Weather observation - Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
OS X (Eastings) 440951
OS Y (Northings) 554026
Lat (WGS84) N54:52:46 (54.879323)
Long (WGS84) W1:21:48 (-1.363282)
==============================​​​=========== ===========
Yes, I know that some corners of the UK are desperately crying out for rain, but I found it very hard to feel sorry as I selfishly lounged in the garden this afternoon with a glass of chilled wine at my side. The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a summer's day and not the last days of March!
Noticed that our local Sainsbury's had all the BBQ stuff out on display yesterday... wondering whether that was a pre-planned decision or just jumping on the good weather window?
Regards... David Allan.
==============================​​​=========== ===========
Current data for Ryhope Grange, Sunderland
25 March 2012 20:52

Temperature (°C):
Current 7.2
Trend (per hour) -2.8
Average today 11.4
Wind chill 7.2
Heat Index 7.2
Dew Point 4.2
Rel Humidity 81%

Wind (mph):
Current Gust 0.7 SW
Average Speed 0.2 SW

Rainfall (mm):
Current rate 0.0
Last hour 0.0
Total today 0.0
Total yesterday 0.0
Total this month 19.2
Total this year 41.5

Pressure (mb):
Current 1036.1
Trend (per hour) +0.4

On 25/03/2012 21:03, David Allan wrote:
snip
Noticed that our local Sainsbury's had all the BBQ stuff out on display yesterday... wondering whether that was
a pre-planned decision or just jumping on the good weather window?

.... not sure who has the contract for Sainsbury's these days, but all
the 'big' players (M&S, B&Q, ASDA, Tesco etc.) employ weather forecasts
for just such an event as we have now - and some 'buy in' expertise by
having experienced meteorologists on the staff.

Been going on certainly since the days of the LWC commercial bench in
the 1980s & I know that firms like Noble Denton produced such forecasts
- indeed they might have been the pioneers but Norman will put me right
on that.

.... it's a very interesting & potentially lucrative business: if you get
it right!

Martin.


--
West Moors / East Dorset
Lat: 50deg 49.25'N, Long: 01deg 53.05'W
Height (amsl): 17 m (56 feet)
COL category: C1 overall

Martin Rowley wrote:

On 25/03/2012 21:03, David Allan wrote:
snip
Noticed that our local Sainsbury's had all the BBQ stuff out on display
yesterday... wondering whether that was a pre-planned decision or just
jumping on the good weather window?

... not sure who has the contract for Sainsbury's these days, but all the
'big' players (M&S, B&Q, ASDA, Tesco etc.) employ weather forecasts for just
such an event as we have now - and some 'buy in' expertise by having
experienced meteorologists on the staff.

Been going on certainly since the days of the LWC commercial bench in the
1980s & I know that firms like Noble Denton produced such forecasts - indeed
they might have been the pioneers but Norman will put me right on that.

... it's a very interesting & potentially lucrative business: if you get it
right!

Martin.

If my memory isn't letting me down I'm pretty sure that the Met Office were
doing this sort of forecasting before Noble Denton got into it. Noble Denton's
first client of this type was Marks & Spencer in the early/mid 1980s and I
think the Met Office had been the previous supplier. I recall that every spring
the person in charge of the sales of men's shirts became very animated about
the prospect of a run of 3 consecutive warm sunny days because their records
showed that sales of short sleeved shirts rose dramatically on the 3rd such
day. The fresh food buyers also relied heavily on the forecasts. It's the 4-8
day forecasts that seem to be the most important. There's no prizes whatsoever
for getting it wrong! I'm very happy not to be involved in such forecasting
today!

Norman

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

On Mar 25, 9:03Â*pm, David Allan wrote:
Weather observation - Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
OS X (Eastings) Â* Â* 440951
OS Y (Northings) Â* Â*554026
Lat (WGS84) Â* Â* Â* Â* N54:52:46 (54.879323)
Long (WGS84) Â* Â* Â* Â*W1:21:48 (-1.363282)
==============================​​​=========== ===========
Yes, I know that some corners of the UK are desperately crying out for rain, but I found it very hard to feel sorry as I selfishly lounged in the garden this afternoon with a glass of chilled wine at my side. The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a summer's day and not the last days of March!
Noticed that our local Sainsbury's had all the BBQ stuff out on display yesterday... wondering whether that was a pre-planned decision or just jumping on the good weather window?
Regards... David Allan.


We are not crying out for rain. Anybody would think all the
reservoirs had dried up, the mains cut off and there were standpipes
in the street. It's March, for goodness' sake, not late June and
evaporation rates are still relatively low. If the dry spell
continues into the summer then things will certainly get a bit serious
but that is extremely unlikely not least because the radiation regime
changes and will bring an end to the blocking tendency.
As for barbecues - awful things. Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.

Tudor Hughes wrote:
On Mar 25, 9:03 pm, David Allan wrote:
Weather observation - Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
OS X (Eastings) 440951
OS Y (Northings) 554026
Lat (WGS84) N54:52:46 (54.879323)
Long (WGS84) W1:21:48 (-1.363282)
==============================???================= =====
Yes, I know that some corners of the UK are desperately crying out
for rain, but I found it very hard to feel sorry as I selfishly
lounged in the garden this afternoon with a glass of chilled wine at
my side. The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a
summer's day and not the last days of March! Noticed that our local
Sainsbury's had all the BBQ stuff out on display yesterday...
wondering whether that was a pre-planned decision or just jumping on
the good weather window?
Regards... David Allan.


We are not crying out for rain. Anybody would think all the
reservoirs had dried up, the mains cut off and there were standpipes
in the street. It's March, for goodness' sake, not late June and
evaporation rates are still relatively low. If the dry spell
continues into the summer then things will certainly get a bit serious
but that is extremely unlikely not least because the radiation regime
changes and will bring an end to the blocking tendency.

Well the media and indeed the weather forecasts most certainly
give the impression that the SE/E is 'crying out for rain'.
Would you say they were overdoing it?

As for barbecues - awful things. Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

And the usw 'grumpy old man' award for March goes to.......
--
Col

Bolton, Lancashire
160m asl

On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:45:11 +0100, Col wrote:

The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a
summer's
day and not the last days of March!

Still not a lot of heat about though, 20C+ up here yesterday but over
night down to just above 5C and a light ground frost...

We are not crying out for rain. Anybody would think all the
reservoirs had dried up, the mains cut off and there were
standpipes
in the street. It's March, for goodness' sake, not late June and
evaporation rates are still relatively low. If the dry spell
continues into the summer then things will certainly get a bit
serious
but that is extremely unlikely not least because the radiation
regime
changes and will bring an end to the blocking tendency.
snip
Well the media and indeed the weather forecasts most certainly
give the impression that the SE/E is 'crying out for rain'.

That's the impression I have as well. There is very little water in
reserve in the SE and to bring things up to normal would require a
considerable amount of rain. Like a month or so of non-stop heavy
rain, as in several mm/hour type heavy rain. I don't think that is
very likely, there might be a few days but not enough.

As for barbecues - awful things. Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

And the usw 'grumpy old man' award for March goes to.......

Naw BBQ's are damn awful. The stench of burning flesh and haze of
smoke was terrible when ever there was a nice evening down in St
Albans. Had to shut the windows to keep both out. Glad when we moved
up here, then we get F&M and the smell from the pyres 10 to 15 miles
away....

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL.

On 26/03/2012 10:26, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:45:11 +0100, Col wrote:

The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a
summer's
day and not the last days of March!

Still not a lot of heat about though, 20C+ up here yesterday but over
night down to just above 5C and a light ground frost...

We are not crying out for rain. Anybody would think all the
reservoirs had dried up, the mains cut off and there were
standpipes
in the street. It's March, for goodness' sake, not late June and
evaporation rates are still relatively low. If the dry spell
continues into the summer then things will certainly get a bit
serious
but that is extremely unlikely not least because the radiation
regime
changes and will bring an end to the blocking tendency.
snip
Well the media and indeed the weather forecasts most certainly
give the impression that the SE/E is 'crying out for rain'.

That's the impression I have as well. There is very little water in
reserve in the SE and to bring things up to normal would require a
considerable amount of rain. Like a month or so of non-stop heavy
rain, as in several mm/hour type heavy rain. I don't think that is
very likely, there might be a few days but not enough.

As for barbecues - awful things. Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

And the usw 'grumpy old man' award for March goes to.......

Naw BBQ's are damn awful. The stench of burning flesh and haze of
smoke was terrible when ever there was a nice evening down in St
Albans. Had to shut the windows to keep both out. Glad when we moved
up here, then we get F&M and the smell from the pyres 10 to 15 miles
away....

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL.




Yea Dave I know what you mean about BBQ, no wonder people get food
poisoning, eating raw meat which is burnt on the outside.

Joe Egginton
Wolverhampton.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Mon, 26 Mar 2012 06:45:11 +0100, Col wrote:

The sun beating down from a cloudless sky... it felt like a
summer's
day and not the last days of March!

Still not a lot of heat about though, 20C+ up here yesterday but over
night down to just above 5C and a light ground frost...

We are not crying out for rain. Anybody would think all the
reservoirs had dried up, the mains cut off and there were
standpipes
in the street. It's March, for goodness' sake, not late June and
evaporation rates are still relatively low. If the dry spell
continues into the summer then things will certainly get a bit
serious
but that is extremely unlikely not least because the radiation
regime
changes and will bring an end to the blocking tendency.
snip
Well the media and indeed the weather forecasts most certainly
give the impression that the SE/E is 'crying out for rain'.

That's the impression I have as well. There is very little water in
reserve in the SE and to bring things up to normal would require a
considerable amount of rain. Like a month or so of non-stop heavy
rain, as in several mm/hour type heavy rain. I don't think that is
very likely, there might be a few days but not enough.

As for barbecues - awful things. Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

And the usw 'grumpy old man' award for March goes to.......

Naw BBQ's are damn awful. The stench of burning flesh and haze of
smoke was terrible when ever there was a nice evening down in St
Albans. Had to shut the windows to keep both out. Glad when we moved
up here, then we get F&M and the smell from the pyres 10 to 15 miles
away....


Around here for much of the year there's a very persistent aroma from slurry
spreading! As a result, the village is surrounded by very green fields.


--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

On Mar 26, 10:26*am, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
Well the media and indeed the weather forecasts most certainly
give the impression that the SE/E is 'crying out for rain'.

That's the impression I have as well. There is very little water in
reserve in the SE and to bring things up to normal would require a
considerable amount of rain. Like a month or so of non-stop heavy
rain, as in several mm/hour type heavy rain. I don't think that is
very likely, there might be a few days but not enough.

As for barbecues - awful things. *Crap food cooked and consumed in
the maximum of discomfort just so you can pretend you're in the
outback along with the jolly swag-men and their leathery sheilas.

And the usw 'grumpy old man' award for March goes to.......

Naw BBQ's are damn awful. The stench of burning flesh and haze of
smoke was terrible when ever there was a nice evening down in St
Albans. Had to shut the windows to keep both out. Glad when we moved
up here, then we get F&M and the smell from the pyres 10 to 15 miles
away....


I actually quite like the smell of barbecues, smoke and
everything, probably because having been an industrial chemist I have
olfactorily idiosyncratic tastes though I draw the line at pyridine
and other nitrogenous heterocycles, especially tryptophan derivatives
(polite term for ****).
In the media the weather is never mentioned in measured terms,
as everyone knows. So "Crying out for rain" = "Getting a bit dry".
It certainly is, though there will be no clamour until the taps are
turned off, except perhaps from farmers, who have something to lose.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.