in 35870 20080819 132811 "Martin Rowley" wrote:
"Bob Martin" wrote...
sniplots
how many days in the last month has
rain not fallen on central southern England.

.... I'll answer with data for Hurn (and also for us nearby in West
Moors), as I regard this area as part of the BBC 'banned' CS England:
in the month of August, every climatological period 09-09Z has been
credited with some PPN, though 4 of them were 'trace' returns, and one
a single 'bucket tip' of 0.2 mm.

The total rainfall so far at Hurn = 67 mm (~ 128% of 71-00 LTA) and
total here in West Moors is 62 mm.

Last year (2007), Hurn had 44 mm .. my gauge not up and running at
that time.

The wettest August in the Hurn record (starts 1957 from Met O site),
is 131.5 mm in 1963.

Martin.

--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023

Thanks, Martin. The point I'm trying (very unsuccessfully) to make is that in simple figures
a day where it rains lightly from 8am to 8pm is much the same as a day which has a single
heavy downpour at 10pm, but to people at airshows, watching cricket, sitting on a beach
or just trying to do a bit of gardening, the first is a washout whereas the second doesn't
matter much. And it has been a summer of washed-out airshows, rained-off cricket and
ruined holidays.

On Aug 19, 10:51 am, "ronaldbutton" wrote:
Johnny Walker of Radio 2 fame announced this morning that it's been the
wettest August for nearly a hundred years , and the Bank Holiday weekend
would be hot ,i.e. 27c and sunny !

Not impossible looking at the 0000 GFS, admittedly less so for the
0600.

Nick

"Bob Martin" wrote :
The point I'm trying (very unsuccessfully) to make is that in simple
figures
a day where it rains lightly from 8am to 8pm is much the same as a day
which has a single
heavy downpour at 10pm, but to people at airshows, watching cricket,
sitting on a beach
or just trying to do a bit of gardening, the first is a washout whereas
the second doesn't
matter much. And it has been a summer of washed-out airshows, rained-off
cricket and
ruined holidays.

On the contrary, you are getting your point across well. It is
the rest of us who are failing to get through. Let me try another
way.

What I am trying to say is that, sure, this is a wet, cloudy,
unsettled month, but it is entirely typical of wet, cloudy, unsettled
summer months of which there have been scores over the years.
These are what synoptic climatologists would recognise as
"cyclonic" months ... mean monthly sea-level pressure well
below the long-term average. For instance, since 1873, 27 of the
135 Augusts (exactly 20%) had a mean pressure over the British
Isles more than 3 millibars below average, most recently in 2004.

The important point which I have not got across so far is
that -- almost without exception -- these cyclonic months
provide us with a combination of below-average daytime
temperature, above-average rainfall amount, above-average
rainfall duration, and below-average sunshine duration. You
simply can't say that this month is exceptional because of the
combination of these various parameters, because in a
cyclonic summer month it is usual to have such a combination.

I will make some comparisons, but forgive me if I wait until
the end of the month, otherwise we get into the daft situation
of the TV weather presenter who, after 10 wet days at the
beginning of July this year said, "If it stays as wet as this for
the rest of the month it will be the wettest July on record."

Philip

"Bob Martin" wrote:

As you're the one with all the figures, how many days in the last month
has
rain not fallen on central southern England.

Let me answer a slightly different question, and I will use data for
Hampstead, in London, as I have daily records handy for this site.
You will have to trust me that the figures won't be materially
different from your part of the country.

Between July 20 and August 19 there were 16 days with
0.2mm or more, and there were 13 days with 1.0mm or more.
The long-term means are, for July 14 and 9 respectively, and
for August 15 and 10 respectively. In 1985, between the
same dates, there were 23 days 0.2mm, and 18 days 1.0mm.
During the calendar month of August 1912 there were 24 days
0.2mm and 23 days 1.0mm.

Here's some more data:
So far this August at Hampstead the number of clock-hours
during which rain has fallen (0.2mm or more) stands at 53,
which is an average of 2.8 per day.

For the whole of August in earlier years the totals we
2007 64h, which is 2.1 h/day
2006 71h, which is 2.3 h/day
2005 62h, which is 2.0 h/day
2004 93h, which is 3.0 h/day

Philip

Philip Eden wrote:

"Bob Martin" wrote :
The point I'm trying (very unsuccessfully) to make is that in
simple figures a day where it rains lightly from 8am to 8pm is
much the same as a day which has a single heavy downpour at 10pm,
but to people at airshows, watching cricket, sitting on a beach or
just trying to do a bit of gardening, the first is a washout
whereas the second doesn't matter much. And it has been a summer
of washed-out airshows, rained-off cricket and ruined holidays.

On the contrary, you are getting your point across well. It is
the rest of us who are failing to get through. Let me try another
way.

What I am trying to say is that, sure, this is a wet, cloudy,
unsettled month, but it is entirely typical of wet, cloudy, unsettled
summer months of which there have been scores over the years.
These are what synoptic climatologists would recognise as
"cyclonic" months ... mean monthly sea-level pressure well
below the long-term average. For instance, since 1873, 27 of the
135 Augusts (exactly 20%) had a mean pressure over the British
Isles more than 3 millibars below average, most recently in 2004.

The important point which I have not got across so far is
that -- almost without exception -- these cyclonic months
provide us with a combination of below-average daytime
temperature, above-average rainfall amount, above-average
rainfall duration, and below-average sunshine duration. You
simply can't say that this month is exceptional because of the
combination of these various parameters, because in a
cyclonic summer month it is usual to have such a combination.

As I pointed out in another thread, if we didn't get a fair sprinkling
of months like this the averages would be rather different. I agree
with Philip that this month is turning out to be very typical of a
cyclonically dominated summer month. It is very much part of what might
be considered to be the "normal" range of weather experienced in this
country. I know I'm in the minority on here, but I have found this
month's weather to be very pleasant. I can do things out of doors
without getting into a lather of sweat and I've seldom been rained on.

Norman
--
Norman Lynagh
Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire
85m a.s.l.
(remove "thisbit" twice to e-mail)

On Aug 18, 7:15*pm, "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom
wrote:
Anyone else notice the bizarre notion that this is already
London's wettest August since 1917, which underpinned
a feature on "London Tonight" tonight?

At Hampstead the month's total to date is 45mm ... still well
short of 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, etc,etc!

Philip

My blokey pub mates weren't fooled and they're not educated in
the ways of the weather. One of them said "It hasn't been wet - it's
been all right, this month". Another said he thought it referred to
Northern Ireland (or something) and I confirmed it for him. In vino
veritas. In mediam testiculi.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.

"Tudor Hughes" wrote:

In vino veritas. In mediam testiculi.

LOL

pe

On Aug 20, 3:27 pm, Tudor Hughes wrote:
On Aug 18, 7:15 pm, "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom
wrote:

Anyone else notice the bizarre notion that this is already
London's wettest August since 1917, which underpinned
a feature on "London Tonight" tonight?

At Hampstead the month's total to date is 45mm ... still well
short of 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, etc,etc!

Philip

My blokey pub mates weren't fooled and they're not educated in
the ways of the weather. One of them said "It hasn't been wet - it's
been all right, this month". Another said he thought it referred to
Northern Ireland (or something) and I confirmed it for him. In vino
veritas. In mediam testiculi.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.

That's the thing, the perception depends what sort of weather an
individual "likes" or "dislikes". If one's most intense dislike is
torrential downpours, then this month will probably end up OK, however
if one dislikes a lack of sunny and warm days, then it will be
decidedly disappointing in certain parts of the country.

Nick

On Aug 18, 7:15*pm, "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom
wrote:
Anyone else notice the bizarre notion that this is already
London's wettest August since 1917, which underpinned
a feature on "London Tonight" tonight?

At Hampstead the month's total to date is 45mm ... still well
short of 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000, etc,etc!

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/New...3?img_id=18119

in 35927 20080820 134330 "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote:
"Bob Martin" wrote :
The point I'm trying (very unsuccessfully) to make is that in simple
figures
a day where it rains lightly from 8am to 8pm is much the same as a day
which has a single
heavy downpour at 10pm, but to people at airshows, watching cricket,
sitting on a beach
or just trying to do a bit of gardening, the first is a washout whereas
the second doesn't
matter much. And it has been a summer of washed-out airshows, rained-off
cricket and
ruined holidays.

On the contrary, you are getting your point across well. It is
the rest of us who are failing to get through. Let me try another
way.

What I am trying to say is that, sure, this is a wet, cloudy,
unsettled month, but it is entirely typical of wet, cloudy, unsettled
summer months of which there have been scores over the years.
These are what synoptic climatologists would recognise as
"cyclonic" months ... mean monthly sea-level pressure well
below the long-term average. For instance, since 1873, 27 of the
135 Augusts (exactly 20%) had a mean pressure over the British
Isles more than 3 millibars below average, most recently in 2004.

The important point which I have not got across so far is
that -- almost without exception -- these cyclonic months
provide us with a combination of below-average daytime
temperature, above-average rainfall amount, above-average
rainfall duration, and below-average sunshine duration. You
simply can't say that this month is exceptional because of the
combination of these various parameters, because in a
cyclonic summer month it is usual to have such a combination.

I will make some comparisons, but forgive me if I wait until
the end of the month, otherwise we get into the daft situation
of the TV weather presenter who, after 10 wet days at the
beginning of July this year said, "If it stays as wet as this for
the rest of the month it will be the wettest July on record."

Philip

When you've quite finished trying to show how dim-witted I am, let's
just start again. I said that I (like most people) prefer warm, dry sunny weather
and that there had been precious little of it this year. You seem determined
to prove that this isn't so, yet :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-visitors.html

Last 2 paras:
"Philip Eden, the Daily Telegraph weatherman, added: "I think they may have shot
themselves in the foot with this excuse. If you look at the facts Devon and Cornwall
have had a bad July even compared with normal.

"It was twice as wet as average and temperatures have been well below the normal."