On 31/03/2013 19:36, ron button wrote:
"George Booth" wrote in message
...
On 31/03/2013 12:17, ron button wrote:
The current temperature variations around the country seem to illustrate
the
considerable differences from place to place in certain weather
conditions .
Today for instance my temp goes up and down with every passing cloud ,as
my
screen is on a south facing slope which before the trees come into leaf
gets
a good cooking at this time of the year .
At George Booths Epping site about 6 miles north of here ,his 1140z temp
was
3.7c whilst mine 5.6c !,which I think raises several questions about the
validity of record breaking events throughout the years.
The 2003 August 10th heatwave record seemed to be dependent on which side
of
a hedge the screen was positioned,and I noticed that day a variation im
my
garden of nearly 3 degrees dependent of where my thermometers were
placed.
As there are millions of variations as to where thermometers can be
placed
( excluding the obvious rude ones) perhaps we can take some records with
a
large pinch of salt ??.
Stephen Burt of COL and Philip Eden have done some work on this I think
so I
would not be so presumptious as to question their findings of course .
RonB
As you say much research had already been done on this, notably the
Brogdale record warmth. Every reading is unique to where it was recorded
and reflects the micro climate at that particular place. I made
recordings, in a screen, during the 62/63 winter. The screen was not on a
stand so the low temperatures, however impressive, were of limited value.
In my current setting I suspect temperatures are, if anything, slightly on
the warm side. Differences between our readings, well we've got similar
instrumentation but 100' higher altitude here and 20 yards from open
countryside. The ground is cold and the last of the snow cover only
cleared yesterday.
From time to time I see weather station setups in my travels. The majority
suggest that they have been sited as well as they could under the
circumstances. I've also come across units, particularly VP2, at the top
of chimneys, TBR and all. I belong to CWOP and this is quite a common
practice in the US.
If you look at the UKMO WOW site the majority the amateur weather stations
are currently showing with +/- 2° of each other but there are some which
are way off, one can only speculate as to the set up there.
On a similar theme I recently compiled a list of annual rainfall totals
for the Epping area back to 1860. I used my own figures back to the 1970's
but the rest of the data came from the books of the British Rainfall
Organisation. In this case there is no one weather station which recorded
over this period although all credit to the Nicholl and Hart families who
clocked up a century of readings between them. I ended up with a lot of
data which I plan to put on the website. However it's the variation in
annual totals between different sites within the 3 miles radius which was
a bit of a surprise. Again, a variety of factors possible here.
So, as you say, a pinch of salt is required.
--
George in Epping, west Essex, 350'asl
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk
A certain T Squires ,chemist of Epping,kept a diligent rainfall record
between January 1822 to at least December 1844,albeit with a gauge sited 6
feet above the ground. Whilst no direct comparisons can be added to your
post 1860 figures they would surely give a very good indication of the wet
and dry years which presumably is what you wish to convey
RonB
All the Epping rainfall records have been produced with diligence Ron.
Yes 1822-1844 would be a useful extension to the record which can be
seen here
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gesc_b/...es/EppRain.htm
Once I get some time I'll transfer the detailed spreadsheets to the
website. Interesting to see with the passage of time just who the
observers were beginning with Henry Doubleday, the lepidopterist, who
has a blue plaque, through the ladies and gentlemen of several local
families and on to post WW2 when it was the turn of sewage works and
pumping stations to record rainfall.
--
George in Epping, west Essex, 350'asl
www.eppingweather.co.uk
www.winter1947.co.uk