Spring Eqinox? Mr Data Get A Grip!

[davehsug]

Just copied from another forum

The spring equinox happened just before 5.30 this afternoon - from now on, the days are longer than the nights.

Come on Mr D. We rely on you for this type of thing

[Bluebreezer54]

Just copied from another forum

The spring equinox happened just before 5.30 this afternoon - from now on, the days are longer than the nights.

Come on Mr D. We rely on you for this type of thing

The Spring Equinox took place at 17.33 hrs Saturday March 20th as far as Im aware didnt it ? Difficult to tell though because it was overcast and drizzling here at the time.

[J07]

...and the autumn equinox has passed here. :-(

Clear sky UV index currently 6, will be dropping fast over the next few weeks....along with the rapid loss of daylight. Boo!

[Eugene]

Perhaps he had better things to do, quite a temperature difference you had in NZ last year JO7 with a high of 38C and a low of -5C , fat chance of me ever recording 38C

[Nick L]

Perhaps he had better things to do, quite a temperature difference you had in NZ last year JO7 with a high of 38C and a low of -5C , fat chance of me ever recording 38C

Where is the enjoyment in recording 38c, must feel absolutely awful!

[Bottesford]

Where is the enjoyment in recording 38c, must feel absolutely awful!

I guess the same enjoyment many would get in recording -25c. Both are fairly 'hard going' temperatures but interesting none the less. I'd like to experience both!

[SteveB]

Yeah both set of temps would be interesting to experience, the sort of temps I would imagine parts of USA & Canada get year in year out.

[Nick L]

I guess the same enjoyment many would get in recording -25c. Both are fairly 'hard going' temperatures but interesting none the less. I'd like to experience both!

-25c you could warm yourself up. At 38c there is no way you could be cool!

[Ben_Cambs]

-25c you could warm yourself up. At 38c there is no way you could be cool!

When I went to Egypt, one day temperatures reached 47C! It was so hot and you couldnt go in the sun for more than a few minutes!

Edited March 21, 2010 by Snowman0697

[Thundery wintry showers]

Where is the enjoyment in recording 38c, must feel absolutely awful!

It was indeed pretty awful in France during the first week of August 2003, when I was there, and temperatures were hitting 37-40C. It's certainly not something I would wish for, but in a way I'm pleased to have had the experience, to be able to say that I've experienced those temperatures. I think the appeal of them is pretty much like what Bottesford said.

Also, a one-off instance of 38C is far easier to cope with (and far less dangerous!) than a prolonged spell of it like the aforementioned killer heatwave in France.

[Don]

I would rather experience extreme cold rather than extreme heat, although -25C would be pushing it I have to say! I do not like anything much above 25C in the Summer. That's a nice comfortably warm temperature and find anything higher uncomfortable. I especially do not like hot sultry nights.

[Derp Patrol]

I've visited a few hot cities in summer. Last August I went to Tuscany in Italy, and the first few days that I was there happened to be during a heatwave, where temperatures were approaching 40C on the first day, and at night they were about 24C. Gradually it cooled down to around 33C by day and 20-22C by night for the 2 weeks that I was there. It wasn't terrible by any means, but maybe that's just because I like hot weather. I remember 2006 not feeling too hot at all when temps were approaching 35C around here.

Another city that i've been to is Seville. Now that was too hot. 45C during the day, and it never drops below 20C at night usually.

Just goes to show how fussy this country is whenever we get a hot spell - people complaining that it's too hot when it is barely reaching 30C, when in reality they should expect it, just like they should expect cold weather in winter, seeing as every year we get hot spells and cold spells where the temperature goes over 30C and under 0C. People in Italy and Spain don't complain about the heat!

[Ben_Cambs]

To be fair though Rob, the continental climate of Europe is more predictable than our climate. The temperature range is a lot bigger in Europe, and I agree with you that people in countries such as Italy just get on with their daily lives whether a foot of snow has fell and continued to fall or the weather is very hot (but people in these countries do have siesta's during the day) Thats the great thing about the British climate, it is so unpredictable and varies a lot!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Regarding the continental climate being more predictable than ours, yes and no. Yes in the sense that they don't feel the full force of the Atlantic in the same way as we do, resulting in more stable weather patterns, but no in the sense of their temperatures, which fluctuate more widely.

If anything the problem is that temperatures in the UK are more predictable than on the continent and that's why we don't expect large departures from the long-term normal, hence the complaining about the heat in summer, whereas our continental neighbours are more used to relatively larger extremes. For instance, while in the UK we were talking of a notably cold start to March with maxima between 4 and 7C and minima of around -5C, much of Germany was seeing daytime maxima below zero despite bright sunshine. Meanwhile, many parts of France and Germany will be hitting 20C over the coming few days.

Of course it's all relative, the UK's temperatures fluctuate far more widely than those of, say, Singapore.

[J07]

Perhaps he had better things to do, quite a temperature difference you had in NZ last year JO7 with a high of 38C and a low of -5C , fat chance of me ever recording 38C :lol:

Well 38C is not very common, and it definitely did not happen where I live! (It was in a place called Culverden on the South Island, and it happened twice last summer).

This summer somewhere (Cheviot, which is quite close to Culverden) hit 36C. The same summer saw another location (Lumsden, near Invercargill) record a low of -3.5C! I think that's a pretty good range for just one island, in just one season!