We are having a little barbecue at the penthouse.

NP: The Mighty, Trevor Jones (track 9, My Noble Knight)

I hope everyone here had a wonderful Christmas!

Observing the weather is another of my anorak-interests, and I pay regular visits to my WOU (Weather Observation Unit) that is situated in and around one of my more outlying outbuildings here at the farm.

Here in England, the weather is relatively quiet at the moment, and has been for a week or so. This follows a particularly stormy, wet and very mild autumn and early winter. As Timmer says, it has been the wettest year for centuries, though this is only the case at certain locations – the regional weather conditions throughout the British Isles are extraordinarily varied.

My WOU is based at my farm in the Vale of Avalon on the Somerset Levels in the English West Country. The Bristol Channel is ten miles to the North West, Exmoor is fifteen miles west, the Mendip Hills are seven miles east and Sedgemoor spreads out to the south. The Dorset coast on the English Channel is found thirty five miles to the south. We are actually four feet below sea level.

The Christmas period in England is traditionally mild and wet. The last widespread white Christmas in the West Country was in 1991, and before that 1981, so you can see that snow at this time of year is unusual. However, this Christmas has been officially declared a white Christmas here in Bristol because a flake or two of snow was registered at the weather centre – though the snow was so slight that nobody would have noticed. Indeed, ‘global warming’ has ensured that snow at any time of year has become a rarity across southern England during the past ten years. There has not been a significant snowfall of ten inches or more in southern England for over ten years, and last winter (1999/2000) was typical of the green winters that we have come to expect here in England with only two days of lying snow in Bristol all winter and hardly any severe frosts, only twice did the night-time temperature fall below –5 centigrade. Based on current ‘global warming’ trends, within ten years sea-level southern England will never see snowfall again. Now that global warming has begun, even if CO2 emissions were reduced to zero tomorrow, it would take 800 years for climatic conditions to cool down to what they were in 1990.

And now on the morning of December 26, the sun has just come out for the first time in a week. Here are the day by day readings from my WOU for the Christmas period thus far.

Saturday December 23 2000

Max temp 5C
Min temp 3C
Sunshine 0 Hrs
Rainfall 0 mm
Wind East light

A bleak, dull day with heavy cloud cover.

Sunday December 24 2000

Max temp 3C
Min temp 3C
Sunshine 0 Hrs
Rainfall 32mm (1.25 in)
Wind East moderate

Another bleak and raw day with persistent moderate rainfall lasting throughout daylight hours. The rain turned to sleet for a time before dying away in the early hours of Christmas morning.

Monday December 25 2000

Max temp 3C
Min temp 1C
Sunshine 0 Hrs
Rainfall 2mm
Wind East moderate, with stronger gusts

Yet another dull, sunless day, with light sleety drizzle fizzling out during the morning.

And, so far today, Tuesday December 26 2000

Max temp 1C
Min temp –1C
Sunshine 0.5hrs
Rainfall 0mm
Wind East light

The day dawned with the first sunshine for a week and a slight frost, as cooler and clearer weather pushed in from the North East. Rain continues to linger in the far South West of England and snow showers pepper the coastal regions of Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Observations since 0000hrs December 26 follow –

0000hrs cloudy, 1C
0100hrs cloudy, 1C
0200hrs cloudy, 0C
0300hrs part cloudy, 0C
0400hrs part cloudy, 0C
0500hrs part cloudy, -1C
0600hrs part cloudy, -1C
0700hrs part cloudy, -1C
0800hrs part cloudy, -1C
0900hrs part cloudy, 0C
1000hrs part cloudy, 0C
1100hrs part cloudy, 0C
1200hrs part cloudy, 1C
1300hrs part cloudy, 1C
1400hrs part cloudy, 1C
1500hrs part cloudy, 0C
1600hrs part cloudy, 0C

The rest of the evening is expected to remain dry and partly cloudy with temperatures falling rapidly to –3C by midnight.

Here is the forecast for the next few days based on the consistency of badger faeces and the length of worm-casts, as well as information supplied by the Meteorological Office.

Wednesday December 27 2000

Max temp 1C
Min temp –5C
Sunshine 1hrs
Rain 12mm
Wind calm

A dry and pleasant morning with some sunshine will be replaced by periods of thicker cloud and some light rain during the afternoon.

Thursday December 28 2000

Max temp 0C
Min temp –4C
Sunshine 0hrs
Rain 0mm
Wind variable, gusty

Clear and cold conditions in a brisk north wind.

Friday December 29 2000

Max temp 1C
Min temp –4C
Sunshine 2hrs
Rain 5mm
Wind North moderate

Further light showers of rain.

Saturday December 30 2000

Max temp 0C
Min temp –6C
Sunshine 3hr
Rain 0mm
Wind North West light

Dry and crisp.

Sunday December 31 2000

Max temp 4C
Min temp –4C
Sunshine 1.5hr
Rain 0mm
Wind West light

Much milder weather pushing in, heralding a return to wet, warm and windy conditions for the foreseeable future.

Part of the fun of observing the weather is finding how accurate my forecasts for the coming days’ weather turn out. Historically I have a success rate of 46.2%…..I wonder how accurate my predictions for the rest of December will turn out?

Season’s greetings to all.

Here in Somerset, England, frosty conditions have intensified during today with the temperature rising to a maximum of 0C at 2.36pm, but has since fallen to –2C at 6pm. Lakes and ponds have frozen over, and the ducks, swans and geese are now slipping and sliding over the ice. After a week of cloudy, bleak and sunless weather, today’s glorious winter sunshine was very welcome.

The temperature is expected to fall to –5C by 10pm tonight, before thicker cloud moves in from the north with light snowfall around midnight. Further accumulations of snow are likely during Thu Dec 28, Fri Dec 29 and Sat Dec 30, before mild, wet and windy conditions sweep in for the New Year.

Latest WOU readings at 7pm, Wed Dec 27 –

Temp –3C
Wind light and variable
Conditions – sharp frost under crystal clear starry and moonless sky

Reports are coming in that the highways around Londonderry, Northern Ireland are already becoming snowbound.

On schedule, snow began falling here in Somerset, England at 11pm Wed Dec 27….rather heavier than expected, with a covering by midnight.

Latest WOU readings at 12.01am, Thu Dec 28 –

Temp –2C
Wind freshing south easterly
Conditions – moderate snowfall falling onto heavily frosted ground, snow depth 2cm

PS – Timmer, don’t forget to lag those pipes!

Like most of Britain, we in Somerset have awoken to the perfect Christmas scene. An inch of snow evenly blankets the fields and rooftops….the snow-laden pine trees look particularly beautiful against the deep blue sky. The brilliant morning sun, low in the southern sky, reflects off of the frozen lakes with a beautiful golden intensity. Robin redbreast has just appeared to complete the Yuletide bliss.

Latest WOU readings at 11.00am, Thu Dec 28 –

Temp –1C
Wind fresh south westerly
Conditions – mainly clear, with occasional cloud and snow flurries

Further light to moderate snowfall is expected tonight with temperatures dropping to –6C. Beyond that, much milder and wetter weather is expected to set in during New Year’s day.

quote:

---

I'm in south Florida, where it's almost alarmingly sunny. Also quite breezy.

---

Must be all that leftover hot air from November and December...

Cincinnati: setting a record for number of days where we have not risen above the freezing mark - 17 days. Currently about 5 degrees F. Will probably go to a high of 17 F. today. We still have snow on the ground from this past two weeks. It's that dry dessicated snow where the moisture is so leached out of it, it's more like sand than snow. We're expecting another two inches of snow tomorrow, with a warming trend expected after the first of the year.

Had a massive snowball fight today with a bunch of mostly strangers....I PASTED them....and got pasted! , my stomach hurt from laughing so much!!