Can't see the nice summers day for the heatwave...

[xmetman]

It seems to me that because of next Tuesday's impending heatwave, which most of the media and the Met Office seem so fixated on, we seem to miss glorious summer days like we are experiencing over the bulk of England. Temperatures are just perfect and probably just a shade above average and there's a good refreshing breeze blowing, truly a glorious 12th of August that's if you're not any type of game bird that is.

╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗

║             Highest Air Temperature [°C]            ║

║          1100 UTC on Friday, 12 August 2016         ║

║                    In WMO Block 03                  ║

╠═══╤═══════╤═════════════════════════╤═══════╤═══════╣

║ # │  WMO  │         Station         │   °C  │   °F  ║

╟───┼───────┼─────────────────────────┼───────┼───────╢

║ 01│ 03797 │RAF Manston              │  24.9 │  76.8 ║

║ 02│ 03772 │London Heathrow          │  23.5 │  74.3 ║

║ 03│ 03590 │RAF Wattisham            │  23.3 │  73.9 ║

║   │ 03693 │Shoeburyness             │  23.3 │  73.9 ║

║ 04│ 03469 │RAF Holbeach             │  23.1 │  73.6 ║

║ 05│ 03488 │Weybourne                │  23.0 │  73.4 ║

║   │ 03784 │Gravesend-Broadness      │  23.0 │  73.4 ║

║ 06│ 03482 │RAF Marham               │  22.9 │  73.2 ║

║ 07│ 03770 │London St James Park     │  22.7 │  72.9 ║

║ 08│ 03658 │RAF Benson               │  22.6 │  72.7 ║

║ 09│ 03672 │RAF Northolt             │  22.4 │  72.3 ║

║   │ 03862 │Bournemouth              │  22.4 │  72.3 ║

║ 10│ 03391 │RAF Coningsby            │  22.3 │  72.1 ║

║ 11│ 03392 │Wainfleet                │  22.2 │  72.0 ║

║ 12│ 03560 │Thurleigh                │  22.1 │  71.8 ║

║ 13│ 03853 │Yeovilton                │  21.9 │  71.4 ║

║   │ 03462 │RAF Wittering            │  21.9 │  71.4 ║

║ 14│ 03535 │Coleshill                │  21.8 │  71.2 ║

║   │ 03768 │Farnborough              │  21.8 │  71.2 ║

║   │ 03680 │Rothamsted               │  21.8 │  71.2 ║

║ 15│ 03649 │RAF Brize Norton         │  21.6 │  70.9 ║

║ 16│ 03746 │Boscombe Down            │  21.5 │  70.7 ║

║ 17│ 03872 │Thorney Island           │  21.4 │  70.5 ║

║   │ 03379 │RAF Cranwell             │  21.4 │  70.5 ║

║   │ 03769 │Charlwood                │  21.4 │  70.5 ║

║   │ 03844 │Exeter Airport           │  21.4 │  70.5 ║

║ 18│ 03544 │Church Lawford           │  21.3 │  70.3 ║

║ 19│ 03743 │Larkhill                 │  21.2 │  70.2 ║

║ 20│ 03660 │High Wycombe             │  21.0 │  69.8 ║

║   │ 03385 │Donna Nook               │  21.0 │  69.8 ║

║   │ 03761 │RAF Odiham               │  21.0 │  69.8 ║

╚═══╧═══════╧═════════════════════════╧═══════╧═══════╝

                 Data courtesy of OGIMET       

╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗

║               Highest Hourly Radiation              ║

║          1100 UTC on Friday, 12 August 2016         ║

║                    In WMO Block 03                  ║

╠═══╤═══════╤═════════════════════════╤═══════╤═══════╣

║ # │  WMO  │         Station         │  hrad │       ║

╟───┼───────┼─────────────────────────┼───────┼───────╢

║ 01│ 03772 │London Heathrow          │ 2,942 │   817 ║

║ 02│ 03354 │Nottingham               │ 2,770 │   769 ║

║ 03│ 03462 │RAF Wittering            │ 2,757 │   766 ║

║ 04│ 03761 │RAF Odiham               │ 2,756 │   766 ║

║ 05│ 03769 │Charlwood                │ 2,735 │   760 ║

║ 06│ 03590 │RAF Wattisham            │ 2,734 │   759 ║

║   │ 03680 │Rothamsted               │ 2,734 │   759 ║

║ 07│ 03872 │Thorney Island           │ 2,732 │   759 ║

║ 08│ 03862 │Bournemouth              │ 2,713 │   754 ║

║   │ 03853 │Yeovilton                │ 2,713 │   754 ║

║   │ 03469 │RAF Holbeach             │ 2,713 │   754 ║

║ 09│ 03535 │Coleshill                │ 2,708 │   752 ║

║ 10│ 03647 │Little Rissington        │ 2,687 │   746 ║

║ 11│ 03377 │RAF Waddington           │ 2,659 │   739 ║

║ 12│ 03520 │Shobdon                  │ 2,639 │   733 ║

║ 13│ 03560 │Thurleigh                │ 2,626 │   729 ║

║ 14│ 03302 │RAF Valley               │ 2,621 │   728 ║

║   │ 03844 │Exeter Airport           │ 2,621 │   728 ║

║ 15│ 03544 │Church Lawford           │ 2,619 │   728 ║

║ 16│ 03797 │RAF Manston              │ 2,615 │   726 ║

║ 17│ 03382 │Leconfield               │ 2,564 │   712 ║

║ 18│ 03882 │Herstmonceux West        │ 2,540 │   706 ║

║ 19│ 03781 │Kenley                   │ 2,527 │   702 ║

║ 20│ 03414 │RAF Shawbury             │ 2,524 │   701 ║

╚═══╧═══════╧═════════════════════════╧═══════╧═══════╝

                 Data courtesy of OGIMET               

        

[Richard Dixon]

Today's the day that may well could swing the Test Match back in favour: glorious bright, breezy, dry batting day after yesterday's cloudier day. And then a possible switch to much more cloud around tomorrow when England may have to reply and the ball might start doing stuff...how the weather can have a big influence on cricket results...

Richard

[xmetman]

Spoke too soon here in mid-Devon, as the thin sheet of SC with a base of around 2000 feet has now finally edged in from the west. 

This looks like a case of deja vu as the very same thing happened last Saturday afternoon to spoil what was till them a beautiful day.

[Nick Gardner]

On Friday, 12 August 2016 14:37:20 UTC+1, xmetman wrote:

Spoke too soon here in mid-Devon, as the thin sheet of SC with a base of around 2000 feet has now finally edged in from the west. 

This looks like a case of deja vu as the very same thing happened last Saturday afternoon to spoil what was till them a beautiful day.

Unbroken sunshine here all day Bruce, and a maximum of 25.1C to go with it.

It never fails to amaze me the differences in weather/climates you experience in the South West. The dryness, sunshine and warmth of the south coastal strip and hinterland seems a world apart from the heart of Devon and Cornwall. I was doing site visits around Launceston today and they appear to have had a much wetter summer there judging by how green everything is. Driving back from there to Exeter the thermometer rose 8C and the conditions changed from cool and dull to blue skies and strong sunshine. It seems to me that when I drive along the A30 heading west, the weather deteriorates just west of Exeter reaching its gloomiest from Okehampton to Bodmin before recovering as you head down towards Penzance.

A warm and sunny evening.

[xmetman]

Nick

The SC rolled in and by six it had dispersed again. I could see that the coast to the south looked clear. I don't think we will be so lucky tomorrow though.

Bruce.

[Paul Garvey]

Same in Dawlish and walking to Exeter along the canal path from Turf Locks. What weather! Me and the missus have decided to issue a joint  declaration that if next week is mainly sunny and dry, this will have been a good summer in South Devon. 

[Keith (Southend)]

14.27 hours of sunshine for me today near to Southend Airport.

Keith (Southend)

[Scott Whitehead]

Because of the conditions I've been keeping an eye on the hourly readings of a few of the climate stations in the London area and have compared them with my own output in Wanstead.

Highs to 6pm
Wanstead 28.1C
Heathrow 27.7C
Laindon 27.6C
St James Park 27.4C
Gravesend 27.3C   
Northolt 27C  

[Trevor Harley]

And east Scotland too! I was sitting outside at 9 am this morning. It's gone downhill a bit but pleasant enough. Although IN PRINCIPLE I love hot days, IN PRACTICE 19.4C in the sun is quite enough.

You are spot on that we spend so much time speculating about tomorrow's weather that we often miss today's.

Trevor

[John Hall]

Yes, Bruce, Friday was a glorious day. Even for me, it was just the right side of being too hot.

I was wondering about the Highest Hourly Radiation table. Could there be something wrong with the Heathrow recorder? It seems surprising that its value should have beaten everywhere else by such a wide margin. Or could it conceivably have accidentally been the 12:00 value when everywhere else was for 11:00?

[xmetman]

Hi John 

Don't forget that the highest values will be earlier in the east when the sum is at its zenith, the maximum values will be a little later further west.

Bruce.

[John Hall]

I hadn't thought of that. However it takes 15 degrees of longitude for the time of the zenithal sun to differ by an hour, so given the limited EW spread of most of the stations listed it would only be a matter of 5 or 10 minutes at most. So I don't think it can account for a major portion of the considerable difference between the Heathrow reading and the rest. 

[Scott Whitehead]

Because the conditions were similar to Friday (a cloudyish start followed by a complete clearance at 11am)  I've been keeping an eye on the hourly temperatures around London again. Not surprisingly, given the NNE wind, the warmer areas were to the west of town.

Highs to 6pm
Northolt 25C
Heathrow 24.7C
Wanstead 24.4C
St James Park 23.7C
Laindon 22.6C
Gravesend 22.6C