I think that is a perception of the weather pattern rather than a measurable phenomenon. Doubtless it is possible to get a short run of "unlucky" cycles where the weekends have worse weather but this is just a coincidence and over the long term it all averages out.

If this were real there would be a known long term 7 day cycle with quantifiable data and a cause.

The thing with the so-called 'weekend curse' is we simply notice more when poor weather coincides with the weekend. After a fine week on Friday evening cloud starts spilling in heralding a wet Saturday - Typical, you think to yourself, just in time for the weekend! But nobody notices this happening on a Tuesday night before a wet Wednesday. It would be interesting for me to have a look at my own records to see if the weekend weather really is any worse on average than during the week and hopefully disprove the weekend curse, well for my area at least. I don't think you'll ever convince Richard though!

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The weekend curse is a valid point when it comes to human perception, which is more about the amount of usable weather we get in our free time!  It hasn’t really applied to me as I work short hours in the summer and have had time to enjoy many weekdays in the garden this year hence, it’s been a good summer for me.  Which is probably why human experience can be at odds with stats.  

On the other hand, stats don’t change once they’ve been recorded, whereas memory is unreliable.  When I were a lass, summers were sunnier and winters were snowier!  Actually, they weren’t but I remember the odd special occasion when the weather sticks in my mind and that clouds my judgement.  

The most extreme weather has been during my adult life, not my childhood.  In June 2007, the local river flooded for the first time in my life.  We had the heaviest and longest lasting snow in 2010, although I experienced the sixties winters.  Summer 2018 was one of the best, although I experienced 1976 and 1959.  July 25th 2019 broke temperature records here and this summer will go down in my memory as a very good one because there were so many usable days. 

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Manchester Summer Indices

1954 143

1907 147

1956 155

1912 156

1924 158

2012 164

2008 168

1987 169

1946 170

1909 171

1931 173

1978 173

1980 173

1920 174

1923 174

2007 174

1927 175

1948 176

1938 177

1922 178

2011 179

1985 180

1958 184

1972 185

1916 188

1986 189

1965 189

2016 189

1910 190

1936 190

1988 191

2010 191

1966 192

1998 192

2017 192

2019 192 (up to 16th August)

1953 193

1963 194

1993 194

2009 194

1902 195

1915 196

1981 196

1928 197

1962 197

1964 197

2004 197

1952 198

2000 198

1930 199

1974 199

1979 199

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And it's raining yet again here in Wharfedale. Although we get some sunshine, usually afternoons, I don't think we've had a sunny start to a day this month and only 2 dry days out of 17!! Rainfall totals around these parts are now over 150mm. August is fast becoming my least favourite month!

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I think that is a perception of the weather pattern rather than a measurable phenomenon. Doubtless it is possible to get a short run of "unlucky" cycles where the weekends have worse weather but this is just a coincidence and over the long term it all averages out.

If this were real there would be a known long term 7 day cycle with quantifiable data and a cause.

 

No it's not just perception. It is a measured fact that the summer weekends see worse weather than weekdays. Only two years since 2007 - 2015 and 2017 - have seen sunnier weekend weather than weekdays and in several of the summers the difference has been considerable.

Here are my records from 2007:

Year, Weekday sun, Weekend sun, overall sun

2007	4.30	2.63	3.83
2008	4.79	4.04	4.57
2009	5.73	4.87	5.49
2010	4.93	4.52	4.82
2011	4.78	3.93	4.54
2012	3.41	3.31	3.38
2013	6.26	6.11	6.22
2014	5.72	4.76	5.44
2015	5.22	5.44	5.28
2016	4.83	4.53	4.74
2017	4.72	5.70	5.00
2018	6.95	5.94	6.66
2019	5.90	5.03	5.63

It doesn't average out over time as there has been an 11% difference in daily sunshine average between weekend and weekday over the 13 year period (5.18 v 4.68). More than backs up my frequent complaints about having to sit in a stifling office when it's sunny outside only to wake up to grim overcast come the weekend. Not so much of a difference with rainfall.

As for today, after a promising start it's turned to crap again and I just got soaked by a shower. No 'Weekend Curse' this month as it's just dreadful all the time.  11 days in a row of this now 

 

 

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I don't like this Moaning and gloating thread. thread. Haven't had much chance to do any mooning with all the rain of late.

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A lovely day on the Lizard Pilot Gig rowing. Early cloud gave way to blue sky and the cove at Cadgwith was sheltered from the fresh breeze.

What a change a day makes.

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I don't like this Moaning and gloating thread. thread. Haven't had much chance to do any mooning with all the rain of late.

Well, it won't be long now before it will be time to start the autumn moaning thread (I see that Netweather have already started their autumn moaning thread, having done so back in July). Once that it comes to that time, that would probably just be a moaning thread as I would expect there to be too many reasons for gloating there.

 

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Another very useable day today.  Dry thus far.

and August to date -

Mean max - 22.4

overall mean 18.2 (+0.5c)

Sunshine (poor) 100hrs

Rain - 38mm 

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Nice day, with only a few spots of rain this morning.

Even managed a BBQ tonight.

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17th July-16th August 2019: provisionally 201mm for the region. This wet spell all started on the 17th July

How does that compare to 31 day calendar months for the region?

Wettest January on record: 227.8mm in 1928

Wettest March on record: 178.3 mm in 1981

Wettest May on record: 141.2mm in  1924

Wettest July on record: 171.1mm in 1988

Wettest August on record: 238.4mm in  1956

Wettest October on record: 233.7 mm in 1967

Wettest December on record: 271.6mm in  2015

So that period is up there amongst the wettest spells ever recorded during summer.

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Manchester Summer Indices 

1954 143
1907 147
1956 155
1912 156
1924 158
2012 164
2008 168
1987 169
1946 170
1909 171
1931 173
1978 173
1980 173
1920 174
1923 174
2007 174
1927 175
1948 176
1938 177
1922 178
2011 179
1985 180
1958 184
1972 185
1916 188
1986 189
1965 189
2016 189
1910 190
1936 190
1988 191
2010 191
2019 191 (up to 19th August)
1966 192
1998 192
2017 192
1953 193
1963 194
1993 194
2009 194
1902 195
1915 196
1981 196
1928 197
1962 197
1964 197
2004 197
1952 198
2000 198
1930 199
1974 199
1979 199 

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This has to be up there with the most stupefyingly boring and non-descript months of all time. It's utterly dire - nothing of interest is happening and it's not at all pleasant.

It's just day after day of cloudy skies, moderate temperatures and nuisance value rain. It's not reached 22C, there's been one night below 8C, no day has recorded 12 hours of sun and there has been just 38.6mm rain but only four completely dry days.

The 'blandification' of the climate intensifies 

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Not been that bad here really over the past week - a couple of days were washouts but the rest were decent with only a few showers and sunny spells with temperatures of 19-20C which is a bit below average but could be worse. Rainfall is sitting at around 43-44mm here, which isn’t bad at all when the LTA for August here is 58mm. 

This month should finish comfortably warmer than average based on the current warm output. Not dissimilar to last August really but probably cloudier. Even warm summer months in recent years have tended to be rather cloudy.

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Just had our daily cloud burst. It's become part of the summer really. No matter what the forecast is for the day, there will always be at least one spell of rain

Latest from Manston for August thus far... 18.0 mean, (+0.2) average max 22.3, 46mm of rain, sunshine disappointing at 127 hours.

So far then,  slightly warmer and drier than average but a dearth of sunshine, though the next 10 days may alter that stat in particular.

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Our Local station reporting about 90mm of rain and 100 hours of sunshine so far, I really don't see how the CET justifies itself at least for our area,, because of late below than average temps.

I have next week booked off, so wonder how long this settled spell will last..........

A level 2 heatwave alert is in place for East of England and South East England - London is not part of the warning where they remain on level 1

Current watch level: Level 2 - Alert and Readiness

Issued at: 09:26 on Wed 21 Aug 2019

There is a 70 % probability of heat health criteria being met between 1800 on Saturday and 0900 on Tuesday in parts of England.

High pressure will start to build over the south of England, allowing temperatures to gradually rise into the weekend, with the warmest temperatures in the south and east of England. Maximum temperatures on Saturday are likely to be near the threshold, but then a warm night is expected on Saturday night, with temperatures reaching thresholds from Saturday evening and onwards into the Bank Holiday weekend.

An update will be issued when the alert level changes in any region. Alerts are issued once a day by 0900 if required and are not subject to amendment in between standard issue times. Note that the details of the forecast weather are valid at the time of issue but may change over the period that an alert remains in force. These details will not be updated here unless the alert level also changes, the latest forecast details can be obtained at the following link: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/#?tab=map 

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/heat-health/#?tab=heatHealth

Wettest summer for the region, provisionally, since 2012.

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Updated heatwave warning

Level 3

• East of England

Level 2

• South East England
• East Midlands
• Yorkshire and the Humber

Level 1 - No heatwave warning

• London
• Southwest England
• West Midlands
• Northwest England
• Northeast England

Current watch level: Level 3 - Heatwave Action

Issued at: 08:55 on Fri 23 Aug 2019

There is a 90 % probability of heat health criteria being met between 0900 on Saturday and 0900 on Monday in parts of England.

High pressure will build across England, bringing very warm or hot conditions to many parts of the country during Saturday and Sunday. Highest temperatures look to be across the eastern England, with western parts turning less hot Sunday. Into Monday, fresher air is now expected to gradually move eastwards across the country, although it will remain very warm for some eastern parts.

An update will be issued when the alert level changes in any region. Alerts are issued once a day by 0900 if required and are not subject to amendment in between standard issue times. Note that the details of the forecast weather are valid at the time of issue but may change over the period that an alert remains in force. These details will not be updated here unless the alert level also changes, the latest forecast details can be obtained at the following link: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/#?tab=map 

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/heat-health/#?tab=heatHealth