Thursday, 1 March 2018

Good News - Meteorological Spring has Arrived!

February and winter 2017/18 went out on a bitterly cold day. I'm not in much doubt that it turned out to be our coldest February day since I started keeping records in 2010.
Temperature & Wind Chill Records for 28 February 2018
I thought the early morning temperature of -5.7°C (21.7°F) on Wednesday would be the lowest of the day but I was wrong as it fell to -5.8°C (21.6°F) early into the evening. Fortunately, it didn't fall any further remaining around that level well into the night. It didn't quite manage the lowest temperature I've recorded in February which is still -5.9°C (21.4°F) on 08 February 2012. However, with a daytime high temperature of -1.7°C (28.9°F) and daily average of -4.2°C (24.4°F) it absolutely obliterates my previous values for February of 1.2°C (34.2°F) and -2.0°C (28.4°F) respectively which both go back to 2012. Incidentally, the lowest average daily temperature I've recorded goes back to 20 December 2010 and -7.6°C or 18.3°F.

It's certainly been an unusually cold spell of weather and not only have we had bitterly cold temperatures but some snow as well. I'm aware other parts of the country have had much more snow than us but three days of snow showers have gradually built up a significant amount for us.
Judging by the amount that had fallen onto our outdoor coffee table we've had about 10cm, 100mm or 4in whichever are your preferred units.
I'd now like the snow to go so that some serious gardening tasks can be started. The forecast doesn't seem to hold out much hope of that happening until after the weekend.

Posted by Martyn at 14:24 2 comments

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Coldest This Winter

It was well forecast that this week was going to be the coldest few days of winter and it's certainly turned out to be the case.
Temperature & Wind Chill Records 26-28 February 2018
Early on Wednesday morning the temperature fell to -5.7°C (21.7°F) giving us our lowest temperature of the winter. It's our coldest February day since 08 February 2012 when the temperature fell to -5.9°C (21.4°F) and it's our lowest temperature since 16 January 2013 when it fell to -5.8°C or  21.6°F. It's made it into my list of top 20 coldest days.

Yesterday's list of this year's coldest winter temperatures now reads as follows:
  • Lowest temperature -5.7°C (21.7°F) on 28 February 2018
  • Lowest average daily temperature -1.1°C (30.0°F) on 27 February 2018
  • Lowest daily high temperature 1.3°C (34.3°F) on 27 February 2018

Meanwhile, the snow showers continue to fall. They have been more frequent and heavier so far through Wednesday morning.
 Snowfall - Wednesday morning 28 February 2018

The forecast suggests tonight might be even colder.

Posted by Martyn at 11:15 1 comments

Tuesday, 27 February 2018

It May Be Some Time Before We Go Positive Again

So far Tuesday as been a day of snow showers as forecast. Between the showers we've had some sunny periods, enough to melt some of the snow that's fallen.

Outside it feels bitterly cold even in the sunshine. One of the points the forecasters have been emphasising is the wind chill factor associated with the easterly breeze.
Temperature & Wind Chill Records 27 February 2018
At 16:00 on Tuesday the temperature has just dipped down to freezing point and, looking at the weather model forecasts for the next few days, it will be awhile before the temperature gets back into positive territory.
Image from web site http://www.wetterzentrale.de
As you can see from the above chart which runs to early Friday morning we're forecast to be below zero at least until then. Looking at models which extend the forecasting period then it looks like we might have to wait until Saturday morning before we manage to get above freezing point again. 
Image from web site http://www.wetterzentrale.de
This would be an unusual and very cold spell of weather for us. It looks so nice outside through the window.


Posted by Martyn at 17:14 3 comments

Forecast Correct - Snow Showers

Monday was declared the coldest day of the year in some places in the UK. I'm not sure it was our coldest day although there are a few different ways of looking at this. The first is simply the lowest temperature we've experienced whilst the second way might be to consider the lowest average daily temperature and thirdly a sort of lowest high if you get my meaning.

Based on the above this winter's coldest days so far are:
  • Lowest temperature -4.3°C (24.3°F) on 23 February 2018
  • Lowest average daily temperature -0.7°C (30.7°F) on 11 December 2017
  • Lowest daily high temperature 1.4°C (34.5°F) on 10 December 2017


In any case it still looks as though Wednesday or Thursday this week will be the coldest day of winter if the forecast is correct.

The forecast for this week has been about right. It's cold and we're getting some snow showers. On Monday morning we'd had the lightest covering of snow.
Snowfall - Monday morning 26 February 2018
Despite the cold temperatures and a few snow flurries throughout the day on Monday the little bit of snow that had fallen melted away. Tuesday morning's covering was a little more but nothing very noteworthy.
Snowfall - Tuesday morning 27 February 2018
The forecast for the next few days is for the snow showers to continue and for the coldest of the weather to have passed by the end of the weekend. Gardening may resume in a week or so.
Posted by Martyn at 10:36 0 comments

Monday, 26 February 2018

Not Much Snow So far This Week

As anyone who has seen the news on UK television recently will be aware of the arrival of the "beast from the east" bringing us some very cold and possibly snowy weather. However, we’ve had two sunny, if cold, days over the weekend. On Saturday we had a visit to the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria to do some video and photography on the Settle to Carlisle Railway Line.
Our first location was Dent Head Viaduct to catch 60163 Tornado heading north to Carlisle with the North Briton. Unfortunately Tornado had a fault with its TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System). This meant it was necessary for a diesel locomotive to take over the train. The arrival of the train took us by surprise as it silently sped onto the viaduct.
60163 Tornado with The North Briton at Dent Head Viaduct
A bit disappointing but these things happen and we set off to find somewhere for lunch. In the afternoon we had a trip over Buttertubs Pass.
We finished up in Cumbria before we made our way to Ais Gill, the highest point on the Settle to Carlisle railway, to capture our second steam hauled charter train of the day. This time it was 45699 Galatea with the Cumbrian Mountain Express. 
45699 Galatea with The Cumbrian Mountain Express at Ais Gill
Conditions were excellent with lovely clear blue skies. Galatea certainly shattered the peace as it climbed towards the summit of the Settle to Carlisle Railway.

Below are the two videos we made of our visit to the Dales.


60163 Tornado with The North Briton at Dent Head Viaduct

45699 Galatea with The Cumbrian Mountain Express at Ais Gill


Posted by Martyn at 13:11 1 comments

Friday, 23 February 2018

Midnight Potato Rescue!

With all the weather forecasting attention on next week's anticipated cold spell, Thursday night into Friday morning sort of slipped under the radar. Half listening to the weather forecast on TV late last night I heard then give out a severe overnight frost but no temperatures were mentioned and the forecast was soon discussing how cold it was going to be next week. Out of curiosity I checked the outside temperature on my weather station. I got a bit of a surprise.
 Temperatures Records for 23 February 2018
The temperature approaching midnight was already well below freezing. I wondered how low it would fall if it was so cold already and would our seed potatoes survive in the greenhouse. After a quick chat with Sue, we decided it was better to be safe than sorry and nearing midnight I headed up to the greenhouse by torch light to collect our seed potatoes. As a temporary measure they were left on the kitchen floor overnight.
The temperature continued to fall through the night, eventually falling to -4.3°C or 24.3°F. That's our lowest of the year, and for the winter too, beating the previous low of -3.2°C (26.2°F) on 11 December 2017.

The forecast for next week remains cold with severe overnight frost and daytime temperatures struggling to reach 0°C (32°F) so we'll have to put our thinking caps on as to the best place to store our seed potatoes over the next week or so. We need somewhere light and frost free.

Posted by Martyn at 10:27 7 comments

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Might Move My Potatoes - Again!

I might just have to consider moving my seed potatoes for a second time since they went into the greenhouse to chit at the beginning of February. We've had a few milder days just recently but that might be about to change.
I've posted several times about the sudden stratospheric warming that took place a week or so ago. It seems like it's now planning to affect our weather. The computerised weather models are now predicting the setting up of a blocking system of high pressure, initially over the country, but then gradually moving north. The exact position of the centre of this high pressure system will have a pretty dramatic effect on our weather.
Image from website http://www.wetterzentrale.de
The chart above shows all the 20 different model runs of the GFS (Global Forecasting System) for the temperatures at 2.0m above ground level. This is the output from the midnight run on 20 February. The whole model runs four times a day at six hourly intervals. Briefly the output shows some solutions give mild temperatures, above 10°C or 50°F whilst one colder solution goes for a temperature of -10°C or 14°F. The thick white line shows the mean value of all the runs. The chart below shows all the predicted variations in temperature for 06:00 on Wednesday, 28 February
Image from website http://www.wetterzentrale.de
This week the daytime temperature is forecast to fall gradually from today's 8°C (45.4°F) down to 0°C (32.0°F) by next Monday, 26 February and it's not forecast to get above freezing for a couple of days. There will be several nights of fairly severe frosts should this forecast turn out to be accurate. You can see that there's good agreement regarding the forecast for just a few days in advance but then there becomes a large variation in temperatures beyond that.

I'll give it a couple of more days before deciding if I need to move my seed potatoes out of the greenhouse and summerhouse to somewhere frost free. As meteorological spring begins at the beginning of March the coldest spell of winter might arrive. 

Posted by Martyn at 10:00 2 comments

Monday, 19 February 2018

Serious Pruning!

We've paid a couple of visits to the plot over the last few days. We wanted to get a couple of outstanding tidying up jobs done. One task was to cut back our buddleia bushes and the second one was to cut back a self sown hawthorn tree growing next to the plot greenhouse. The latter was going to be the more difficult job.

First job was the buddleia bushes.
  In full flower summer 2017
It didn't take long to cut the bushes back to almost ground level but like all these types of jobs we're left with an enormous pile of clippings to deal with.
I'll recycle as many of these prunings as possible for pea sticks and the like for use through summer. The remaining odds and ends will go onto the compost heap. There aren't many sections of thick stems so I'm not anticipating much waste material. The main problem may well be that some of the prunings will root and grow when pushed into the ground when used as pea sticks even after they've just been left in a heap for a few months.

The second job of cutting back the hawthorn tree was a much trickier operation. The tree is situated alongside the greenhouse and I didn't want branches falling onto the greenhouse and damaging the glazing.
Ideally we'd have cut back the tree several years ago now but never got round to it. Without its canopy of leaves it doesn't look too large but in full leaf it is quite a specimen. It's loved by the birds so they are going to be disappointed although they don't use it for nesting in. It took some careful cutting back to try to ensure that the branches didn't fall onto the greenhouse.
By the end of the afternoon the job was done without any damage. It's left more large heaps of prunings which will need to be dealt with before the start of the growing season.

These trimmings will be dealt with in the same way as the buddleia ones except with a little bit more care as they are very prickly.
Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Posted by Martyn at 11:04 1 comments
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