Puffy MacCloud

Nothing smart to post but I'm heart-sorry for everyone who's lost family, friends or property.

I’ve been confined to bed since Wednesday, I think, respiratorily challenged. Unstable even. It’s been a bit of a faff, really, and is the reason I haven’t been on here recently. Luckily, both my daughters are available and have been helping me to stay fed and watered. Even luckier, one of them is an ICU Charge Nurse, and she’s been consulting with my respiratory consultant regarding what we should be doing medically. Medically, apparently, the first thing to do is keep me out of hospital. This is for two reasons. First, it’s full and second, being there would likely be the end of me. The second thing to do, apparently, is to take as many different pills as can be lodged in my tum, which is wearisome. The third thing to do, and this at least gave me a right good belly-laugh, is to contact my GP and arrange some home visits. Ha!! I’d have a better chance of finding Lord Lucan and riding Shergar in the next National. Little Nurse Nazi offered briefly to see if she could get some drip stands to administer my meds intravenously but that was poo-pooed by the consultant. I think he remembers that my previous attitude to drips wasn’t entirely satisfactory. Meanwhile I can’t get through to my home office to read the weather station outputs on my PC, but as I sit here with my laptop in bed I can confirm that today was a thoroughly depressing wash-out from beginning to end with constant rainfall and leaden grey skies. Not what the doctor ordered at all.

Barra has just barrelled in; heavy sleet and a brisk breeze now the order of the day, which is unfortunate as it’s my mother’s birthday and I have to get her a card and a present before meeting up for lunch along with other family members. I’ll be the one looking like a drowned cat. Oh joy. Temperature now 1.6C and wind has risen to 4 to 15mph with 1.0mm of sleet having fallen in the last ten minutes.

The village facebook page was full of dire warnings of ice and danger this morning but, according to Diablo anyway, the minimum temperature today was 0.7⁰C at 02:40 from where it has risen to a high of 2.9⁰C now. Humidity is 85%, wind is 2 to 9mph east-southeasterly with a maximum gust of 13mph at 09:52, pressure is 987.6hPa dropping like a rock, there’s been 0.4mm of rainfall today and 4.6mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is 8/8 and the dew point is at 1⁰C. Roll on Barra…

Right after my earlier report the sky cleared and the sun broke through. For 5 minutes. Then the cloud cover returned and the grey day continued unabated until sunset. Temperature now 2.1⁰C, humidity is 91%, wind 0 to 2mph west-southwesterly, pressure is 1000.0hPa rising slowly, there’s now been 9.4mm of precipitation today and the dew point is at 1⁰C.

The weather today isn’t worth writing home about, but I’ll tell you lot anyway. It’s not good. High temperature was 5.6⁰C at 08:26 up from a low of 0.2⁰C at midnight and now 4.1⁰C, humidity is 87%, wind is 1 to 5mph west-southwesterly with a maximum gust of 18mph at 13:05, pressure is 997.7hPa falling slowly, there’s been 6.6mm of rain, sleet and hail so far today, cloud cover is 8/8 and the dew point is at 2⁰C.

It was a glorious day from beginning to end with cloudless blue skies, next to no wind, and a seasonal chill in the air. Evocative of a proper winter to come. Loved it. High temperature of the day was 4.1⁰C at 13:30 dropping to -1.6⁰C now, pressure has reversed from rocketing upwards to dropping like a rock at 1013.1hPa, my rain meter picked up 0.2mm of precipitation out of a cloudless sky, which is patently wrong and must have been melting frost, and the dew point is now at -3⁰C.

It’s a cracking morning; crisp, clear, calm and cold with only a moderate hangover. Bring on the day. Temperature is currently the high of the day at 2.3⁰C up from a low of -3.0⁰C at 08:49, humidity is 87%, there isn’t a trace of wind, pressure is 1014.9hPa rising quickly, there’s been no rainfall today, cloud cover is 0/8 and the dew point is at 1⁰C.

Today was a rainy day. And cold. It was a cold, rainy day. And dull. It was a dull, cold, rainy day. However, it was also the day that I could go and fetch my older daughter, who I haven’t seen since June, and who arrived last weekend from her home in Spain for Christmas, and had been isolating ever since at her mother’s. She and my younger daughter and I went to buy a Christmas tree, which we did, and then we got pished. It was a lovely, dull, cold rainy day. Temperature high was 6.1⁰C at midnight falling to a minimum of 0.1⁰C at 08:48 and now 2.2⁰C, humidity is 88%, wind is 1 to 3mph north-northwesterly with a maximum gust of 11mph at 03:05, pressure is 1001.7hPa rocketing upwards currently, there’s been 13.6mm of rainfall today and 16.4mm in the last 24 hours and the dew point is at 1⁰C.

The lights in the house are on at noon. That’s how nice a day it isn’t. Temperature high for today so far was 7.6⁰C at 02:51 up from a low of 2.6⁰C at midnight and now 6.7⁰C, humidity is 90%, wind is 2 to 3mph west-southwesterly with a gust of 11mph at 02:44, pressure is 998.2hPa falling slowly, there’s been 3.2mm of rainfall today and 4.8mm in the last 24 hours, and cloud cover is a comprehensive 8/8. Dew point is at 5⁰C.

Invite a lady to have a look around your garden and drop into the conversation that her bottom is looking big, or bigger, well huge actually. Don’t be standing too close as the resultant tirade will look, sound and feel very much like a jet fighter on after-burners. The leaves will be blasted back from whence they came or they’ll be incinerated where they lie. You might have to be prepared to replace some fence panels in the process, possibly some of your neighbours’ fence panels also, and some sheds and outbuildings, so I take absolutely no responsibility for this suggestion. It's been a nice day here, well-broken, high, thin cloud allowing a goodly amount of sunshine through, although not quite enough to melt all the ice on the fishing lake I was at. Temperature high was 1.9⁰C at 13:19 up from the low of -3.6⁰C at 06:40 and is now 1.3⁰C, humidity is 85%, it’s dead calm, pressure is 1011.2hPa and dropping like property values around 101_North’s house are about to, there’s been no precipitation in the last 24 hours and the dew point is at -1⁰C. Diablo, he say snow. Means nothing, obviously.

Happy New Winter to one and all. Let’s hope we get a proper Scottish winter full of proper Scottish winter weather. Today dawned cold and overcast but by the time we went out for lunch at noon it was cold and partly cloudy, and by the time we got back at 2pm it was cold and clear. A nice start. Temperature high today was 6.6⁰C at midnight from where it has steadily dropped to 3.2⁰C now, humidity is 76%, wind is 0 to 4mph north-northwesterly with a maximum gust of 14mph at 09:45, pressure is 1004.5hPa rising like a rocket, there was 1.2mm of rainfall in the early hours today and 28.2mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is 1/8.

I hope you all had a great St. Andrews Day with a stomach bursting amount of haggis and an eye-watering sloshing down amount of single malt High temperature today was 10.6⁰C at 12 :41 sinking to a low of 6.5⁰C now, humidity is 94%, wind 0 to 2 mph northwesterly with a maximum gust of 17mph at 21: 05, pressure is 992.4hPa rocketing upwards and there’s been 32.6mm of rainfall today. November 2021 highs are 14.1⁰C, 97% humidity, 22mph wind gust, 1033.3hPa pressure and total rainfall of 116.6mm. November lows were -3.8⁰C, humidity of 60%, pressure of 973.7hPa and dew point of -6⁰C.

Today wasn’t really much of a day at all. More of a short, slightly less dark bit in between two nights. Temperature is now the highest of the day at 9.3⁰C, humidity is 94%, wind is 1 to 6mph westerly with a maximum gust of 10mph at 18:09, pressure is 1007.1hPa steady, there’s now been 2.6mm of rainfall today and the sky is dark but I’m assuming still 8/8 overcast.

All weather is good, but some is less good than others. Today’s dull, damp, dreich, dismal disappointment is a case in point. Shut the curtains, back to bed. Temperature low was -3.8⁰C at 01:39 and now risen to 2.1⁰C, humidity is 93%, wind is 0 to 2mph south-southwesterly with a maximum gust of 4mph, pressure is 1010.5hPa steady, there’s been 0.4mm of rain so far today and 1.0mm in the last 24 hours and heavy 8/8 cloud cover is dropping a fine veil of drizzle over everything. Kind of poetic but bloody miserable.

Why wasn’t I informed that the snow elves were coming? I mean, they didn’t exactly put in a full shift, but they were here. Fleetingly. And what did Diablo have to say about this? Diablo, he sleep through whole thing. Until now. Now Diablo, he say snow. Now that I can see it out the window. Anyone want a very badly behaved weather station? I’m upgrading. To something approaching competent. Temperature is currently 0.7⁰C up from -1.7⁰C at 01:09, humidity is 92%, it’s currently calm with a maximum gust of 2mph before dawn, pressure is 1006.9hPa steady, there’s been no precipitation in the last 24 hours (?) (according to Diablo), and cloud cover is 8/8 but thin enough to allow a reasonably bright day.

Truly brilliant phots. Respect!

So, back home from brother’s, and the result of the exercise could be described as, well, mixed. My brother lives in a wee village and, as all you village-dwellers know, wee villages are brim-full of helpful neighbours. When I arrived at the gatehouse to Castle Grump three stout retainers were on scene and looking for somewhere to plug in their hedge trimmer. Following a brief discussion they left. At this point His Lordship’s voice rang out from afar. “Have they gone?” “Yes” “Well stop faffing about and start cutting!” Cognisant of the fact that my lungs aint what they used to be, I’d brought both my portable oxygen bottles, which normally last for three hours in total. More if I’m horizontal. But it was quickly apparent that my stamina is now rubbish and I could only manage five minutes of chainsaw wielding before I needed five minutes of heavy breathing. Two hours of vertical exertion is my limit, as things stand. My brother, who is four inches taller than me and four stone heavier, (and I’m no exactly wee,) was swinging a forester’s axe in each hand for five minutes and then, for five minutes, trying to incinerate the off-cuts purely by dint of atrocious language. It was getting dark when I gave up cutting, swung the chain around the last tree trunk and pulled the whole thing into a field with the Land Rover. Turns out that the field was actually my brother’s prospective new lawn. Not now. Even so, we went inside and his darling wife made me a mug of soup, prepared sans leccy on a stove thingy in a kettle. I know, I don’t know why a kettle either, she’s a teuchter, what can I say? They still don’t have power, apparently, but they do now have access. And a plowed lawn…

Brother suggests he'll work outwards from the house if I could work inwards from the road...

I haven’t been out yet today but soshull meeja indicates that several trees in the village are down and a couple of roads are closed. My brother in East Lothia had a sleepless night as bits and pieces of countryside were flung about. He’s resting now, as apparently are four of the trees on his driveway that are having a wee lie down too. The Land Rover is full of chainsaw, chains, strops, and flasks of coffee and I’m about to set off for his now to help clear up. He also has no power. No storm damage chez moi but it was amazing how quickly the stiff breeze sucked all the heat in the house right up the chimneys. Slowly recovering now. High temperature for today here so far was 3.4⁰C at 11:27 up from a low of 1.1⁰C at 08:10 and now 2.6⁰C, humidity is 68%, wind is 2 to 5mph northerly with a maximum gust of 19mph at 00:51, pressure is 1010.4hPa rising slowly, there’s been no rain in the last 24 hours and cloud cover is 5/8 but clearing from the west. Dew point is at -3⁰C.

The sky came over all deep grey and dangerous earlier this afternoon, but apart from that we seem to have dodged the bullet. So far at least. Having said that, and as I've said before, we're very sheltered here. Temperature now 3.6⁰C, humidity is 67%, wind is 8 to 14mph northerly with a maximum gust of 21mph at 18:41, pressure is rocketing upwards now at 996.5hPa and no more rain has fallen today. The dew point is at -2⁰C.

It’s a very acceptable day here so far, with cloudless blue skies except on the western horizon where some big white cumuluses are just visible. You’d be hard pushed to guess anything unusual was afoot. Temperature high was 7.8⁰C at 01:56 from where it dropped to a low of 3.0⁰C at 09:13 and now back up to 4.6⁰C, humidity is 72%, wind is 3 to 11mph north-northwesterly with a maximum gust so far of 15mph, pressure is 990.0hPa dropping slowly, there’s been 4.8mm of rainfall in the early hours and 8.4mm in the last 24 hours, cloud cover is below 1/8 and the dew point is at 0⁰C. Diablo, he say light showers are on the way… Useless pillock.

The sky is clear, and the stars are out. A nice end to an equally nice day. Temperature high was 8.3⁰C at 01:56 from where it dropped steadily to -0.7⁰C at 21:52 and 0.4⁰C now, humidity is 92%, it’s been windless since daybreak after a gust of 14mph at 03:54, pressure is 1017.3hPa rising slowly, there’s been 2.2mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours but none of it since midnight, cloud cover reduced from 2/8 in the early morning to 0/8 now, and the dew point is at -1⁰C.

At sunrise the sky was gin clear, then by 10am there was a high, thin, marbling effect and now there’s a definite march of thicker cloud coming in from the north. Shame, because it’s been a spectacularly bright, crisp morning. The overnight temperature went from -2.5⁰C at midnight to a low for the day of -2.9⁰C at 05:15 and has risen since then to a high of 6.4⁰C now, humidity is 85%, wind is 0 to 1mph westerly with a mighty gust of 3mph at 11:24, pressure is 1032.7hPa steady, my weather station has again recorded 0.2mm of rain (melted frost surely,) in a perfectly dry day, cloud cover has built from 0/8 at daybreak to 6/8 now and the dew point is at 4⁰C, so nothing exciting today then.

It’s already down to -1.7⁰C and with humidity at 91%, pressure at 1030.5hPa rising slowly, and no wind whatsoever the dew point has dropped to -3⁰C for the first time this season.