Adam Lea said:Quoted message said:August is typically a wet summer month.
Quoted message said:Bear in mind that this August had on average twice the normal
rainfall, so it was exceptionally wet.
Which parts of the UK had twice the normal rainfall? And twice the
normal rainfall for which parts of the UK?
I say this because I didn't think it was particularly wet in Wales this
year, not South Wales anyway. I saw lots of rain in the northern parts
of the country in forecasts, but we didn't get that much down here, not
noticeably more than usual anyway.
Also, Wales typically gets more rain anyway, compared to England, so
even if England got twice as much as usual, that's not necessarily twice
as much as Wales usually gets.
Maybe your figures refer to the whole of the UK, but from my perspective
August in South Wales seemed pretty typical to me. Wet but no more so
than usual. But then again I haven't been keeping measurements so maybe
my perception is wrong. It was definitely less sunny than usual though,
and much cooler.
I've just checked some weather archives and found that many Augusts
suffer unusually high rainfall, often localised and causing flooding
while other places nearby remain dry, whilst in other years some Augusts
can be extremely dry. I think the bottom line is that August is
typically a very variable month from one year to the next, so it often
varies a lot from the average.
Quoted message said:Most of the rain does not come
from ex-hurricanes as we only typically get one or two over the whole
month.
True, but a large percentage of the monthly rainfall total can be due to
that. The other main cause is from short localised heavy downpours,
often during thunderstorms.
Quoted message said:I think that when the weatherpeople say that summer has returned,
they mean that weather that the average public would associate with
summer has returned i.e. nice sunny weather.
I know that's what they mean, but it surprises me that so many people
associate August with sunshine and are surprised when it rains. I
associate August with sunshine *and* rain. In the 19 years since I've
been keeping records of all my photography I've found heavy rain to be a
common theme in August. The sunny months tend to be May, June and July.
Quoted message said:This summer has, over
most of the country, been pants,
In the north perhaps, but not especially bad down here IMO.
Quoted message said:more typical of autumn,
How dare you accuse this naff summer of being like my favourite season!
:-)
This summer has been nothing like autumn, it's been like a typical bad
summer. Even when wet it hasn't been cold, nor has it been particularly
windy. Frost and gales are typical of autumn, plus wonderfully clear
cool sunshine, not at all like the hot hazy stuff you get in summer.
No, it hasn't been remotely like autumn. If it had I'd have been
dashing around taking photos and having a great time.
Quoted message said:now we are
in September we are experiencing weather more typical of July/August.
I disagree, it's more typical of June/July, not August. August sunshine
tends to be much hotter (often up to 30 degrees) and much hazier. So
far this sunshine has been very clear, more typical of September
sunshine (September is often a very sunny month).
Quoted message said:Hence the expression "summer has returned".
Yeah I understand the expression, but it's still incorrect and
misleading. It was hotter yesterday than is typical for September
though, I will give you that. If it keeps up (and they say it will for
most of the week) it may well become hazy like August sunshine.
Paul
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