was going away on holiday). The signals for a warm month had been there for several weeks prior to it getting underway.
I still have a wisp of hope that next week will feature a warmer day or two to reduce the damage, as the Atlantic trough takes a bit longer to arrive from the west than originally projected. ECM and UKMO have delivered good 12z op runs in that regard.
Amazingly, my local mean isn't all that much higher than the CET, standing at 17.68*C up to yesterday. The gap may open up more over the coming few days though, with conditions looking to be on the warm side in the far south.
I think this month stands as a great example as to why this competition is very nearly independent of forecasting skill, meaning anyone that has some idea how the first week or so may pan out (which can be gathered from various model output and media outlooks) has a fair chance of doing well. Even then, the advantage over those taking a total guess is reduced greatly by the unpredictability of the remaining 2/3 of the month.
The upshot is that there's very little discrimination being effected by the rules, allowing for large numbers of people to take part without worrying about feeling like underdogs
It also makes clear that it's a bad idea to take this game seriously. I made that mistake a few years ago and life was... tarnished
Originally Posted by: Stormchaser