UK & Ireland Summer 2008 is now on course to be the wettest ever

[IrishGolfer]

I know we all bitch about our respective weather but here's some stuff I researched and put togther.

= = = =

The weather across the UK has been far from typical this summer. According to meteorologists this summer is now on course to be the wettest ever. This year some places had almost three times their expected rainfall.

It has been caused by a broad band of low pressure had been sitting across the UK, pushing the jet stream - a ribbon of fast moving air in the upper atmosphere - further south than usual, keeping high pressure and settled weather away from the UK.

In a normal summer the jet stream is to the north of the UK. This allows the Azores high to build across the UK and bring settled and more typical summer weather for the UK. However this summer the rain has been so intense due to the combination of warm moist air, the position of the jet stream and the fact that the storms have been relatively slow to move away.

Now with just a few days of summer left, forecasters say the dreary summer looks set to eclipse that of 1927 when a record 329mm of rainfall was recorded (~4mm per day!), more than double the average for the period. Northern Ireland managed a meagre 49.4 hours (or ~36 mins per day) over this period. To put it in context we have had:

• 10 dry days in June
• 3 dry days in July - For Fxxx Sake!!!
• and so far 6 dry days in Aug

...which makes 19 dry days out of the past 83 (up to 22 August 2007).

Localised flash flooding has been very common during the wettest July since 1888, which culminated in extensive, severe and protracted floodplain inundations, more damaging than the exceptional June floods and, in the worst affected areas, comparable with the extreme flooding of March 1947 (a snowmelt event).

The outstandingly wet summer soils allowed substantial aquifer recharge in some areas; a very rare circumstance in the context of the last 100 years. The limited time for large soil moisture deficits to become re-established implies an extended aquifer recharge season and an enhanced flood risk through the coming autumn and winter.

(= most golf courses are saturated!!!)

However on the positive statistics show that average temperatures, which include day and night, have been above average for every month since March 2006. Despite all the gloom and doom, temperatures are fairly normal for the time of year. In days gone by, a wet summer would invariably be cold, even with snow in July and frost in August.

So I think justifyably us Irish and Brits have something to moan about!! And it looks like those bastards in Iceland have nicked our Summer!!

[Bravo]

What a year for weather....the American upper Midwest is flooding and down here, we are in the worst drought in recorded history.

Ours (reportedly but with no citation I can reference here) has something do do with abnormal jet stream location as well. He have had a persistent high pressure system over us that had kept rains from moving in from the west....as a result, they are staying stationary in the midwest- causing flooding while at the same time, here we have no rain...

I'd hate to be a farmer in the British Isles, the American Midwest or Southeast....crops long gone.

[IrishGolfer]

Originally Posted by Bravo

I'd hate to be a farmer

So would I and it has little to do with the weather. Bloody hard work!!

[Bravo]

Here's the article about the flooding on this side of the pond....

Over 1,000 displaced by Midwest flooding - Yahoo! News

[IrishGolfer]

Some crazy stuff B

[Bravo]

And to add to the irony, I would estimate that I have around $1000 damage to my lawn. I am going to have to resod about a third of it next year at staggering prices. It is not dormant - it is DEAD. Sod prices next year are forecasted to be triple the normal because so many homeowners here have lost their lawns.

[VtDivot]

Originally Posted by Bravo

And to add to the irony, I would estimate that I have around $1000 damage to my lawn. I am going to have to resod about a third of it next year at staggering prices. It is not dormant - it is DEAD. Sod prices next year are forecasted to be triple the normal because so many homeowners here have lost their lawns.

Is it possible to reseed instead???

[Clugnut]

Crazy weather everywhere because of the jet stream. In PA, above the jet stream right now, it has been really abnormal cool. Like high of sixty cool. Tuesday I wore a long sleeve t all day, in August! New York City had its all time low high temperature on Wednesday. Crazy stuff.

[lamebums]

Yesterday, the weather forecast said 100 degrees, with a heat index over 110. The day before that, my thermometer read 117 degrees, and I had to turn the air condition off in my car because the heat warning light came on. You should see the grass around here, Bravo. It's in pretty sorry shape up here, too.

I'll take rain over blazing heat any day of the week. At least I can play in rain.

[Adam Pettman]

Its Summer???? no-one told me. Damn Scottish weather.