Worse year ever?

[kirkster501]

Anyone think of a worse year than 2012 for weather for enjoying our collective interest? Cloudy yet again tonight Dear me....

[rory]

only my second year, but id imagine it would be hard to beat 2012. a real washout.

[Tinker1947]

Even the Pink Footed Geese are late arriving this year,,,,what ever next....

[MorningMajor]

I agree and when it has been clear the seeing has been pretty poor, It's sad, but the best night I've had so far this year was back in early May!

[cotterless45]

Agreed, in Middle Earth we get caught between the north and the fair south. It is only in the last month that the sky has been any good. Hopefully things can only get better , it's been a grab and go season so far,

nick.

[Double Kick Drum]

I did manage to get quite a few sessions in late Winter and Spring but from May until now it has been a bit rubbish.

However, given the number of new things I have spotted this year, I am not too downbeat.

Clear skies!

[Brighton Belle]

I am very new to astronomy, got a scope for my birthday back in July, still haven't managed to use it

[Ganymede12]

I became an astronomer back in February and 2012 hasn't discouraged me! It makes me expect greater things for 2013.

[Daniel-K]

last year was pretty poor too, best sky weve had was when all the planes got grounded cause of the volcano

[FarSide]

Hang in there we still have the autumn and winter to see us through. It will get better.

I hope.

[Albenn]

This is my first year observing but even if I didn't have a vested interest in the weather, I have to admit that in my 53 years I have never known a more miserable, wet year as this.

Had a decent couple of hours last night before the clouds moved in and spoilt it, but apart from that not much in the past few months at all.

[kirkster501]

Agree with the sentiments of it can only get better guys. Lets hope so and get some hard core observing and imaging in. Maybe winter will mean less water being evaporated from the great big pond to our West and hence better seeing too.

Disappointed I missed M81/M82 at our zenith and all the summer things. Really wanted to see M87 most of all.

Anyway chin up. They'll still be there next year ! Not really that important in the great scheme of things I suppose.

[Naemeth]

I'm no expert, and I'm fairly new to the hobby, but don't we all say it (or at least think it) every year, that this year is always the worst? Imagine if the UK didn't have the Gulf Stream, I would have thought things would be a lot more like Russia and Alaska (ie Countries on our Latitude), would that be better? Who knows

[Ags]

It's been an unforgettable year for me. The night sky over the Himalayas was amazing, and Mars was as good as I hoped it would be.

In Nagarkot, Praesepe was showing itself as a brighter and bigger version of the Pleiades :-)

[JamesM]

This year has been pretty poor to say the least but 2011 wasn't that brilliant either although there were some periods that faired better. I have noticed an interesting phenomena whereby the only clear nights that have finally presented themselves, have also been the very same nights that a full or near full moon has also been present which seems particularly cruel (..that is unless you quite enjoy observing the moon) if you prefer to observe DSO's. I counted at least six occasions when this has happened but maybe someone else has counted more than this.

As said above, it can't get any worse and hopefully when the nights get a little longer and cooler then we might be in for some good astronomy - I shan't be holding my breath though. :grin:

James

[JB80]

The weather has beaten me down over the past two years, I'm trying to remain optimistic but I'm fed up of it and not just in an astronomical sense.

It's not helped by the fact the clear nights are then ruined by all the air traffic above.

Lets hope it does get better.

[Capricorn]

If this BBC report is correct then don't expect it to get better, well not until around 2020:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-19848112

Seems we are in a normal warming/cooling cycle of the Atlantic, it's getting warmer so more evaporation and therefore more cloud.

Cycle is over decades so not a case of here one year gone the next.

BBC Quote:

"The study investigated a phenomenon known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation - a cycle of change in which the waters either warm or cool over a period of several decades.

The researchers compared three periods in this cycle: a warm state from 1931-60, a cool period from 1961-90 and the most recent warm period starting in 1990 and continuing now.

The paper notes that conditions in the last warm period in the Atlantic are broadly similar to those observed now.

So the study compared weather conditions in Europe during the two warm Atlantic phases with those experienced in the cool phase.

One conclusion is that a warmer-than-usual Atlantic "favours a mild spring (specially April), summer and autumn, in England and across Europe."

Another finding - of greatest relevance to the search for a cause of rainy summers - is that the warmth of the ocean also tends to make northern and central Europe wetter than usual. By contrast southern Europe, from Portugal to Turkey, gets far less rain than normal.

That was the pattern observed last summer."

Dates would imply that we are in the middle(ish) of the present warm period so it may peak in the next couple of years then head down. However the milder aspects mean wetter and cloudier for us.

I tend to consider astronomy as a winter occupation, say equinox to equinox and from this report that could be forced on us by weatehr alone.

Canoeing or snorkelling could be an alternative summer hobby.

[skywatcher250]

been a complete joke this year - hopefully autumn / winter will improve

[acey]

This has been a great year! My dark site was never cut off by snow, I got lots of clear nights in spring, and there have been a good number so far this autumn. I do no observing from late May until late July because my sky is too light, so the weather at that time of year doesn't matter to me.

[freeflyjay]

it`s been my first year, got my scope back in febuary i think, not had it out in 2 months, but when i have got some nice views, so far just venus,mars,jupiter,saturn, m42,m43,m81,m82 and m15,...hoping the end of british summer time will bring better skys

[Ouroboros]

Yeah! But it could be worse in being clear every night! We'd never get any sleep or the time to process what we do get.

I must say it has been pretty dire this year.

I did get 4 clear and warmish observing nights in September down in Cornwall though ... which compensates a little bit for cloudy skies other times.

[ArmyAirForce]

I got my scope the back end of February, and I don't think it's been a bad year, despite the weather. I've been out at least once a week on average, though the summer months were a bit thin due to the weather and light sky. While it has been a poor year for weather, there still have been opportunities. You just have to grab them when you can, even if it's only a couple of hours. I could have been out more, but there were some clear nights when I've just been too tired or busy.

[Ouroboros]

There's been a bit of a split north and south weather wise this year.

[themos]

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/press/releases/2012/25-dismal.asp

[Beulah]

Started off pretty brilliantly this year but the latter half has been pants due to cloud and increase local light pollution. It doesn't help having an extra odd stacked against what can be a very frustrating hobby.