blizzardmanuk

Climatologist / Meteorologist, Bournemouth WeatherNet provides historic weather data and forecasts to industry and commerce. We are seeking an enthusiastic individual to help collate & verify incidents of severe weather; generate weather reports; provide information & forecasts by telephone & e-mail. Potential applicants should have: Keen interest in / knowledge of the weather (some weather forecast knowledge desirable). Good IT / data manipulation skills Good English skills / telephone manner Competitive salary & package including private health cover. Please e-mail CV & covering letter (indicating current status) to steve@weathernet.co.uk Closing date for applications 15th July 2007. Developer / Data Analyst, Bournemouth, Dorset UK WeatherNet provides weather data and forecasts to industry and commerce. We are seeking enthusiastic individual with excellent IT skills to help write database applications to capture, analyse and present historic weather data. Applicants should have: Good Database skills. Experience with Lotus Approach / SQL desirable. Knowledge of Excel Macro’s / VBA Good knowledge of the web. HTML, Java desirable. Grounding in basic statistics Some knowledge of, or interest in the weather highly desirable Competitive salary & package including private health cover. Please e-mail CV & covering letter (indicating current status) to steve@weathernet.co.uk or write to: Steve Roberts Managing Director WeatherNet Ltd Kingsland House 21 Hinton Road Bournemouth Dorset BH1 2DE Closing date for applications 15th July 2007. Queries to steve@weathernet.co.uk 01202-293868

Hi chaps, Thanks for bringing this news article to my attention. Yes I was irritated, not just for myself, but for WeatherNet, the PA and other respected meteorologists as a whole, being criticised in a derogatory unprofessional style when the source quotations drawn upon by Mr Nick Francis of The Sun newspaper were never made by myself nor by Paul, Bren et al. at the PA. Personally I do not mind criticism on my comments or weather forecasts that do not follow the prediction, but I do not appreciate it when my words are misinterpreted, misquoted and sometimes fabricated. Perhaps some journalist have ‘selected hearing’ or even hidden agenda(s) to sell newspapers. As professionals we all knew August was not expected to be exceptional in comparison to June and July. It seems the media held an intention to carry on with a perception that the previous two months hot weather would continue into August – purely based upon a quotation with no merit, source or foundation. When this failed to transpire, meteorologists were the people held to account. Having read the article in The Sun newspaper late yesterday afternoon, I contacted Mr Francis to discuss the matter. I told him in a polite, firm way what I thought and what comments were made on this forum of his article. The rogue quotation(s) used by Mr Francis is deemed in the public domain and as a result The Sun newspaper can not be held for libel. Mr Francis personally apologised to me for my name being published next to a misquote and to meteorologists in general for the article. Mr Francis made it quite clear that if a meteorological opinion was required in the future he would contact the organisations concerned (WeatherNet, PA, MO etc.) to ensure that quotes already in the public domain were correct before reiterating them in a new news story. Time will tell to see if this will happen. On this occasion, I and WeatherNet have had to accept a verbal apology. I have emailed Mr Francis. If a reply is forthcoming I will update you all via the forum. Regards Rich Dr Richard Wild BSc (Hons) PhD FRMetS FRGS Weather Services Commercial Manager – WeatherNet Ltd TORRO Director – Head of Heavy Snowfalls and Blizzards

Hi Guys, In July 2005, I completed a PhD thesis into the spatial and temporal analysis of heavy snowfalls across Great Britain between the years 1861-1999. Since 1999, I have continued with this research to date. Last year, 2005 saw 25 days of heavy snowfall, joint top with the year 1876 (the highest number of heavy snowfall days since 1861). The average number of heavy snowfall days per year based on the period 1861-1999 across the United Kingdom is 8.2 days. In recent years, other years have shown a significant high frequency of heavy snowfall days. The years 1999 and 1996 saw 14 heavy snowfall days, while 1995 sustained 13. The years 1993, 2001 and 2004 all saw 12 heavy snowfall days. Officially, no definition of a heavy snowfall day exists (only an hourly heavy snowfall rate of >=4cm/hr is official recognised). Therefore the above statistics are based on the following criteria stated below. This was also the same criteria used within the PhD thesis. 13cm (5 inches) or more of snow must have fallen somewhere in lowland Great Britain in 24 hours (not accumulated depths) or was described a blizzard. The snow depth of 13cm was chosen as this reflected a good benchmark of cumulative snow depth based on the literature cited for snow disruption that interfered with normal life. Why has this occurred in 2005? To be honest, I am unsure, however with reference to my thesis and similar major studies done in other countries such as Austria, Bulgaria, Canada and the U.S.A, heavy snowfalls (both in depth and frequency in days) have increased in recent decades. This may be down to a change in weather patterns and the increase of the temperatures of the air and the oceans due to the transfer of sensible and latent heat energy. Put in simpler terms, a warmer world will hold more moisture therefore the precipitation that has occurred in the winter season has been heavier and has still remained so far as snow. The results may also be down to better data collection and monitoring. Due to the small period sample of some of the meteorological data used, we cannot therefore be certain of some of the trends. The heaviest snowfall depth recorded last year on a particular heavy snowfall day appears to be around 40-50cm in County Durham at the end of the heavy snowfall event of the 24-25 February 2005. This however, falls into insignificance in comparison to the four highest snow depths associated with other heavy snowfall events (HSEs) of the past 140 years as the table below shows. 15-16 February 1929 200cm Dartmoor 9-13 March 1891 150cm Dartmoor 18-19 January 1881 120cm Dartmoor 26-30 January 1940 120cm Sheffield, South Yorkshire The largest 4 heavy snowfall events between 1861-1999 (by snow depth) If you would like further information concerning historical heavy snowfalls across Great Britain, visit www.richardjwild.co.uk Kind regards Rich Dr Richard J. Wild BSc (Hons) PhD FRMetS FRGS Weather Services Commercial Manager - WeatherNet Ltd Head of Heavy Snowfall and Blizzards Division, TORRO (Tornado and Storm Research Organisation)

Guys, Just thought you would like to that between 0330 and 0700 this morning 10.7mm of rain fell across Bournemouth, Dorset. Regards Rich Dr Richard J. Wild BSc (Hons) PhD FRMetS FRGS Weather Services Commercial Manager - WeatherNet Ltd TORRO Director - Heavy Snowfall and Blizzards Division