Greyowl
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AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Joe laminate floori Forecasts Coldest Winter in Five Years
AccuWeather.com Chief Long-Range Forecaster Joe laminate floori today released his 2008-09 Winter Season Forecast addressing issues of average temperature and precipitation impacting the nation. His forecast calls for one of the coldest winters in several years across much of the East.
The core of cold was centered across the Midwest last year but is expected to be farther east this year. laminate floori says the winter of 2008-2009 will be viewed as the hardest in several years. "It may be a shock to some when compared with the above-average temperatures of last year in the East. It will put some 'brrrrrr' in the saddle of folks who have not had to deal with such things for a while," he cautions.
"In the eastern half of the nation, people will look at the winter as bookends of cold," laminate floori said. He says the overall colder and snowier winter will be off to a cold start in December with perhaps the roughest winter month for much of the nation. It may finish with another cold spell in late January and February.
Between the bookends of cold, laminate floori expects "the January thaw of old winter lore" but it will offer only a temporary break to consumers. "The winter as a whole in the population-dense eastern third of the nation will be a one-two punch of higher heating prices and lower temperatures. Given this economic environment, the winter will push some homeowners to the brink," he concludes. In some cases, homeowners trying to keep their residences as warm as last winter could spend hundreds of dollars more this heating season.
Temperatures across most of the West will be warmer than last year and should be warmer than normal, which will help consumers by keeping heating cost increases in check. The northern Rockies and Northwest will still have more snow than normal but not as much as last year, where some locations developed a snow pack that reached twice normal levels.
The Midwest was blasted by snow last year and many communities ran very low on salt to keep roads clear of ice. Despite the elevated cost of salt this winter season, these areas will receive a break in the form of less snow than last year. Unfortunately, the East will not turn out as lucky, as more snowfall than last year is expected.
Not sure what if any impact this has for us? Although he does tend to forecast cold most years!
Got to love that swear filter. B)
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I thought some of the forum may find this interesting. How weather not only effects us but bird migrations too bringing some unusual visitors to our coasts. I received this as I'm a member of the BTO but it can be viewed on their website.
BirdTrack update - 2 October 2008
Migration interest during September seemed to switch around the country, from the north, then to the east and finally back to the west, with the different winds encountered bringing very different birds into the country. Following a prolonged period of westerly winds and low pressures tracking across the Atlantic (on the back of a strong hurricane season in North America), there was a rush of rarities from the west, mostly concentrated in Ireland. On one day, Cape Clear Bird Observatory alone recorded Yellow Warbler, Northern Waterthrush and Solitary Sandpiper!
In the east, these same wind conditions may have concentrated migrating birds of prey along the coasts, and notable passage was seen at several sites. An early morning migration watch at Dungeness Bird Observatory recorded a remarkable 52 Sparrowhawks and 41 Kestrels, along with 12 Marsh Harriers, four Peregrines, and single Buzzard and Hobby. Another raptor seen in exceptional numbers was Honey Buzzard, with some sites recording up to 16 birds on one day, and the number of birds involved must be in the hundreds.
The study of migrating raptors has been revolutionized in recent years by the use of satellite tracking, and the fortunes of several species can now be followed live online:
Honey Buzzard:
http://www.ecologymatters.co.uk/honey_buzzard.shtml
http://www.roydennis.org/osprey%20migration%202008.htm
Osprey:
http://www.roydennis.org/Migration%20maps%202008.htm
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/tracking/l...preys/index.asp
After what seemed like an age, we finally saw some perfect migration conditions develop over Europe late on in the month. For migrants to be moving through western Europe, the ideal weather conditions are a deep, long high pressure system over Scandinavia creating an easterly airflow right across northern Europe, encouraging birds to migrate. Add to this a sequence of frontal systems passing across Britain and Ireland, and when birds reach our coastline, they hit a front (with cloud and rain), suspending their migration, dropping them onto the coast (a fall).
With these conditions, interest switched from the west to more eastern regions, with the quality of birds definitely improving. The pick of the bunch were three extremely rare birds from Central Asia. The first to appear was a male Cretzschmar's Bunting, seen for three days at North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory on Orkney. This is only the fourth British record, all of which have been seen in the Northern Isles. Later in the week, a Brown Flycatcher was found at Fair Isle Bird Observatory, only the second British record (following one at Flamborough Bird Observatory in 2007). Not to be beaten though, Flamborough responded later the same day with the finding of a Brown Shrike! This was even photographed next to an obliging Red-backed Shrike for comparison. Further south, Yorkshire's first record of Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler was found at Spurn Bird Observatory, and daily migration counts there also included 21 Tree Pipit, 83 Redstart, 40 Wheatear, 40 Spotted Flycatcher and 23 Pied Flycatcher. Spurn’s good run continued later that week, when a Meadow Pipit carrying an Icelandic ring was caught, only the second ever to be found in Britain & Ireland.
For links to the entire network of 18 Bird Observatories, visit the BOC site:
http://www.birdobscouncil.org.uk/
Aside from the unusual, there were also very impressive numbers of both Redstart and Pied Flycatcher along the coast, many of which filtered to inland areas. There were also some very confusing birds turning up! On the Fife coast, an odd-looking flycatcher was originally identified as a Collared Flycatcher, but later reidentified as just a Pied. In Norfolk, a 'possible' Semi-collared Flycatcher caused a few headaches, as the identification of first-winter birds is a dark art. There were also several records of Redstarts showing characteristics of the eastern race samamisicus.
Note the effect of this fall in the results for Redstart:
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s353-20-08.html
and also for Pied Flycatcher:
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s429-20-08.html
It is obvious how key an understanding of weather patterns can be to planning your migrant watching. Key to unravelling migration patterns is the interpretation of pressure charts (or synoptic charts). These may seem incredibly confusing at first, but with practice (and a bit of help) you can start to predict your own falls.
Atlantic pressure charts for the week ahead:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast/pressure/
A guide to interpreting synoptic charts:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/seco...nts/charts.html
Though you’d need to be at the coast to really appreciate these mass arrivals, autumn migration was still visible throughout the country. The most obvious inland ‘visible migrants’ are Meadow Pipit and Siskin, and good numbers have been seen heading south from the core of the breeding population in Scotland.
Have Meadow Pipit numbers peaked early this autumn?
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s332-20-08.html
Was the early promise of a bumper Siskin winter misleading?
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s472-20-08.html
True immigrants into the country will also filter inland quite quickly at this time of year, and by now a lot of people will have seen an increase in the numbers of Goldcrest, and perhaps the first Redwings.
Goldcrest:
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s424-20-08.html
Note the slightly later arrival of Redwing than in 2007:
http://blx1.bto.org/bt-dailyresults/results/s377-20-08.html
As the month came to an end, the wind again switched to the west, and attention turned back to the west coast, but this time to the sea-watching hotspots. As if on cue, an impressive passage of Leach’s Petrels was reported, with the highest single count of 120 that passed Hilbre Island, Cheshire. More unusual was the report of a wind-blown Max Shearwater, which was first found behind a set of bins in Central London. The story has a happy ending though, and can be read here:
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Lovely shot Slinky. Does look a lot like a Hobby.What I think is my first decent bird of prey shot http://nwstatic.co.uk/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif Its a Hobby (I think)
You will need to view large size..........
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I feed seed and peanuts all year round. Extra feeders and fat balls etc in colder months. As far as I'm aware RSPB etc say to feed all year round as when you stop feeding at the end of winter, the food supply the birds were used to has gone and they then have to look elsewhere.
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This article on BBC websiteSmall Tortoiseshell
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There has been quite a few round here, I say has been because it is Ozzy's fav past time to pounce around after them and then eat them
Not had that many of them so far. My 2 dogs go mad for them when they see one.
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You should be able to get a good shot of a gull pinching Joe's ice cream. -
Glen, now I would love to see that, and may be taking a boat trip out to spot them *fingers crossed* if we get time.
Awesome site if you get the chance Lou. Seen them, Humpbacks and Minke whales on a boat trip. Not on the coast of Cornwall I must add.
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A Basking Shark.
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Owls are my favourite. See Tawny and Barn Owls quite often in this bit of the Fens, but I don't have the camera gear to get a good shot of them. Lovely to see them though.Brilliant, I adore birds of prey. I am yet to get a good shot of one (not through lack of trying!!)
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Female Sparrow hawk taken through our double glazed back door.Wow, brilliant!!! Is that a sparrow hawk??? I would love to get a shot like that
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My garden has been full of them this year. Never seen so many before. They rise in clouds from the tubs of marigolds by the back door.Its as easy as this Loubz (you flatterer!!) a decent macro lens
Get the 100mm canon macro your thinking about!Lovely Tortoiseshell Greyowl, I have struggled to get a shot of one of these little beauty's!
great stuff! -
Breakfast on the Lawn.
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Small Tortoiseshell
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The completion of the last of 26 giant turbines at the £60m Walland Marsh wind farm being built by Npower Renewables on Romney Marsh. Operation is due to commence early next year.
Once online, the wind farm, which received planning approval in 2005 after local opposition and a public inquiry, will generate enough electricity to power 33,000 UK homes.
In preparation for the assembly of the 115m-high turbines, the German-made propeller blades had been transported in 78 lorries across Kent from Chatham docks.
You forgot to add a bit about traffic chaos Coast
We have quite a few turbines around my area. Always lots of objections when they are proposed but once they are built the seem to be part of the landscape.
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I thought Scarlet Darters were rare migrants to Britain and completely red? I would go for either a Common or Ruddy Darter though I'm not sure how to tell the difference between the two.
They seem to turn up relatively often in southern England. My fault for not looking at Stephens location. Common darter it is then.
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I think that's a Scarlet Darter Stephen. Damselflies tend to have their wings laying along the length of their body not held out as this one is.
Nice shots anyway.
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If you get any problems with it Brian I can send my dogs round. One catches them and the other one eats them. Also good at catching Flies, Bees, Moths and anything else that moves. No matter how many times he gets stung our English Setter still wants to catch Bees.
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Current data for Murrow. (NE Cambridgeshire)
05 September 2008 15:51:59
Temperature (°C):
Current 14.6
Trend (per hour) 0
Average today 15.1
Dew Point 14.1
Rel Humidity 97%
Wind (mph):
Current Gust 7.3 ESE
Rainfall (mm):
Current rate 2.0
Last hour 1.0
Total today 5.0
Total yesterday 4.0
Total this month 22.0
Pressure (mb):
Current 992.0
Trend (per hour) -0.7
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Seems like the menace is spreading.
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Carry on here for Fridays deluge
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From the MET Office website.
It's worthwhile to consider whether or not the storm was, in any sense, a hurricane - the description applied to it by so many people.
In the Beaufort scale of wind force, Hurricane Force (Force 12) is defined as a wind of 64 knots or more, sustained over a period of at least 10 minutes. Gusts, which are comparatively short-lived (but cause much of the destruction) are not taken into account. By this definition, Hurricane Force winds occurred locally but were not widespread.
The highest hourly-mean speed recorded in the UK was 75 knots, at the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse. Winds reached Force 11 (56-63 knots) in many coastal regions of south-east England. Inland, however, their strength was considerably less. At the London Weather Centre, for example, the mean wind speed did not exceed 44 knots (Force 9). At Gatwick Airport, it never exceeded 34 knots. Force 8.
The Great Storm of 1987 did not originate in the tropics and was not, by any definition, a hurricane - but it was certainly exceptional.
75Knts = 86.4 mph
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The winds in 1987 were Hurricane force cat3 but not a Hurricane.
This article on WIKI will give you some more info.
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Lovely storm here at the moment. C+C and C+G lightning with some proper thunderclaps. Current rain rate 41mm/ph
great stuff!
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Would it be worth naming the Moon phases as well as showing them?