The arrival of Spring

[Len W]

Not sure how one gauges this. Perhaps the first time we get a 20°C+.

Below shows this temp. arriving in Wembury earlier over the period since 1986.

It averages at 5 May.

Last year it was the earliest ever at 8th Apr.

The latest it's been is 5th June in 1996.

Len

Wembury, SW Devon

[Julian Mayes]

Len, I am intrigued that you suggest a rather fickle measure of warmth - especially for those of you living in exposed, maritime locations - though an article on the timing of such events would be interesting.  When I used to measure temperatures on the Welsh coast, the approach to 20C was a cause for occasional rejoicing, an that was usually in summer!   People seem to expect warmth in spring and hence hold onto ridiculous definitions of spring, including the spring equinox.  

I gauge it by looking for St. David's Day on the calendar :)  It seems to be perfect climatically, for us in the south, at least.   Alternatively, how about the 10-day running mean of mean daily temperature exceeding 6C - the grass growth threshold, or maybe a little higher?  Maybe 6C but not allowed before mid-February?  

Julian 

Molesey (well into spring here).   

[Len W]

I agree Julian. One could choose any temperature. It is more a personal feeling of warmth when 20° is reached.

It is a one shot indicator, just as the number of air frosts in a winter is sometimes used as an indicator of how cold that winter was.

Not a very robust way of gauging how cold the winter was.

However the graphic does show an interesting trend which ties in with the trend for warmer springs (MAM) shown below.

Len

Wembury (waiting for spring here, there still looks like a Polar low is a possibility 😉 😉 )

[Graham Easterling]

Definitely felt like Spring yesterday, in prolonged sunshine, light winds, and a maximum of 14.0C.

Top of Sancreed Beacon, 3 miles from Penzance, 14:00 yesterday. North coast cliffs just beyond the hills on the horizon

Distant frontal cloud to the SE much of the day.

Lovely sunny start again today. The cold sea does help boost our sunshine at this time of the year. Inland cloud development is mainly to the east, tends to be limited over the Lands End peninsula.

Graham

Penzance 

[Graham Easterling]

Stunning morning again, just off here for a stroll (Pic 11:05)

A bit breezy, but no real change in the wind strength yet.

Graham

Penzance