I was very surprised that the haze didn't get a mention on the Radio 4
forecasts this morning given that it is, and has been, so thick, so
widespread and so persistent across most of the country. The impression
given by the forecasts was that some parts would have fog at first but
once that had burnt off there would be bright sunshine but with some
showers developing in the west.. In reality, if the past couple of days
are anything to go by, there'll be hazy sun from a milky sky and below
30 deg elevation the sky will be a dirty brown colour.

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye at

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/dealbha...in/english.php

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

Norman
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:03:09 GMT, Norman Lynagh wrote in


I was very surprised that the haze didn't get a mention on the Radio 4
forecasts this morning given that it is, and has been, so thick, so
widespread and so persistent across most of the country. The impression
given by the forecasts was that some parts would have fog at first but
once that had burnt off there would be bright sunshine but with some
showers developing in the west.. In reality, if the past couple of days
are anything to go by, there'll be hazy sun from a milky sky and below
30 deg elevation the sky will be a dirty brown colour.

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye at

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/dealbha...in/english.php

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

I'm also surprised there's been no mention of just how dirty/hazy the air
has been for the last few days, with the easterly airflow. Normally, even
at sunset, it is impossible to stare directly at the sun, yet recently that
was possible when it was as high as 20 degrees. You rightly refer to the
brown colour of the sky as well as the deep red of the sun near sunset.

--
Mike Tullett - Coleraine 55.13°N 6.69°W posted 28/03/2007 08:26:50 GMT

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:03:09 GMT, Norman Lynagh
wrote:

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye

Similar here, Norman, but not as bad. If you look at our web cam
history, http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/camera/ you can see how the
haze increased as yesterday progressed and it's even thicker this
morning.

--
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

Norman Lynagh wrote:

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

Norman
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)

This dirty brown soup is plainly obvious in a shot taken by my webcam
yesterday afternoon, normally this view when clear looks dark blue
fading to pale blue! For easterlies it's a bit odd as this is what you
would sometimes expect in dusty Saharan southerlies. Can't find no
reports of forest fires, exploding chemical plants in Russia or any
incidents in Europe that may possibly account for all of this murk.

http://llandru.servehttp.com/ispy4446.jpg

The haze and strange light shows in this pic too but not as obvious, was
wandering around our local park during a break from work yesterday...

http://llandru.servehttp.com/img_0633.jpg

Les

Mike Tullett wrote:
On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:03:09 GMT, Norman Lynagh wrote in


I was very surprised that the haze didn't get a mention on the Radio 4
forecasts this morning given that it is, and has been, so thick, so
widespread and so persistent across most of the country. The impression
given by the forecasts was that some parts would have fog at first but
once that had burnt off there would be bright sunshine but with some
showers developing in the west.. In reality, if the past couple of days
are anything to go by, there'll be hazy sun from a milky sky and below
30 deg elevation the sky will be a dirty brown colour.

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye at

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/dealbha...in/english.php

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

I'm also surprised there's been no mention of just how dirty/hazy the air
has been for the last few days, with the easterly airflow. Normally, even
at sunset, it is impossible to stare directly at the sun, yet recently that
was possible when it was as high as 20 degrees. You rightly refer to the
brown colour of the sky as well as the deep red of the sun near sunset.


Makes for very good sunset photos. On Monday I was passing a local
mosque in the evening, I wish I had my camera, it would have been a good
quiz . Middle East or the UK?

Joe Egginton
Wolverhampton
175m asl

On Mar 28, 9:03 am, Norman Lynagh normanthis...@thisbitweather-
consultancy.com wrote:
I was very surprised that the haze didn't get a mention on the Radio 4
forecasts this morning given that it is, and has been, so thick, so
widespread and so persistent across most of the country. The impression
given by the forecasts was that some parts would have fog at first but
once that had burnt off there would be bright sunshine but with some
showers developing in the west.. In reality, if the past couple of days
are anything to go by, there'll be hazy sun from a milky sky and below
30 deg elevation the sky will be a dirty brown colour.

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye at

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/dealbha...in/english.php

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

Norman
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

The forecasters/presenters don't know properly what haze is,
as we all know, so when the real thing turns up they don't recognise
it.
It is now (2.55 pm) very "dirty" here. There is some
towering Cu but it is difficult to see either the bases or the edges
due to the haze. The whole sky is a dirty orange-grey. Earlier,
before the TCu build-up, the haze was higher and the sky so milky it
was easy to mistake for Cs. In fact, for a few moments, I did. The
whole appearance of the sky has been very summery.
As I understand it the milky haze is caused by particles
that are large relative to the wavelength of light and scatter all
wavelengths more or less equally whereas the yellow-orange-brown
colour is due to smaller particles (1 micron?) which preferentially
scatter the shorter wavelengths, leaving the red.
I have no idea why the haze is so thick as its origin must
be central Europe, not notably hot, dry and windy at this time of
year. There was also the dusty rain a few days ago, probably from the
same source.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, NE Surrey, 556 ft.

Started to clear here at about 14:00 accompanied by a temperature drop
from 13.5°C to 10.0°C at 16:00. Currently, the clearest it's been for
several days with visibility 12 kilometres.

--
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

In message , Alan White
writes
Started to clear here at about 14:00 accompanied by a temperature drop
from 13.5°C to 10.0°C at 16:00. Currently, the clearest it's been for
several days with visibility 12 kilometres.


The Skye webcams show a dramatic clearance this afternoon as the
Atlantic air pushed in, replacing the continental crud.

Still very Middle Eastern skies down here in the south, though.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:04:04 GMT, Norman Lynagh
wrote:

The Skye webcams show a dramatic clearance this afternoon as the
Atlantic air pushed in, replacing the continental crud.

I was having my afternoon doze...

--
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

On Mar 28, 9:03 am, Norman Lynagh normanthis...@thisbitweather-
consultancy.com wrote:
I was very surprised that the haze didn't get a mention on the Radio 4
forecasts this morning given that it is, and has been, so thick, so
widespread and so persistent across most of the country. The impression
given by the forecasts was that some parts would have fog at first but
once that had burnt off there would be bright sunshine but with some
showers developing in the west.. In reality, if the past couple of days
are anything to go by, there'll be hazy sun from a milky sky and below
30 deg elevation the sky will be a dirty brown colour.

A very good example of what it looks like in NW Scotland can be seen on
one of the webcams on Skye at

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/smo/dealbha...in/english.php

The view in good visibility can be seen by clicking on "More information
and options".

Norman
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles 85m a.s.l.
England

Still very hazy here at 0025Z. Moon not very bright and
quite yellow despite being high in the sky and no trace of high cloud
round it. No stars visible at a casual glance Not a breath of wind.
All rather exotic and summery - I like it.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.