There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any
evidence that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total
rainfall, compared to frontal rain?

--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg

Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall, compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the summer regime
first presents itself.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
http://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr

On Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 3:45:51 PM UTC+1, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall, compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the summer regime
first presents itself.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
http://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr

Which is welcome when you live on the Atlantic coast! http://magicseaweed.com/Live-Sennen-Webcam/65/

Loads of showers inland, but windward coasts prolonged sunshine. Different where the wind was offshore, as people in Torbay will know - all the showers drifting off Dartmoor across the bay.

Graham
Penzance

On 01/04/2017 15:45, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall, compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the summer regime
first presents itself.

Yes, April is certainly the time when 'heat' showers first develop.
However to the public a shower is just a shower and they wouldn't know
if it was generated over the land or sea. So why not March, June or
November showers? What I was getting at was is showery activity in April
commoner than in other months?

--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg

On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 8:42:53 AM UTC+1, Col wrote:
On 01/04/2017 15:45, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall, compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the summer regime
first presents itself.

Yes, April is certainly the time when 'heat' showers first develop.
However to the public a shower is just a shower and they wouldn't know
if it was generated over the land or sea. So why not March, June or
November showers? What I was getting at was is showery activity in April
commoner than in other months?

--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl
Snow videos:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QvmL4UWBmHFMKWiwYm_gg

I think there are a number of things that come together to give that perception. April sees a sharp drop in vigorous Atlantic depressions, as well s the start of summer convection. NW-N winds are fairly common in April, giving the right conditions. Also summer thunderstorms, whilst clearly convective, are viewed rather differently to April showers.

It's certainly more accurate than equinoctial gales, when gales are less common in September than October, November, December, Jan . . The term probably springs from the fact that the waking up of Atlantic depressions because evident in September.

Graham
Penzance

On 02/04/2017 08:42, Col wrote:
On 01/04/2017 15:45, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any
evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall,
compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar
heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops
over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the
summer regime
first presents itself.

Yes, April is certainly the time when 'heat' showers first develop.
However to the public a shower is just a shower and they wouldn't know
if it was generated over the land or sea. So why not March, June or
November showers? What I was getting at was is showery activity in April
commoner than in other months?


Col, if you assume that April shower is a meteorological term then your
question is valid. However, I don't think it is such, but rather a folk
saying. This article in Wikipedia may help to bring a bit of light here
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_shower.

A forecaster of my acquaintance once told me that when he was a new
forecaster at an RAF station, he was asked at his briefing 'when will
the rain start' as he had forecasted rain later. He just threw out a
time at random (well about the time the rain was expected). It so
happened that it started to rain precisely at that time. He said that
his forecasts were treated as Gospel from that point on, even when they
were not as accurate as that. Just one occurrence at a time when it's
judicious can affect people's thinking for a long time. After all, we
all know that summers in our childhood were better than they are now.
But does the record confirm this?
Just my two pennyworth

On 02/04/2017 09:27, Metman2012 wrote:
After all, we
all know that summers in our childhood were better than they are now.
But does the record confirm this?

No.

Anyone who thinks the summers of the 1960's were hot and sunny has a
faulty memory, and is looking back at the past through rose tinted
spectacles. It is more likely that hot sunny summers are related to more
outdoor activities, long summer holidays, which means having a more
memorable time. Sitting indoors reading a book with the rain lashing
down outside is not the sort of thing to stick in the mind 30 years
later. Same with winters in the past always being cold with heaps of snow.

Normality does not stick in the mind, significant departure from
normality does. I'll likely remember the summer of 1995 and August 2003
for the rest of my life, as well as June 2012 and July 2007 for the
opposite reasons. Similarly December 2010, autumn 2000, March 2012 and
2013, April 2007 and July 2006.

Back to April showers, it could be that, as has been mentioned, the home
grown shower activity gets going at this time of year thanks to
increasing solar heating combined with polar air masses still being cold
(sea temperatures are at a minimum now), this combined with people
starting to do more outdoor activities, so are more likely to get
drenched by a shower on an otherwise pleasant sunny day.

In message , Col
writes
On 01/04/2017 15:45, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Col wrote:

There were some around earlier but i seem to have missed most of showery
activity that was around in NW England earlier this morning.

But why do we have the term 'April showers' anyway? Convective shower
activity is surely prevalent in all months of the year, is there any
evidence
that in April it makes up a larger proportion of total rainfall, compared to
frontal rain?

It's the month when the first of the 'home-grown' heavy showers and
thunderstorms start to develop over the land as a result of solar heating of
the land. Earlier in the year, much of the shower activity develops over the
relatively warm sea. In other words, April is the month when the
summer regime
first presents itself.

Yes, April is certainly the time when 'heat' showers first develop.
However to the public a shower is just a shower and they wouldn't know
if it was generated over the land or sea. So why not March, June or
November showers? What I was getting at was is showery activity in
April commoner than in other months?


Away from the coast, I think showers tend to be relatively rare in the
winter months, and first become noticeable around April. Also the
contribution of frontal rain tends to become less as we move into
spring. Arguably the "March winds" part of the rhyme is less reliable.
--
John Hall
"One can certainly imagine the myriad of uses
for a hand-held iguana maker"
Hobbes (the tiger, not the philosopher!)

In message , Metman2012
writes
After all, we all know that summers in our childhood were better than
they are now. But does the record confirm this?

Maybe I'm exceptional in lacking a pair of rose-tinted spectacles but,
with the glorious exception of 1959, I remember an awful lot of cool and
wet weather in the summers of my childhood (especially when we had
arranged to go to the seaside for the day!). The 1950s and 1960s were
not a vintage period for British summers.
--
John Hall
"One can certainly imagine the myriad of uses
for a hand-held iguana maker"
Hobbes (the tiger, not the philosopher!)

On 02/04/17 10:52, John Hall wrote:
Away from the coast, I think showers tend to be relatively rare in the
winter months, and first become noticeable around April. Also the
contribution of frontal rain tends to become less as we move into
spring. Arguably the "March winds" part of the rhyme is less reliable.

Also "February fill-dyke" probably refers to snow-melt, not excess rain
as I believe it's one of the drier months.

--
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks. [Retd meteorologist/programmer]
Web-site: http://www.scarlet-jade.com/
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear,
or an idiot from any direction! [Irish proverb]