On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:32:21 -0700, Colin Youngs
wrote:

... thus beating the "official" warmest place - Nottingham Watnall -
by 2.1 deg C. I must add you to my list.

My reply last night was, I'm afraid, posted in haste and before I'd
absorbed yours. My apologies for that.

If I understand what you're saying, then my maximum of 20.8°C should be
discounted because it's significantly higher than the 'official'
maximum.

For a long time, several years, I've been suspecting that my Summer
'sunny afternoon' temperature maxima are too high. The only quick
comparison that I have with an official site is that at Glasgow Airport
(EGPF), 36km to the SE, where, when overcast, my temperatures have a
very good correlation but are always higher in the late afternoon in
sunny conditions. I put this down to two factors; the local topography
and the local aspect.

We're about halfway down a steepish slope which falls from c.170 metres
behind us to sea level in front of us in slightly less than 1 kilometre.

We face slightly north of west. For reference, the webcam faces due
west.

In simple terms, in the late afternoon we're a 'sun trap'. This is very
noticeable subjectively (it feels hot) and is reflected in the
temperature figures which usually peak between 16:00z and 17:00z. My
reference site, Glasgow Airport, is presumably on the level and is, of
course, a 'standard site' using MO approved kit.

So far as my kit is concerned, it's a Davis Weather Monitor II with the
temperature/humidity sensor mounted in a ventilated non-standard screen
positioned on the outside of a wooden upright which supports a sun deck.
The screen is just visible, bottom leftish on
http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/P8280559.jpg The slope can be judged
from the fact that the floor of the sun deck is at ground level on the
right of the picture and falls away, out of shot, to the left.

By no stretch of the imagination can the readings from this site of
temperature, humidity, rainfall and pressure be compared with those of a
'standard' site. Even my cloud coverage descriptions are suspect because
only about 70% of the sky is visible, the hill blocking the view to the
NE round to SE.

This is a '.sci' newsgroup. Strictly speaking I shouldn't be posting any
'obs' at all because they don't stand up to scientific scrutiny.
However, if I don't post 'obs' then the weather in this bit of the UK
just goes unnoticed.

What do I do?

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather