In California we measure rainfall in inches. One to two inches at most for a storm in winter. How many inches does it rain in a day in London, say like this week?

thereyet

Haven't you left for Spain yet?????

Nope, just back from LA and leave for London tomorrow! Just checked in with BA and now it feels real.

thereyet

Have a wonderful trip. London is one of our favorite cities.

I'm sure some Londonite will be able to give you more info, but the rain we've seen in London has been the steady type rather than the storm type. We've had light on/off rain and some fairly heavy rain (probably in the 1" range for a day). We saw lots more umbrellas than hooded raincoats in London. You'll be dodging umbrella spokes on the sidewalks.

I hope you're planning to post a report, thereyet! We'd love to know how all your research pays off.

thereyet, Enjoy cricket

Will keep you posted. I may try to put a running trip report together if I get the time. I tend work on about 5-6 hours of sleep per night unless I am super comfortable which is rare.

thereyet

An inch of rain in a day anywhere in Britain is extreme, and newsworthy: the kind of torrential downpour we associate with places where the weather's unbearable - like California.

Saturday's forecast (an exceptionally rainy day) was 14 mm, or a bit over half an inch. Data's not available for June yet, but total rainfall in May (one of the wettest on record) was about 5 inches. About a sixth of an inch is pretty typical for a rainy day.

Annual rainfall in London is relatively low - lower than Jerusalem for example. It rarely rains much: just frequently and softly.

flanneruk, do you think California with over 163,000 square miles has the same temperatures and rainfall all over the state?

Thanks FlannerUk, I was hoping that was the case.

If you think California has unbareable weather you should probably write Chicago off the list of places to visit even thoughit is a wonderful city.

When they predict T-storms does that mean an occasional lightining strike or are we talking the Fourth of July?

thereyet

Do I think all California has the same weather?

Of course not. California is infinitely variable in the range of ghastly weather it presents its unfortunate citizens.

Is London weather like July 4?
Eh? Do you have special weather that day?

Fireworks, Flanner, fireworks.

thereyet

Hi Flanner,

Has the flood situation eased up? Here in CH, we've had a few dry days but it looks like rain and cool temperatures again for this week. We've been having some MAJOR thunderstorms, where thunder strikes right outside our window and rain comes down in buckets. Rather terrifying.

I remember last July in the UK. Hot temperatures. Women attending hen parties could finally wear their minuscule clothing without getting cold.

>California is infinitely variable in the range of ghastly weather it presents its unfortunate citizens. <

In my experience, London, OTOH, provides two kinds of weather - unbearably hot - with little to no AC, or cold and damp.

er... you're not expecting fireworks in London on July 4th are you?

Well, we've seen beautiful crisp, sunny weather for days on end in London. Also the gray rainy stuff. Love the city no matter what the weather.

London is on the drier side of the country. The really heavy downpours were further north.

Saturday was miserable, Sunday and today quite nice, though not without a shower here and there. We're not expecting the Deluge.

The Fourth of July was an analogy folks, albiet a bad one. My question was about thunder storms and if they are magnificient or not.

Here in California a single thunder clap is considered a thunder storm, in Chicago on the other hand...it's LIKE the Fourth of July.

thereyet

It is an inside joke in Los Angeles, when on the TV local news they have a segment called "storm watch". It airs when there are sprinkles of rain coming our way or when they have a roving reporter standing in normal rain asking pedestrians how they are "bearing up" against the onslaught. Our weather is so predictible that the newscasters have to improvise.

Generally, no, you won't get those incredible t-storms in the UK (or Belgium) for that matter that are routine in places like Orlando, FL, parts of the midwest, the southeast, even Pennsylvania in mid-summer.
It's more along the lines of the type of t-storms I saw in Oregon along the I-5 corridor.
Occasionally you will get a good sized storm but they're not that common.