More slow thaw

Note for Sunday 27th
Temperatures stayed above zero again today melting most of the remaining snow. The forecast is for colder nights to return.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 26th
Slow thaw continues
Temperatures remained above 0°C today and the slow thaw which started yesterday continued. I am assuming that the rainfall recorded over the last few days is due to melting snow and ice which covered my rain gauge.


Note for Friday 25th
A very slow thaw begins
Temperatures still below average as the cold spell continues. Despite this, there was a slow thaw through the day.
Note for Thursday 24th
Milder but more snow
A milder day but there was some more overnight snow leaving a scene that I just couldn’t resist photographing.

From 2009 December weather

From 2009 December weather

Note for Wednesday 23rd
More snow
After another cold day we had some more snow which started at 21:00 and lasted for a couple of hours. The weather conditions were calm and the snowfall left a picturesque scene.

From 2009 December weather

Almost un-noticed amidst the freezing weather and chaotic travel news since last weekend the winter solstice has passed. Daylight is now getting longer although it may be a few weeks before we notice any difference.


Note for Tuesday 22nd
Cold spell continues
The temperature has hardly risen above freezing over the last few days and the dusting of snow has turned to a crunchy layer of snow or ice. As we found on a trip to the plot things are no different there.

Note for Monday 21st
Freeze continues
Continuing bitterly cold all day. The forecast is for this to continue until Boxing Day. The temperature had fallen to -4.8°C by midnight which was the lowest this winter for us. By dawn on Tuesday the temperature had fallen further, down to -6.5°C.
Outdoor plants probably wish that they had a nice warm blanket of snow to protect them from the severe frosts. But with only a dusting of snow its not the case.

From 2009 December weather

The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

View Weather Station Location in a larger map
HXXBN9V886P2

More snow showers

Note for Sunday 20th
A cold sunny morning with snow showers in the afternoon. Topcliffe in North Yorkshire had overnight lows of -13.8°C and -13.1°C over the weekend making our -4.1°C seem quite warm.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 19th
Cold again
Friday turned out to be colder than Saturday despite that overnight -4.1°C. It rained / sleeted rather than snowed early evening as the temperature managed 2°C. The rain cleared to allow temperatures to fall sub zero again overnight.
Note for Friday 18th
Coldest day of winter
The maximum temperature today reached 0.3°C giving us the coldest day of winter so far. I’ve added the minimum temperature of -4.1°C recorded for Friday night / Saturday morning to the chart. With a start so cold there’s every indication that Saturday will set a new record for the coldest day.
We had a few flurries of snow during the day.



Note for Thursday 17th
Snow flurries
The forecasts were right. We had a few flurries of snow, enough to give us just a dusting by midnight. An average temperature of just 2°C meant it was our coldest day of winter so far.
Note for Wednesday 16th
Dull, cloudy and wet
A repeat of Tuesday but with a bit more rain. The forecast seems uncertain about any snowfall.
Note for Tuesday 15th
Dull and Cloudy
Remained dull and cloudy all day with light rain at times. The outlook is for colder weather with some snow by the end of the week.
Note for Monday 14th
3 day drought ends
It couldn’t last and today more rain. Will it be snow over the next few days? The forecasts seem to suggest that’s a possibility.

New! The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

View Weather Station Location in a larger map
HXXBN9V886P2

A little more sunshine

Note for Sunday 13th
It’s the first time since the end of October that we’ve had 3 days with no recorded rainfall.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 12th
Mostly cloudy
Cloudy for most of the day although we did get some fleeting wintry sunshine at times.
Note for Friday 11th
Low point
A crisp, sunny and frosty start soon clouding over.

Today marks winter’s first milestone. The long term average temperatures have dropped to 7°C and 3°C which is the lowest they fall. The only way is up now as we head towards the New Year. Unfortunately it’s the end of January before there is any upward movement in long term average temperatures.
Note for Thursday 10th
Pleasant for December
A lovely December day
Note for Wednesday 9th
How long will it last?
A sunny mild day but the forecasters are predicting change as here on Sky Weather.
Note for Tuesday 8th
More of the same
Dull most of the day with just some short glimpses of sunshine.
Note for Monday 7th
Damp and Dreary
Dull all day. Very light drizzle for most of the afternoon.

New! The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

View Weather Station Location in a larger map
HXXBN9V886P2

Wet then sunny

Note for Sunday 6th
Wet early on, clearing with sunny spells late morning and afternoon.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 5th
Warmer than of late but we didn’t avoid more wet weather.
Note for Friday 4th
A nice sunny morning and early afternoon so we made the trip down to the plot to harvest some vegetables. It was cold and the soil wet and claggy. I wondered about the wisdom of continuing keeping records of harvests from the plot. It was cold on the hands and my parsnips and carrots came out of the ground with lots of wet soil attached. Most of the roots were still in good condition even after all the rain last month. I weighed the produce at home after removing most of the wet soil.
Note for Thursday 3rd
More of the same today. Daytime temperatures just a bit below average.
Note for Wednesday 2nd
Just a short sharp cold spell. Temperatures are back to average for the time of year.
Note for Tuesday 1st
Last night produced our first sub-zero temperature of the winter.
The grass was white and crunchy rather than soggy and the water in the bird bath had turned to ice.

From 2009 December weather

As well as giving the birds some food this morning the bird bath was re-filled with water. Even in cold weather the birds need to have water available for drinking and bathing.
The water butt outside the greenhouse is full from all the rain in November and the overspill was frozen over.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Monday 30th
The last hour of November was the coldest of the month with the temperature falling to 1.4°C.

Summary for November 2009

November 2009 Details
Maximum temperature [warmest day] 15.1°C at 13:30 on 19th November
Lowest maximum temperature [coldest day] 4.9°C at 13:30 on 28th November
Minimum temperature [coldest night] 1.4°C at 23:30 on 30th November
Highest minimum temperature [warmest night] 12.3°C at 02:30 on 19th November
Rainfall in month 118.3mm (long term average 63.7mm)
Wettest day in month 1st November 19.9mm
Most rainfall in 1 hour on 1st November 4.8mm (09:28 to 10:28)
Maximum wind speed 8.6mph at 15:28 on 1st November
Maximum wind gust speed 15.1 mph at 13:28 on 1st November

Notes November
This month will be remembered for the floods in Cumbria when the country had its highest ever 24 hour rainfall of 314mm. It makes our local 118mm this month, almost twice the expected rainfall for us in November, seem miniscule in comparison. We had just 6 completely dry days in November with no recorded rainfall. Temperatures appear above average as we had 15 days where the daily maximum temperature exceeded the long term highs for November. However, we had 16 days where the minimum temperatures were below the seasonal average but strangely little frost.

From 2009 November weather

All Records from 20th October 2009
Maximum temperature [warmest day] 17.7°C at 12:28 on 28th October 2009
Lowest maximum temperature [coldest day] 4.9°C at 13:30 on 28th November 2009
Minimum temperature [coldest night] 1.4°C at 23:30 on 30th November 2009
Highest minimum temperature [warmest night] 12.3°C at 02:30 on 19th November 2009
Wettest month November 2009 118.3mm (long term average 63.7mm)
Wettest day in 1st November 2009 19.9mm
Most rainfall in 1 hour on 1st November2009 4.8mm (09:28 to 10:28)
Maximum wind speed 8.6mph at 15:28 on 1st November 2009
Maximum wind gust speed 15.1 mph at 13:28 on 1st November 2009

Notes 30th November 2009
As we move into the winter months I can only imagine the lowest temperatures, wettest days and windiest days are set to change over the next few months.

Wet and Cold

Note for Sunday 29th
Sunday was cold with temperatures below seasonal average. Rained on and off for most of the day.

From 2009 November weather

Note for Saturday 28th
The maximum daytime temperature today only reached 4.9°C the lowest for the month. More rain today too so we are now well in excess of the average rainfall for November. The meteorological office have warnings of severe weather for Sunday. Click here for details.
Note for Friday 27th
Our coldest day time temperature of the month.
Note for Thursday 26th
Temperatures back to average for November. Forecast is for colder weather by the weekend.
Note for Wednesday 25th
A blustery day with some sunshine and a few showers.
Note for Tuesday 24th
Cloudy and mild all day becoming windy and wet in the evening.
Note for Monday 23rd
More rain early morning then generally cloudy all day. We did have a few pleasant, but short sunny spells.

Mild spell continues

Note for Sunday 22nd
The mild spell of weather continues as a series of Atlantic low pressure systems cross the country.

From 2009 November weather

Note for Saturday 21st
The day started dull and misty. The overnight temperature back to around the seasonal average. Continued dull with outbreaks of rain in the afternoon.
Note for Friday 20th
Gale force winds relented overnight and the heavy rain forecast at one time didn’t materialise. Cockermouth in Cumbria has serious flooding problems. There are news reports of around 300mm of rainfall there in one day. Click here for more on this rainfall. That amounts to the average rainfall for Wakefield for our wettest 6 months of the year. I can’t image getting that amount of rain in one day!
I thought a trip down to the plot was needed today to see if the windy weather had caused any damage on the plot. I could see as we entered through the gates that our shed & greenhouse were at least still in their correct locations. A closer inspection confirmed both buildings had survived the gales with no damage. We were fortunate that only our enviromesh had been blown off our carrots.

From 2009 November weather

This was quickly replaced but using a few extra bricks to hold it down as I’m sure we’ll have much more windy weather this winter.

Note for Thursday 19th
Strong to gale force winds all day today but no rain. Severe flooding problems in Cockermouth, Cumbria reported on national TV.
The wind was from a southerly direction giving us the warmest day and night of the month.
Note for Wednesday 18th
Gale force winds in the early hours of the morning followed by rain. The Environment Agency has issued a flood watch alert on some part of the river Calder. Click here for details. More heavy rain forecast for Friday & Saturday.
Note for Tuesday 17th
Sunny and mild for much of the day. Clouded over late afternoon with light rain as darkness fell.
Note for Monday 16th
November is making up for the dry months of September and October. Today’s rainfall took us past the seasonal average for November.

Sunday gave us a lovely sunny day.

The forecast is for more rain to come.

From 2009 November weather

I’ve overlaid the hourly temperature recordings over the max & min temperatures. It shows clearly the high temperatures recorded in the middle of Friday night / Saturday morning on the 13th / 14th.

I’ve replaced wind speed with the average daily temperature in chart 1

Spring Cabbage - in November!

I saw on the local news this week that the Christmas sprouts are already ready and that they might be in short supply for Christmas dinner. I have a similar issue with my spring cabbage. In Late August I planted some spring cabbage Excel (plants supplied by Dobies) which have grown so well they are now ready to harvest. Rather than risk loosing them to the winter weather they'll be on the dinner plate this week.

From 2009 November weather

After Monday morning’s frost we had a superb sunny day. We made a trip to the plot to check for frost damage, pick some vegetables and cut back and protect our dahlias roots against anything winter might bring. That’s the plan. To my surprise the dahlia foliage was still green . I'd expected it to be blackened there was little sign of frost damage.

From 2009 November weather

A Cold Week

There is no doubt now, the mild October weather has gone to be replaced with colder November days. The first obvious signs of a frost were evident on the greeenhouse windows this morning.

From 2009 November weather

From 2009 November weather

The clear overnight weather has given the coldest night of autumn so far.

From 2009 November weather

Getting colder by the day

The temperatures for early November continue to be below average for both day time and night time.

From 2009 November weather

The average temperature and rainfall data is taken from MSN News and Weather

Green Green Grass

Over the last few weeks I'd used some soil to level out uneven paths on the plot and set out a new path to give access to our new raspberry canes when they are planted. I had a box of grass seed in the shed left over from re-seeding part of the lawn at home. Guessing that the seed would probably rot over winter in the shed I sowed it on the newly levelled paths. It wouldn't be wasted, I expected the birds to take the majority of the seed. I didn't give the seed much of a chance of germinating as it was the middle of October.

From 2009 November weather

We'd made a few visits since sowing the seed but nothing looked to be happening but on a positive note nothing looked to have disturbed the seed. The birds must have been finding tastier things to eat than old grass seed. Then a visit on Monday this week and the seed had germinated and my new path had a wonderful fresh green sward.

From 2009 November weather

I suppose it's just the mild weather at the end of the month. I'm pleased at the outcome though as the grass seed could easily have been left to rot in the shed. I'm hoping the grass doesn't need cutting before spring now. Gardeners are a difficult bunch to please!

Coldest day of Autumn

Graphs of November weather to date:

From 2009 November weather

The average temperature and rainfall data is taken from MSN News and Weather

Updated charts

November weather so far

From 2009 November weather

The values for monthly average are taken from MSN News & Weather

Record Rainfall

The weekend gave the wettest day since our records began, as forecasters like to say, but as this amounted to a little less than 2 weeks of records it is not too significant. Sunday also produced the windiest day since our records began.

Recent Rainfall

From 2009 November weather

The met office rainfall figures show some Yorkshire & Humberside stations recording in excess of 30mm of rain.

We did have a rare visitor taking a shower in the rain on Sunday morning.

For more information about sparrowhawks click here

Sundays wind and gust speeds

From 2009 November weather

My wind speeds are much lower than those recorded by the Met Office at Church Fenton where the highest recorded wind speed was 40mph with gusts of 55mph. So in our garden wind speeds above 5mph and gusts above 10mph represent windy weather.

It was windy enough to blow over our potted banana tree and bird table. The banana tree was blown over in a summer storm and the bird table is usually blown over a couple of times a year.

From 2009 November weather

Once the bird table was restored to its upright position on Monday morning our resident flock of sparrows were soon helping themselves to some breakfast.




If you look closely at the leaves of our banana tree you will see how they have been shredded by wind through summer and autumn.

From 2009 November weather

26th October – 1st November 2009
The last days of October were very pleasant but November has started much more like autumnal weather. For the record here is a summary of my records for last week.

From 2009 November weather

Rainfall today

The rain arrived early morning and fell until lunchtime. At least I measured some rain and November has got off to a wet and windy start.

From 2009-10 October

Making the most of the weather

The weather was superb for the time of year so we took a walk around the parkland at Nostell Priory this week. The trees still had plenty of autumn colour. Possibly a last chance to enjoy autumn colour before the predicted weekend gales and rain bring the leaves down.

Dry Weather makes difficult digging

July was very wet down on the plot but since then it’s been dry. Cleared plots are in need of some rain to make winter digging easier.

From Green Lane Allotments Weather Diary

This bed was cleared of summer squashes and beans a few weeks ago and is now ready to be dug over for the winter. This will be much easier after some rain. Our soil is heavy and when it’s dry it’s more like concrete than soil. Some rain will miraculously change its condition from concrete to pleasant workable soil so I’ve been hanging on waiting to dig the cleared plots for a few weeks now. Another Atlantic depression is due to pass our way over the weekend. With luck this will give the plot a good watering and leave it suitable for digging.

From 2009-10 October

This bed was dug over at the beginning of October. Old blackcurrant bushes were well past their best failing to produce any currants at all this year. They have been removed and the plot dug over. The bed hadn’t been dug for many years and the soil was very well compacted. It’s been left in huge lumps. I’m hoping that the winter rains and frost will break up these clods leaving it just perfect for digging in spring.

The Atlantic depression on its way should be a test for our newly installed rain gauge. All it’s had to measure so far is drizzle so a good rain should give it a test.

From Weather Station

This is my rainfall data going into the weekend. The 1.4mm on 21st October wasn’t rain at all just that I felt I needed to check the gauge worked before it actually had to measure some rainfall.
So now it’s all down to the Atlantic depression due this weekend.

Highs and Lows

The weather forecasts this week are all about the mild weather we are experiencing. At this time of year the overnight low is a key factor on the plot. We still have salad leaves and summer lettuce to harvest. The first frost will reduce lettuce to green slime. Alpine strawberries are still producing fruit but a frost will end this harvest too. The temperature on Wednesday reached 17.7°C during the day and fell to 7.7°C in the early hours of Thursday morning, the highest and lowest recordings in 9 days of recording. The night of the first frost on the plot must be close.

From Green Lane Allotments Weather Diary

Week 1 (20-25 October 2009)

Almost one week of recording our weather. No unusual weather to report just some dull & dreary October days.

From 2009-10-28

Setting up my weather station

Setting up my new weather station this week has been interesting. Not as simple as the instructions would have you believe. I may still move some of the equipment to obtain more accurate readings.

Outdoor Thermometer
I'm hoping the outdoor thermometer is now positioned out of the sun should there be any.

From Weather Station

The protection around the thermometer is more to protect against bird droppings rather than sunshine. It’s mounted under our bird feeders!

Anemometer
I didn't fancy erecting a 10m (the official mounting height) high pole in the garden which would need climbing each week to keep the anemometer clean.

From Weather Station

It's mounted on the top of a pergola to measure wind speed at tall shrub height rather than tall tree height.

Rain Gauge
I've mounted my rain gauge on top of the pergola too. This will need cleaning each week to remove any debris trapped in the collecting funnel.

From Weather Station

I’d like some proper rain now rather than the drizzly stuff we’ve had over the last week to check that the gauge is working properly. Initially out of impatience I tipped a drop of water into the top of the gauge and recorded a rainfall of 1.4mm. I’m now not sure of how to remove this amount from the database. Still if my figures are within 1mm I’m not too fussed.

Data Logger & PC connection
Once these bits of equipment were set up it was just a matter of ensuring that the wireless connections worked and that I could download data from the equipment to my PC for editing. As the station can work all over the world it needs to be set up for a city in the UK. I’ve used Liverpool from the choices available.

From Weather Station

Downloading to my PC didn’t go quite as planned or as described in the instructions. The problem was the length of computer file names. I think I have the measure of the kit now (apart from that experimental 1.4mm of rainfall). Just for good measure the clocks went back 1 hour at the weekend and I’ve no idea what happened to the lost hour’s weather.