Updated: Eleven days without seeing the sun.

[Ray Proudfoot]

The last time I saw the sun was exactly a week ago. Since last Monday this area and much of  England has been covered with a blanket of cloud.

The cause? A large area of high pressure situated over and to the east of the country. The sun isn’t strong enough at this time of year to burn it off.

At least it isn’t cold during day or night. But it is thoroughly miserable. There’s a possibility of it appearing on Tuesday.

Does this ever happen where you live?

Edited November 7 by Ray Proudfoot
Made current.

[Bob Scott]

I was stationed in Belgium for a few years, and what you described was pretty much the entire winter there.

When I worked at the Pentagon, we moved the branch I ran down to the AF command center in the basement for several months during the winter while they renovated our part of the building.  I got to work in the dark, and left work in the dark, with no windows to let the sun in while I was there.  Yup...it was depressing, as if working in the five-sided prison on the Potomac wasn't depressing enough!  😉

[Ray Proudfoot]

@Bob Scott, that small strip of water separating Britain from the continent can make a big difference to weather especially temperature when the wind comes from the east.

The weather in Belgium is not dissimilar to ours and if you watch F1 their GP can often have rain when it’s decent elsewhere.

I remember when I worked winter was depressing. Left home in the dark and got home in the dark just like you. Being 51-53°N is a bummer in the winter but the payback comes in the summer with it still light at 9:50pm.

I watched No Way Out the other night. Easy to get lost in the Pentagon. 😁

[charliearon]

I was stationed at NAS Whidby Island, Washington for about 2 years.  Maybe saw the sun for 5 or six days (not in a row) during that time! 🌧️🌧️🌧️

What am I thinking!  Lived out in the Outter Richmond District about 1/2 mile Ocean Beach for many 
years.  Spent the entire Spring and Summer months drenched in damp fog every day.  No Sun
until mid September/October.  Heard the drone of the Golden Gate fog horns all day long if I was
home on vacation time!

 

[Fielder]

That sounds like perfect weather to film an episode of Sherlock Holmes.

[Ray Proudfoot]

46 minutes ago, charliearon said:

I was stationed at NAS Whidby Island, Washington for about 2 years.  Maybe saw the sun for 5 or six days (not in a row) during that time

I know the NW of the USA is the cloudiest and wettest but that sounds grim. What direction is the prevailing wind? It sounds like an area of cloud generation just like near Newfoundland.

Ocean Beach? California? Surely that’s where the sun shines all the time according to the Beach Boys. 😉

46 minutes ago, Fielder said:

That sounds like perfect weather to film an episode of Sherlock Holmes.

I’d rather have Baywatch weather. 😁

[JRBarrett]

It can be like that in the northeastern US - especially in November and December. Combined with the low sun angle and short days it can be depressing.

[Henrique Santos]

Here, até Porto, Portugal, the day was sunny with 24c or more. It isn't Algarve,but its rare the week pass bye and no sun, but rarely, it happens to and its easy to see how people miss him

[Ray Proudfoot]

19 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

It can be like that in the northeastern US - especially in November and December. Combined with the low sun angle and short days it can be depressing.

At least at your latitude the days are a fair bit longer. Less than 8 hours here in December but over 17 in June. And you can get bitter winters. Those are rare on this side of the pond. I should count my blessings. 😁

[Ray Proudfoot]

12 minutes ago, Henrique Santos said:

Here, até Porto, Portugal, the day was sunny with 24c or more

Bliss! 😁☀️

[Mike A]

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Ocean Beach? California? Surely that’s where the sun shines all the time according to the Beach Boys. 😉

Here’s a nice summary of Ocean Beach in San Francisco, which includes weather conditions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_Beach,_San_Francisco As to The Beach Boys, they’re singing about Southern California “fair weather” (literally & metaphorically) surfers 🏄. Ocean Beach surfers deal well with conditions those others don’t face. I’m just under a mile from Ocean Beach a block north of Sloat Blvd. I have no problem with fog, overcast or sunless days as it’s what I’m used to.

[Ray Proudfoot]

@Mike A, I guess the fog is caused by the cold ocean currents from the north meeting warm air. To have that amount of cloud in summer would be depressing.

At least here in Britain the weather is usually pretty mobile. It’s only when we get a blocking high that things stagnate. It’s boring but not dangerous.

That pushes the bad weather further south as can be seen by the dreadful floods in SE Spain last week.

Big difference obviously between north and south California. Just like Britain.

[Mike A]

All is not really doom & gloom here, though. The S.F. Bay Area has so many microclimates. You don’t have to travel far to find totally different weather. The higher elevations that run north to south in San Francisco act as a barrier to the fog/coolness. The official temperature readings for S.F. are recorded downtown, which is located on the east side. A good rule of thumb is that our temperature near the beach is more or less 10% lower than the official reading for the city.

It’s very foggy during summer near the beach. But for anyone who wants to visit, the best time is mid-September to mid-October, which is usually hot and clear. The Blue Angels come here @ the second weekend of October every year.

[charliearon]

Yeah, Mike's right!  Ocean Beach San Francisco!

For Mike's reference:  28th and Cabrillo and 4400 block of Cabrillo about 4 blocks from the old Playland
and now the Ocean Beach Safeway!  Red spot is were I lived 1973-1974.

[spearmint_flyer]

6 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

The last time I saw the sun was exactly a week ago. Since last Monday this area and much of  England has been covered with a blanket of cloud.

The cause? A large area of high pressure situated over and to the east of the country. The sun isn’t strong enough at this time of year to burn it off.

At least it isn’t cold during day or night. But it is thoroughly miserable. There’s a possibility of it appearing on Tuesday.

Does this ever happen where you live?

This happened a lot when I lived in Pittsburgh, PA. They only had 63 days of sunlight a year. Couldn’t take it anymore. I moved to Austin,TX  and now I have 10 days of cloud cover a year.