LadyPakal

I thoughts it was all the contrails... (changing the smilie - it was meant to be winking not a 'kookoo lala' one like this ) http://www.carnicom.com/drought1.htm

I think that could be the plan eventually: 'Lead scientist for the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, Dr Scott Osprey said: “Up until now we have relied on weather balloons and satellite data to provide information about these major weather events. Now we can potentially use records of cosmic-ray data dating back 50 years to give us a pretty accurate idea of what was happening to the temperature in the stratosphere over this time. Looking forward, data being collected by other large underground detectors around the world, can also be used to study this phenomenon.”' It's to do with cosmic rays breaking down CFCs which releases chlorine, which in turn breaks down ozone - leading to cooling in Antarctica because heat is escaping through the ozone hole.... *shrug* http://focus.aps.org/story/v8/st8 http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0424-agu.html

Maybe - but so far it's just being touted as a detection method. Certainly it could be an easier & cheaper detection method for SSW than messing about with balloons & satellites... plus they have detection data going back many years to look over. It could help with weather forecasting if nothing else.

Ah Jethro - you beat me to it. Another linkie: http://www.ncas.ac.uk/index.php?option=com...&Itemid=249 Interesting indeed... 'Cosmic-rays detected half a mile underground in a disused U.S. iron-mine can be used to detect major weather events occurring 20 miles up in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, a new study has revealed.'

Not freeze, starve. All the plants would die - animal life would follow fairly rapidly.

Ok, there is this, but it is A4 size apparently: http://www.astrocal.co.uk/moonphasecalculator.htm A calendar for 2009: http://www.astrocal.co.uk/mooncalendar.htm

Not strictly true - it also gives you 'rudimentary transit time, moonrise and moonset times, range and time of tides'. As for where - it's really not that difficult to tell where it is, just look up for a big bright ball in the sky once it is dark. If you could remember the exact name of the exact thing you do want, then it would help.

Is this what you want? http://www.celestialproducts.com/Products/LWHEEL.asp

Not sure such a device exists but from here: http://www.delscope.demon.co.uk/news/skywa...htm#MOONPHASE09 you can print out a timetable for the year, if that's any help.

Pressure 968.8mb here - can;t remember if I've seen it down that low here before. DP a rather high 2-3, temp around 4. Just rainy & grey here.

This is neat - weather systems covering the n hemisphere. You can see our low develop over the last day or so. http://wxweb.meteostar.com/models/noaaport...tellite/NHE/IR/ Edited to add - you can see exactly why the US is having such cold weather - everything is heading south from the artic.

Temp has begin falling now - currently 5, DP2, Windchill taking to to 1 currently as the strong winds have dropped here for the moment. Wind gusted up to 60mph a couple of hours ago according to the meto. I expect the wind to pick up again sometime in the night. Apart from a bit of drizzle it has been pretty dry - in fact it was very sunny earlier this morning. Pressure has been falling all day - currently 977mb.

I can see the 2009 line - it's the red one on the left. Quite short, obviously, but not short enough to be invisible.

Remove too much CO2 and the plants starve. Then we do.

Frosty here this morning - bird bath was frozen and the grass was sparkly in the pre-dawn. Most of the ice formed during daybreak. Pressure a steady 1002mb, temp around 1, DP -1, light SSW breeze. Clear blue skies - make a lovely change after the last couple of days of grey and windy dampness.

Not being a fan of wet and windy, to have a second day of this dull, dark, miserable, wet & windy stuff is unpleasant. This sort of weather here in the winter means a day without any apparent daylight. Much prefer sunny & frosty or a fresh northerly bringing in snow showers with sunshine between. Temp is a very mild 10.2. Pressure a steady 995mb.

Sadly, the milder weather is slowly moving in. After frosts the last few nights (-4, -4 & -3) , the temp reached around 4 around the warmest part of the day. Then it dropped to 0 around 5-6ish and then began to rise again. Currently 2.6 but it's been dithering up and down between 3.5 & 1 for the last 5 hours. Pressure 1018mb and falling.

Here in the city, it got down to -1.9 last night. After a high of 4.3 this afternoon, the temp is heading downwards rapidly again - ice has already been forming on the ground - currently 0.6. Curiously, it is +4 at the airport (Dyce) meaning it is colder on the coast than a little inland. Pressure 1021mb and rising.

'One of the "pumps" contributing to the ocean's global circulation suddenly switched on again last winter for the first time this decade, scientists reported Tuesday (Dec. 23) in Nature Geoscience. The finding surprised scientists, who had been wondering if global warming was inhibiting the pump-which, in turn, would cause other far-reaching climate changes. ' http://media-newswire.com/release_1083196.html I though it was slowing, not stopped...? The plot thickens - it seems the record melt helped restart it. 'The scientists noted “that the increased liquid and frozen freshwater flux into the Labrador Sea was probably tied to the large export of sea ice from the Arctic Ocean that contributed to the record minimum in sea-ice extent observed in the summer of 2007. Ironically, this disappearance of Arctic sea ice, which has been linked to global warming, may have helped trigger the return of deep wintertime [water sinking] to the North Atlantic.'

From that link, 'These initial averages' implies these are not 'final' numbers, to me. Plus it's not only (if they are here at all) the CET stations used here but some of a series of 'about 180 observing sites available on 1 January 2009'. Probably the same data used in calculating these numbers for the various regions: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2008/december.html

That green bar has been there for ages - I couldn't say if it has changed much tho'. If you look in the CET dataset ( http://hadobs.metoffice.com/hadcet/cet_mean_2008 ) they are still working on the ave values for a few days in December (18th-23rd). Until they decide what the averages are for them, they won't be able to decide on the Dec (and so annual) CET value. There was a post a few days ago showing the adjustments made for the other days of Dec. I wonder why they are having such trouble with these few days.

That's the England & Wales average - not the CET. Still waiting on the CET final numbers.

-4.3 here in Aberdeen city - coldest this winter.

Curently -3.4 and dropping steadily. DP -6, pressure a steady 1029mb, light WSW breeze.

Not at all doctored - typical ice storm outcome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_storm http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=ice+st...=4&ct=title