Sunday, 3 December 2017

It's Warmed Up A Bit

The start of meteorological winter has brought some slightly milder weather with it for a few days. Although last month had some cold days it also had some very mild days for November and at the end of the month these balanced one another out and the monthly temperature was around average for November. 
It was another month with considerably less rainfall than we might expect. as you can see from the table above only 2011 has been drier since 2010.
A Dunnock Checks Out a Weathered Log for Food
At least it looks like we might be getting a few milder days when the bird bath won't need de-icing. The forecast at the moment is for cold weather to return towards the end of the week. The good or bad news, depending on how you view snow, is that we could get some heavy snow showers on Thursday and Friday accompanied by some cold northerly winds. In terms of computer weather models Thursday is a long way off and there's every possibility that a different outcome will be predicted over the next few days.  

Posted by Martyn at 11:02 0 comments

Friday, 1 December 2017

Winter's Arrived - Meteorologically Speaking

It's definitely been a bit on the cold side over the last few days almost like winter has arrived a little bit early. It's been cold enough to put us off visiting the plot. On Thursday the temperature barely made it above freezing and combined with a strongish breeze it wasn't a day for being outside. It was the first time this autumn that the water in the bird bath has frozen over. The birds didn't appreciate not being able to get a drink.
Once filled up the birds were happy even if a very thin coating of ice began to form on the surface of the water.

Although it's felt cold it's been nothing like as cold as it was in November 2010. In that year I recorded a low temperature of -7.6°C (18.3°F) which still easily remains as my November record low.
Temperatures Records 23-29 November 2010 and 2017
The chart above shows the temperature records for the same weeks in 2010 and 2017.

We do really need to make an effort to get to the allotment to dig up our dahlia tubers and store them somewhere dry and frost free. I don't think it's yet been cold enough for any frost to penetrate down to the roots and do any damage. All the same, we're pushing our luck a little bit.


Posted by Martyn at 10:39 4 comments

Tuesday, 28 November 2017

Cold Weather Forecast

After a couple of days of fairly average November temperatures it appears that we're in for a couple of weeks of below average temperature but sprinkled in will be the odd milder day. Monday felt cold though as it was windy which took the edge off the milder temperatures.
 Temperature with Wind Chill Effects for Monday 27 November 2017
Of course, there's a chance that everything could change with the next run of the weather models and the colder weather might disappear from the forecast.
This campanula is still looking good despite some cold days and nights.

Posted by Martyn at 09:43 0 comments

Sunday, 26 November 2017

Coldest Average This Autumn

Based on average daily temperature Saturday turned out to be our coldest day of autumn. It wasn’t that we had a particularly cold night as the temperature fell to -0.2°C (31.6°F), it was more to do with the daytime high only reaching 5.7°C (42.3°F) that resulted in an average of 2.9°C or 37.2°F.
Temperature & Rainfall Records for 25 November 2017
It’s possible that it might be turning even colder as we progress through the rest of the week so it’s probably time for our agapanthus to be moved into the greenhouse for a little bit of protection. 
The greenhouse won’t give it much protection from the cold but it will keep it out of any rain and it’s often a combination of the two that some plants don’t survive.



Posted by Martyn at 10:33 3 comments

Saturday, 25 November 2017

Mild One Day, Cold the Next

After a couple of mild and windy days the weather has turned colder again. On Wednesday much of the north had lots of rain but luckily we missed most of it.
Temperature, Wind Chill and Rainfall Records 22-24 November 2017
The forecast for the rest of November is for the weather to continue cold and to be mostly dry. So despite some flooding, not that far away from us, we could finish up having a dry November. We have had 22.0mm (0.87in) of rainfall up to the 24th of the month set against an average of 66.0mm or 2.6in.

The milder weather was accompanied by strong winds which I expected would clear the last of the remaining leaves from the trees. It did its best but a few leaves have survived to be blown off another day.
We made the most of a sunny spell on Thursday to catch the first steam hauled Christmas charter train of the year heading to York. No sooner had 46100 Royal Scot passed by than the heavens opened.
Our next gardening task is to lift our dahlia tubers and store them somewhere dry and frost free over winter. It looks like it might be a cold job.

Posted by Martyn at 10:30 0 comments

Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Last of Our Autumn Colours

After a cold, dry sunny and calm weekend the weather has turned very mild even for November. The downside is that it's turned wetter and windier. The rain and wind have just about brought an end to the autumn colours as the last of the leaves are blown from the trees.
It's suddenly very noticeable that our acer has undergone a rather dramatic change over the last few days.
Nearly all it superb autumn colour has disappeared. There are just a few raggedy leaves hanging on. The forecast is for some stronger winds through Wednesday into Thursday morning so that will more than likely clear away the remaining leaves.

It's not all bad news though as in the tubs covered in fallen magnolia leaves have the first bulbs for spring just starting to push their noses through the soil.
With the weather set to turn colder by the time we get to the weekend these early shoots might regret popping up so soon.

Posted by Martyn at 10:28 0 comments

Monday, 20 November 2017

Days Out and Night Time Photography

The last few days have been cold and dry and at times we've had some nice sunny spells.
We had a couple of trips out as the weather wasn't too bad. We paid a visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve at Potteric Carr near Doncaster on Friday afternoon. As usual when we make a visit the birds stay well out of camera range. On this particular occasion I didn't have any photos of wildlife but the late autumn colours provided some good photographic opportunities.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - Potteric Carr
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust - Potteric Carr
On Saturday we headed to the Great Central Railway where they were holding their "Last Hurray of the Season" gala. This is their last main gala of the year before the Santa Trains begin to run as we head towards December. At least when we felt cold we could hop on a train and have a ride to warm up.
Rothley Station - Great Central Railway
Of course the light fades very early as we're approaching the end of November and trains were still running as darkness fell. We decided to see if we could capture any night time shots as the light began to fade.
Quorn & Woodhouse Station - Great Central Railway
Quorn & Woodhouse Station - Great Central Railway
As darkness fell we were waiting for some action to take place so were using our cameras in video mode. The above photos are still images clipped from the video. Whilst it wasn't completely dark the lights on the station were starting to take effect and I don't think the photos have come out too badly. By the time the locomotive in question decided to move darkness had fallen completely and it was tricky pointing the camera in the right direction. That was something I hadn't thought about when taking night time photographs. 
Quorn & Woodhouse Station - Great Central Railway
Hardly surprising that there's very little to see. When I took the video I was pointing the camera into blackness with very little idea of what would be in shot!

Posted by Martyn at 11:23 2 comments

Friday, 17 November 2017

I Might Have Been A Bit Hasty

The forecast was correct and a dull Friday morning turned in a bright sunny afternoon as a band of drizzly rain passed through with the cooler sunnier weather following on behind.

Back in September I was busy lifting our potatoes and at the time I posted about our badly damaged Winston potato crop. If you want to check back you can read my post here. I wasn't too happy about the amount of slug damage to our crop and more or less decided I wouldn't be growing Winston again.
Worst of Potato Winston - September 2017
I did post at the time I was sorting out any undamaged or slightly damaged potatoes and storing them as a bag of Winston "seconds". I didn't think these damaged potatoes would keep very well and over the last few weeks we have been using up these "seconds". I've found that many of the potatoes which have a hole in them have very little damage once they are prepared for cooking.
This is typical of the damage to our second class Winston potatoes and below is the potato prepared for cooking with the wasted potato removed.
I've left the waste to the right of the photo and as you can see it doesn't amount to half a chip's worth. I'm now thinking that to rule out Winston as a crop for next year might have been a bit hasty. We'll have to see how our other varieties keep through winter before making our choices in January next year. 

Yesterday, on my Facebook page, I posted some photos clipped from a video I took at Clumber Park this week. The full video is posted below.


Posted by Martyn at 10:06 1 comments
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