Heatwave No. 2 has begun

[Len W]

Max 25°C here today

Likely to beat in length the 4-day heatwave of July

but not exceed the record max of 33.5°C.

We shall see.

Len

Wembury, SW Devon coast

83 m asl

[Nick Gardner]

I reckon my record of 31.4°C is in danger as the winds will be coming ENE and if the sea breeze fails.... Warm today with a maximum of 29.1°C and unbroken sunshine again.

--
Nick Gardner
Otter Valley, Devon
20 m amsl
http://www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk

[Graham Easterling]

My temperature record is 29.7C on 17th July 2006. There was a moderate F3-4 onshore SE wind during the peak of the last heatwave, my highest temperature being 28.6C on 18th.

This time the wind is forecast to be more down the spine of the peninsula and the surface of the sea will have a longer period to warm, so I think there is potential for it to be hotter than in July at this location. Also the air is so stable any sea breeze will be suppressed. It's normally hottest here late afternoon as the later developing north coast sea breeze kills the south coast one, and the wind tends to back from SE to NE.

The MetO has shown that tendency rather well this year, it never used to. One of the upgrades is working!

Graham

Penzance (20.2C @09:00)  

[Graham Easterling]

29C forecast for Penzance by the MetO for tomorrow. It's just topped 28C (17:30) the wind is now offshore.

I've only recorded >29C once (since 1991)

Graham

Penzance

On Monday, 8 August 2022 at 20:24:23 UTC+1 Len W wrote:

[Nick Gardner]

Reached 30.6°C here today under frequent lulls when the sea breeze failed. The dewpoints this year have been nowhere near as high as last year, probably as a result of the lack of rainfall and meant that it hasn't felt so oppressive. Maximum dewpoint today was 18°C. The nights have also been cooler.

My record of 31.4°C could be reached or surpassed tomorrow. Always depnds on that sea breeze - will it materialise of not.

One thing I noticed today was the deepness of the pristine blue sky and the intensity of the sunshine. It reminded me more of southern Europe such as Portugal, Greece or even the Canary Islands. It was lovely to walk outside and be enveloped by such dazzingly bright sunshine.

--
Nick Gardner
Otter Valley, Devon
20 m amsl
http://www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk  

[Len W]

29.8°C max here today

15.4°C min.

I doubt my record max of 33.5°C will be broken.

Nonetheless, this is quite a lengthy heatwave.

Len

Wembury

[Graham Easterling]

I'm surprised there is no heat alert for all of Cornwall (except the east side of the Lizard which will be cooler, as is the case for Torbay). 

Forecast for Penzance, right on the tip is 29C today, 28C tomorrow, similar to places further east with a heat alert. Looking at Plymouth, in the heat alert area, forecast max is 29C today.. The north coast of Cornwall  will be hotter, Bude could end up in the mid 30s again.. 

The last heatwave was shortlived, peaked at 28.6C, saw a blustery cooling E breeze & did have a health alert. This one is more of a major event  here.

My record of 29.6C is under real threat. I believe the all time official record for Penzance is 29.7C, (In the old days PE would confirm if I was correct, he was a walking meteorological encyclopaedia!)

Graham

Penzance

[Ken Cook]

Hi, Graham,

Yes, Philip would have known!

No heat alert for Copley either with around 30C expected today, mind we're used to heat here ;-)

Ken

Copley, 253m

Teesdale / Weardale watershed

[Graham Easterling]

Good to hear from you Ken. You're tough up north, though I'm sure Norman will be suffering!

Newquay cliff top airport, not in the heat alert area, 26C @ 09:45, just about the warmest spot in the UK at that time. Bit hot for Devon & Cornwall's biggest music festival. https://www.boardmasters.com/gallery

Nights are also very warm here now, with the SST so high.

Graham

Penzance

[Freddie]

On Thursday, 11 August 2022 at 09:35:53 UTC+1 Graham Easterling wrote:

I'm surprised there is no heat alert for all of Cornwall (except the east side of the Lizard which will be cooler, as is the case for Torbay). 

Forecast for Penzance, right on the tip is 29C today, 28C tomorrow, similar to places further east with a heat alert. Looking at Plymouth, in the heat alert area, forecast max is 29C today.. The north coast of Cornwall  will be hotter, Bude could end up in the mid 30s again.. 

The last heatwave was shortlived, peaked at 28.6C, saw a blustery cooling E breeze & did have a health alert. This one is more of a major event  here.

My record of 29.6C is under real threat. I believe the all time official record for Penzance is 29.7C, (In the old days PE would confirm if I was correct, he was a walking meteorological encyclopaedia!)

There are two alerts/warnings out at the moment - the heat health alert (currently level 3) and the NSWWS extreme heat warning (currently amber).

The heat health alert is the one that is based on purely meteorological factors and is tied to the departure from averages (both maxima and minima), and is issued when the thresholds are due to be breached.  It is provided for health and social care professionals, and for emergency planners to take preparatory action.  Note that there is another higher level (four) than the one currently in force - this is used when a prolonged hot spell becomes severe.  This service only applies to England (including Cornwall ;) ).

The NSWWS extreme heat warning is issued when impacts to areas in addition to (but including) health are expected.  Road and rail, for example.  It depends on specific temperature thresholds (not necessarily air - rail and road surface temperatures, for example) and the impacts they will bring to particular areas and services, and is not related to departure from normal air temperatures.  As with other NSWWS warnings, it is purely impact driven, and has input from several agencies - not just meteorologists.  So the Met Office issue it on behalf of many bodies on their advice.  This service is nationwide.

So, to answer your question, the bodies that advise on the impacts of the current hot spell don't think that all areas will be adversely affected - hence the NSWWS area not covering everywhere.

-- 
Freddie
Alcaston
Shropshire
148m AMSL
http://www.hosiene.co.uk/weather/
Stats for the month so far: https://www.hosiene.co.uk/weather/statistics/alcaston/latest.xlsx

[Graham Easterling]

Well, records have fallen here in Penzance, and easily at the Land's End site. (See my other post) Temperatures in west Cornwall today comparable with sites which are in the alert area (in fact higher here at night & much of the morning) where temperatures this high are far less unusual.

It's a bit like when I asked the MetO why there was no warning for 'the biggest sea in living memory' (according to the Sennen lifeboat coxswain) on the north coast of Cornwall, and was told conditions didn't reach threshold conditions. These were the conditions http://www.sennen-cove.com/10march08.htm

There's nothing wrong with getting forecasts wrong, there is in not admitting it.

Graham

Penzance

[Freddie]

On Thursday, 11 August 2022 at 16:03:31 UTC+1 Graham Easterling wrote:

Well, records have fallen here in Penzance, and easily at the Land's End site. (See my other post) Temperatures in west Cornwall today comparable with sites which are in the alert area (in fact higher here at night & much of the morning) where temperatures this high are far less unusual.

It's a bit like when I asked the MetO why there was no warning for 'the biggest sea in living memory' (according to the Sennen lifeboat coxswain) on the north coast of Cornwall, and was told conditions didn't reach threshold conditions. These were the conditions http://www.sennen-cove.com/10march08.htm

There's nothing wrong with getting forecasts wrong, there is in not admitting it.

It's totally different, Graham - and that was the point of my post.  As far as I can see, the forecast is spot on - the location max for Penzance is 30, identical to your reading.  The MetO may have the forecast correct, but whether a warning is issued for a particular area is down to far more than the Met Office.  If the risk of impacts isn't high enough then the warning won't cover that area.  You should bear in mind that the warning is a result of a multi-agency analysis, and that the Met Office is just delivering the message.  I haven't a scooby about why the warning doesn't cover all of Cornwall - if it was purely down to air temperature then it would be plainly incorrect not to have a warning out.  But there is more to it than just temperatures.

[Nick Gardner]

Phew, wot a scorcher! Broke my previous record today set in July last year, it reached 34.0°C and with a dewpoint of 18.0°C at the time, it felt rather sticky. Looking at the downloaded data from the AWS, the temperature peaked in the lull just before the late arrival of the sea breeze at 14:25. Then the temperature and humidity dropped back.

--
Nick Gardner
Otter Valley, Devon
20 m amsl
http://www.ottervalleyweather.me.uk

[Len W]

Max temp. continues to climb here.

32.4°C today.

That makes it a 4-day heatwave thus far with temps above 25°C

Will it beat my record 33.5° by Saturday?

Len

Wembury

[Len W]

The heatwave has officially ended here in SW Devon.

Max today only 21°C so not the magic 25°C which it has been for 8 consecutive days.

This has been the longest heatwave since 1989 when we had 14 days 11-24 July.

Have people forgotten about that one?

This heatwave was hotter though with average max of 29.3°C compared with 27.1°C in 1989.

Len

Wembury, SW Devon