Scotland - Weather Chat

[Big Innes Madori]

Am I right in thinking we will be basking in 12C + come the weekend?

Aye Cheggers!

That's jist aboot Taps Aff Deg C.

While this morning was -1C with 8" O' snaw cover!!!

Still aboot 3" or 4 inches O' snaw cover here at the moment and some sleety pish falling the noo.

Big Innes

[Hawesy]

Morning all,

Sunny start to the day, 1.5c which is also the overnight low.

[Polar Maritime]

Just a heads up.. A spitfire and a typhoon will be flying over the fourth rail bridge today at lunch time great photo op   

[snowy owl]

Braw sunny day, if a bit chilly in the shade. However in the sun feeling nice and warm:)

[mistyqueen]

Afternoon Peeps! Well, the snaw's had a fright and taken itself off somewhere else. Very sunny and cold, just had a heavy shower, a wee taste of what we'll be getting over the weekend. I know it's a few weeks away, but the weather for the eclipse on the 20th looks like it'll be set fair for up here. I know, I know, a lot can happen in two weeks, bet that we'll end up with heavy cloud and rain and won't see a thing!

[GrangemouthBairn]

Just before some people hibernate away until next winter. I've attached a picture of my weather station. It's good except 2 things. One is that it drastically underestimates wind speeds. The other which I care about the most is that when the sun is out the temperature reading is way too high.

I know naturally that the air does naturally warm when the sun comes out. However I know that the temperature reading from it is too high. For example in January, there was one day where the expected high was 3C but when the sun went through the gap between the houses and shone on the weather station, it went from 2C to 7C in half an hour despite it not feeling like the temperature had changed much.

The thermometer is on the right hand side of the picture and I believed that the cylindrical Stevenson screen around it would stop the sun from having an effect however it doesn't seem to stop the temperature from rising rapidly and as a result it isn't recording what the actual air temperature is in the shade.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get a more accurate temperature reading? I had put the station quite high so that it would be exposed to the wind but even if I put it lower, surely it won't make a difference as the sun will still shine on it at some point in the day. I also thought that it might just be that it was rising because the sun was low enough to shine through the gaps in the screen but the rising sun hasn't made a difference.

Edited March 4, 2015 by GrangemouthBairn

[LomondSnowstorm]

Just before some people hibernate away until next winter. I've attached a picture of my weather station. It's good except 2 things. One is that it drastically underestimates wind speeds. The other which I care about the most is that when the sun is out the temperature reading is way too high.

I know naturally that the air does naturally warm when the sun comes out. However I know that the temperature reading from it is too high. For example in January, there was one day where the expected high was 3C but when the sun went through the gap between the houses and shone on the weather station, it went from 2C to 7C in half an hour despite it not feeling like the temperature had changed much.

The thermometer is on the right hand side of the picture and I believed that the cylindrical Stevenson screen around it would stop the sun from having an effect however it doesn't seem to stop the temperature from rising rapidly and as a result it isn't recording what the actual air temperature is in the shade.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how to get a more accurate temperature reading? I had put the station quite high so that it would be exposed to the wind but even if I put it lower, surely it won't make a difference as the sun will still shine on it at some point in the day. I also thought that it might just be that it was rising because the sun was low enough to shine through the gaps in the screen but the rising sun hasn't made a difference.

The wind underestimate is pretty much unavoidable unless you can mount an anemometer separately on your roof - mine isn't too bad because it's reasonably exposed to SWerlies but anything between east and due south and it barely registers any wind even when the MO stations have gales. 

As for the thermometer, it's difficult as you probably are always going to be exposed to some amount of direct sunlight. We're fortunate (from that perspective) in that our garden is north facing so mine isn't really exposed much to the sun but it might be an idea to attach the thermometer to the northerly facing side of the shed roof if possible. The other issue is that ideally you'd want it to be recording over grass so that sunlight isn't reflected back in, so perhaps if it was directly above the ground rather than the roof it might improve things.

 

Oh, and just in case you folks were wondering I am now part of the regional forum moderating team, so I'll be keeping a close eye on all of you for any off topic discussion (particularly from myself)    But seriously, if you have any issues on the thread then give myself, or Lorenzo, a PM and we'll see if we can sort things out.

[GrangemouthBairn]

The wind underestimate is pretty much unavoidable unless you can mount an anemometer separately on your roof - mine isn't too bad because it's reasonably exposed to SWerlies but anything between east and due south and it barely registers any wind even when the MO stations have gales.

As for the thermometer, it's difficult as you probably are always going to be exposed to some amount of direct sunlight. We're fortunate (from that perspective) in that our garden is north facing so mine isn't really exposed much to the sun but it might be an idea to attach the thermometer to the northerly facing side of the shed roof if possible. The other issue is that ideally you'd want it to be recording over grass so that sunlight isn't reflected back in, so perhaps if it was directly above the ground rather than the roof it might improve things.

Oh, and just in case you folks were wondering I am now part of the regional forum moderating team, so I'll be keeping a close eye on all of you for any off topic discussion (particularly from myself) But seriously, if you have any issues on the thread then give myself, or Lorenzo, a PM and we'll see if we can sort things out.

Thanks for the reply. I've attached a photo of my garden and looks to the west. If I was to attach it to the north of the shed lower down then it would be a bit of an obstacle when walking on the path. The fence to the left has holes in it so the sun would still shine through onto it. I think I'll try putting it low down on next doors building which is to the left of my shed. It will be even less exposed to the wind but except putting it on the roof, it is exposed to the wind as much as it could possibly be at the moment(considering that my street is open to the west) and that isn't great.

Edited March 4, 2015 by GrangemouthBairn

[biggreyface]

Man my cheeks are sore (facial ones) after all those tounge in cheek comments yesterday feels like I've blown up 100 cheap ballons.sorry back on topic its amazing how 12cm plus of snow can dissappear in a matter of hours lovely spring day today 9.8c max from a low of -1.3c

[NUT]

Lovely day today so it was mostly sunny to middle of the afternoon. Not that cold tonight either

[Northernlights]

Very very windy here this morning flexing the steading  plastic sheets and lifting the slates and sending them crashing down on the sarking on the older parts of the steading.Hard to stand up in and  making the temperature of 7c seem very cold.

 

Best laugh of the day watching a blackbird walk round the corner of the house on the path only to get bowled over by a ferocious gust . Totally airborne it flew away and seemed none the worse for the somersault.Only its dignity bruised.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Northernlights

[Norrance]

Still some snow in our back garden [Aberfeldy] this morning but now very wet and disappearing fast. Had been around 17 cms a couple of days ago.

 

Temp was 9C and rising when I checked earlier with a strong wind taking the edge off the temp..

[over_the_rainbow]

8C here and it has been windy and grey all day. 

 

Im keeping an eye on the weather for the eclipse as well mistyqueen! Hoping we get a clear one! 

[Poots]

We hit the heady heights of 12.3c at one point today. It's been nice, but windy. One of those coats on/coats off kind of days!

 

Looking forward to the eclipse as well and hoping for clear weather 

[mistyqueen]

So much rain....so little sun! And a helluva lot more to come over the next few days. I'll end up with webbed feet at this rate!

[GrangemouthBairn]

My plan probably won't work actually because that wall is concrete so I would need to drill through it.

Anyway, cloudy, dry, mild, breezy start at 7.3C

[November13]

Mega damage being done to the ski slopes at Glencoe and Nevis right now! It's a case of hide behind the curtains until Sunday and see what's left. Pity because we have high pressure coming in on Sunday, and snow showers higher up. Why do we have to have a monsoon in between.

 

P.S Winter is not over. The charts are looking like cooling down next week with frosts.

Edited March 6, 2015 by November13

[knocker]

AMBER severe weather warning for rain has been issued. 

http://bit.ly/1g3zeBH 

[mistyqueen]

Horizontal rain here! Roof tiles rattling, things flying around the garden, and I don't mean birds! Dontcha just lurve spring?

[kag]

Unusual cloud formation just past over heading NE. Looks like mammatus but no CuNb near and not likely in this synoptic set up. Any ideas? Windy dull and dry at present.

[biggreyface]

Just seen the weather on bbc news 24 17:55 looked like most of Scotland will be getting snow on Monday did anyone else see this or am i just looking through snow tinted glasses

[Kayemill]

Unusual cloud formation just past over heading NE. Looks like mammatus but no CuNb near and not likely in this synoptic set up. Any ideas? Windy dull and dry at present.

Have to say, noticed this on the way home from work. Like mammatus but much higher. Weird.

Mega windy here now.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Kayemill

[NUT]

Been threatning to all day but finally the rain's arrived

[skifreak]

AMBER severe weather warning for rain has been issued. 

http://bit.ly/1g3zeBH 

 

The amber warning is kinda noteworthy cause not that much rain is going to fall in the amber area - the amber area is where it's going to end up! The Ness Catchment stretches further West than Fort William, given there is still quite extensive snow fields to around 1200ft in the West the potential is certainly there for things to get rather serious in the Spey and Ness catchments, the Spey might peak on Sunday but the River Ness could potentially still be rising late Sunday or Monday as water filters through the huge catchment and there's costal flood warnings in force for parts of the Moray Coast for an expected storm surge tomorrow afternoon in the Moray Firth! Squeaky bum time for those managing the River Ness flood alleviation scheme that is a work in progress? 

 

I believe (though am ready to be corrected) that predictions of up to (and in some cases above) 8 inches of rainfall going into the Ness catchment is somewhere in the region of twice what brought down the Ness Viaduct in February 1989. 

Edited March 6, 2015 by skifreak

[Northernlights]

Horrendous wind tonight from a southerly direction. Gale to storm force although mild at 8c.Not much sleep tonight if this carries on.Just finished tidying up some wind blown timber from the last few months and feel sure there  will be more tonight.