The steady decline to Autumn Ally. Lets just hope that we can get a winter worth waiting for.

[/quote

]There is always next summer

 

The main focus of the higher upper air temperatures seems to have been further west than usual, too. Often in these type of set-ups it only really gives a glancing blow across the southeast of England while fresher air gets pulled in across the west. But this time round there has been quite a wide dome of warmer air pushing up from the south, even though the 850s haven't been all that high - only 14-15C at most.

 

You can see too that the shape of the high means that Ireland has been getting more of a southeasterly continental feed, keeping the Atlantic air at bay more than usual.

 

Any continental feed that might have come over Ireland only really did so late yesterday or earlier today.

(gif animation image may take a while to load)

The air mass which accompanied this high was Atlantic maritime that was forced to descend and circulate around over small areas.  I am not fully convinced that today's heat even came from the continent because even if the air flow is coming up from there now, the heat here itself was already firmly established. 

 

Any continental feed that might have come over Ireland only really did so late yesterday or earlier today.

 

(gif animation image may take a while to load)

 

 

The air mass which accompanied this high was Atlantic maritime that was forced to descend and circulate around over small areas.  I am not fully convinced that today's heat even came from the continent because even if the air flow is coming up from there now, the heat here itself was already firmly established. 

So what made this particular Atlantic Maritime air so warm? It may have been forced to descend and circulate locally but surely that happens often enough? Atlantic Maritime air is bog standard fare for us after all.

No idea Lionel, but I would pipe a guess and say that stagnation of the high had much to do with it. This anticyclone came in from the Atlantic and basically settled down right over us. It was also an unusually high high (if that makes sense) for the time of year, so those extra few milibars would no doubt have helped with keeping the air mass just that little bit more compressed than it normally would at the surface. All just my theory which is, as always, open to correction.

From here on in, its goodbye to summer.

No idea Lionel, but I would pipe a guess and say that stagnation of the high had much to do with it. This anticyclone came in from the Atlantic and basically settled down right over us. It was also an unusually high high (if that makes sense) for the time of year, so those extra few milibars would no doubt have helped with keeping the air mass just that little bit more compressed than it normally would at the surface. All just my theory which is, as always, open to correction.

There could be something in that. One thing that I have noticed is that(until today to a limited extent), we've had little or no sea breezes.  A sea breeze is generally one of the first things you'll see in a heatwave so that on itself is one of the unusual features of this spell.

 

There could be something in that. One thing that I have noticed is that(until today to a limited extent), we've had little or no sea breezes.  A sea breeze is generally one of the first things you'll see in a heatwave so that on itself is one of the unusual features of this spell.

 

 

The lack of sea breezes is certainly unusual and the far west coast of Ireland (the very exposed Mace Hd being an example) is getting up to 28c + the last couple of days, which would be unheard of even in more normal continental summer flows as the sea breezes tend to kick in there very quick. 

So what made this particular Atlantic Maritime air so warm? It may have been forced to descend and circulate locally but surely that happens often enough? Atlantic Maritime air is bog standard fare for us after all.

It's not really Atlantic maritime air and the 850mb level can sometimes be misleading. The near surface (950-1000mb) flow shows the air mass originating from the Gulf of Biscay and with some mixing from the west Med too, so a pretty warm and humid source. That together with the strength of the upper level ridge and time of the year has produced this heatwave in Ireland. If there was some more complex topography, then you could have much higher temps due to local katabatic impacts.

I don't have access to those 950-1000 hPa charts but even the 500hPa flow during this heatwave came straight from the Atlantic: (the Azores region)

19th:
https://i.ibb.co/Qk1KSMd/1.png

21st (yesterday)
https://i.ibb.co/4fgJyDT/2.png

(ECM Analysis)

I'm not going to dispute X's claim of lower air mass origin, but I know that when any air mass originates from Biscay/Europe/Med etc, they sky loses that raw Atlantic maritime look that we are all familiar with. This did not happen until today and it is now noticeable this evening with the sky now having that more poetic, dusky, hazy look (thought still raw clear at the surface level)

 

Any continental feed that might have come over Ireland only really did so late yesterday or earlier today.

 

(gif animation image may take a while to load)

 

 

The air mass which accompanied this high was Atlantic maritime that was forced to descend and circulate around over small areas.  I am not fully convinced that today's heat even came from the continent because even if the air flow is coming up from there now, the heat here itself was already firmly established. 

Thanks for the info  I hadn’t really looked beyond the 850mb and pressure maps but the shape of the high seemed quite unusual in that it extended a lot further west than we usually get, hence my thought that it helped to shield Ireland from the fresher air that usually comes up the west side of warm UK highs. 

Thanks for the info  I hadn’t really looked beyond the 850mb and pressure maps but the shape of the high seemed quite unusual in that it extended a lot further west than we usually get, hence my thought that it helped to shield Ireland from the fresher air that usually comes up the west side of warm UK highs. 

All theory really. You could be closer to the mark than me. 

But wherever this air mass came from, it can feck right off back to it. It is relentless and completely unenjoyable to be ether outside or in from it. It is just everywhere! 

 

All theory really. You could be closer to the mark than me. 

But wherever this air mass came from, it can feck right off back to it. It is relentless and completely unenjoyable to be ether outside or in from it. It is just everywhere! 

 Although less extreme it seems similiar in feel to the heatwave in PNW and Canada. No breeze and a real pressure cooker feel. Did this air mass originate from there?

 

All theory really. You could be closer to the mark than me. 

But wherever this air mass came from, it can feck right off back to it. It is relentless and completely unenjoyable to be ether outside or in from it. It is just everywhere! 

Interesting replies, Rob, Xioni and Chunky. All goes to show that the weather is rarely quite as straightforward as it might appear.

In contrast to you, Chunky, I'm quite happy with this weather. We see so much ordinary weather so I generally enjoy it when we get less common patterns and it's been lovely to get to the beach, even in the evening after work on a couple of occasions. Besides, you needn't worry - it may be just everywhere right now but it'll be a few years before we see this again.

 

 I just dont know what to say

I just looked at my calendar and worried I had overslept by a month or so. Let's face it, 30C is quite possible right up to the end of September so even if the next two weeks were a write-off (which I doubt they will be) that would still give us seven weeks where it could potentially be just as warm as today.

The Met Office extended forecast still looks pretty decent for August with talk of settling down and becoming drier and warmer towards mid month.

Saturday and Sunday look pretty poor for the south (but far from boring!) and after that it looks like standard English summer weather for a week or so to me - decently warm in the sun but always with the chance of a rogue shower.

 

 Although less extreme it seems similiar in feel to the heatwave in PNW and Canada. No breeze and a real pressure cooker feel. Did this air mass originate from there?

That thought actually did cross my mind a few times. I do wonder is this due in part to some residual, left over warmth from that region of the world that inevitably made its way over here? Interesting idea to consider. 

Lionel, I suppose how we view this weather is subjective, but I just cannot stand too much heat. The sunshine, which I am normally never to pushed about, has been most welcome after a very dull first half of the season, but this sunshine with temps a good 10c lower -ie, average! would have been far more enjoyable to me. 

And you are lucky to have a beach nearby! 

 

That thought actually did cross my mind a few times. I do wonder is this due in part to some residual, left over warmth from that region of the world that inevitably made its way over here? Interesting idea to consider. 

Lionel, I suppose how we view this weather is subjective, but I just cannot stand too much heat. The sunshine, which I am normally never to pushed about, has been most welcome after a very dull first half of the season, but this sunshine with temps a good 10c lower -ie, average! would have been far more enjoyable to me. 

And you are lucky to have a beach nearby! 

Yes, I am, though the days when I actually enjoy sitting on one near me are limited! And you are right of course about our subjectivity when it comes to weather. Part of what I like about this hot spell is the novelty of it. We know that we'll be back to normal next week. 

Finally, I'm sceptical about the Pacific heat having anything to do with our current spell, though on paper it seems to fit with the somewhat unusual character of this heatwave. Whatever chance of weather conditions arriving on our shores from the Eastern American coast without being totally modified, I think it's too much of a stretch to see a weather system arriving here intact not just across the Atlantic but all the way across the North American continent too.

 

Yes, I am, though the days when I actually enjoy sitting on one near me are limited! And you are right of course about our subjectivity when it comes to weather. Part of what I like about this hot spell is the novelty of it. We know that we'll be back to normal next week. 

Finally, I'm sceptical about the Pacific heat having anything to do with our current spell, though on paper it seems to fit with the somewhat unusual character of this heatwave. Whatever chance of weather conditions arriving on our shores from the Eastern American coast without being totally modified, I think it's too much of a stretch to see a weather system arriving here intact not just across the Atlantic but all the way across the North American continent too.

 

 Not saying intact , but is there remnants of extreme heat. I have done a bit of googling and cannot find any sort of link although i have not found any evidence it cannot happen,.

Castelderg was 28.3C at 2pm, outside chance of another 30C day but I think it will just fall short.

29.6c at 4pm can we make 7 days of 30c.