New Zealand Local Weather Forum
Weather Discussion => International => Topic started by: RobertHH on June 18, 2012, 08:56:43 PM
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Looking at the met office statistics is like looking at a family snap shot album; it never rains, it never freezes, it is always sunny and bright (somewhere) and is very selective. The reality is quite different, January was cold, we expected it to be cold; February was a disaster, it was colder and there was no food for the wildlife. March was a disaster, it was warm for a short period which caused the insect population to start growing and looking for nectar; then it was cold (very cold) and wet. April was wet, cold and clouded over to the extent that the insect population dwindled, things that had started to grow, stopped and blossom was not pollinated. May was a total disaster, it was virtually non stop rain and everywhere was a bog and the only things that were happy were the weeds and the grass. June is turning out to be a disaster, with high winds, rain and low low temperatures for the time of the year. Food for wildlife is one of the better indicators of what is actually happening, and when you have starving Frogs (I have never before seen this), Blackbirds that confine their family to one chick at a time because of a lack of the right food, when their usual minima is three or four and nothing getting pollinated because there are so few insects; their eggs having been washed away, frozen and drowned, you know that something is pretty bad. June is a month that we would normally expect to see a few showers, but not every day and every night, accompanied by high winds; we would expect to see temperatures at a minimum of 18C not 10 or below and we would expect tennis players to have some idea of where the ball was going, assuming they managed to get onto the court. Yes, statistics are wonderful but as has already been said, there are lies, #&@%ed lies and Statistics. This year, so far has been a disaster; it is continuing to be a disaster and with the approach of Wimbledon and the Olympics I hope that something changes soon or both of those events will also be a disaster, or at the least, not very pleasant.
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All of this sounds like a grotesque exaggeration. Having a look at Philip Eden's brief summary of May (there are of course more detailed ones), I think this commentary is totally one-sided.
http://www.climate-uk.com/
Therefore I give it little credibility (Philip Eden has been a respected expert on the UK climate for decades now).
PS - when I look at the review of March (for example) found elsewhere in this forum, I can find no commonality at all. Probably compiled by somone who expects the UK to behave like the south of Spain.
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Many of the above points are true, although of course some areas have fared worse than others.
Several wildlife programs and farmers are expressing very real concerns about both flora and fauna and any knock-on effect.
Here in the West Midlands it has been mainly heavy overcast, cool, with showers - sometimes squall and TS. Most 'soft' green plants have been flattened, my strawberries which started early are rotting on the stems, and my tomatoes are desperately trying to perk up in the greenhouse - now 6cm high :o
Several parts of the country have had serious flooding, included places which have not flooded in living memory.
It is nearly Summer, and todays forecast temp is 20C ... (the weather) must try harder.
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Yes, but you're quoting this month (which is only half over). Surely you can't say that the above comments on March and May (for instance) are in any way balanced! They are downright wrong on things like May's rainfall, to quote just one thing.
My experience of British forums is when someone puts up a report like this - generally focusing on the worst things that have happened recently in their area - and this month your area is among the ones faring very poorly at present - several people form other areas immediately contradict them. Which is why balanced national reports with some statistics are a good idea!
Ps re May: "May was a total disaster, it was virtually non stop rain and everywhere was a bog and the only things that were happy were the weeds and the grass" - I call that emotive claptrap!
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Hi Rob,
Thank you for this report. The man in street quite often does know better.
What a lousy year you are having for sure. Maybe it is time to come and visit me again huh :)
Of course after the tennis.
Our TV networks have done it again to me this year, third year in a row and they will get yet another nasty letter.
Sky our paid network once again let our free network outbid them for the rights to Wombles :(
This means live from midnight to 6.00am and no day replays. Who in New Zealand is up from 12.00am to 6.00am huh!! I am once again angry.
I now have a week to prepare for some long nights. I may padlock my gate this year and sleep during the day :)
Rob dont you dare email and tell me how wonderful the tennis is either....lol
Cheers
Jenny
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dont think I have ever seen 18C water temperature reported around the UK....
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Unfortunately the UK weather statistics are not reflective of the UK as a whole, and as an arm of the government are selective, and aimed at not killing tourism. Unfortunately, I live in the UK and have to put up with meaningless weather forecasting and even more meaningless weather statistics. The current temperature is 13 C and yet again it is raining, 2 miles away it may be sunshine but that is the nature of the UK, the weather plays by different rules and can change radically over a short distance.
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We'll have to agree to disagree. I will continue to accept reports from the likes of Philip Eden and other met. scientists.
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I don't know what influence you brought to bear Mr Wood, but ....
07:00 Stopped raining :)
Now 13:50 - the grey stuff has some variety in it, and I can even see something blue through holes :D
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Trade secret. 8) ;D
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Thanks again RobertHH for your report on how you saw the weather in the UK.
It sure shows us here how a person in the street sees the weather and i think
thats what this site is mostly about giving our view of how we see the weather.
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The weather information is no different to any other, except that everyone can look outside and see what's happening. What is actually happening is very often significantly different to that which is reported by the met office weather stations, and this is down to the simple fact that they are miles apart and the UK is strewn with micro climates. It is not unusual for two areas a hundred yards apart to have significantly different rainfall, wind and temperatures. It is also, not unusual for UK weather reporting to be a catch-all report so that virtually anything can be read into it.
I am just getting a bit fed up with the misuse of statistics which paint a rosy or bleak picture, when the reality is totally different for vast areas of the country.
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does that reality include 18C water temperature that you mentioned?
Normaly the range is 8C to 16C (which would be in the late summer/early autumn (current sea temperature maps shows it at around 13 or 14C) for the UK I thought?
interestingly sea temperature are above normal in alot of the atlantic at the moment
so that should mean normal temperatures but maybe more rain?
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I do see what you are getting RobertHH.
I live 3km from airport and sometimes the airport can get 20mm more rain than me in 24hours an other times i can get 10-15mm more so even here the same thing can happen.
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Exactly, Your experience of the weather and its effects on you, are very different to that of others classified as being in the same region.
If you read what I wrote, then I do not see how you could possibly make the statement you made. There is no mention of sea temperature, and as I live a very long way from the sea, it is not something of interest to me.
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Here's what you wrote -
I think all that has occurred is a little dyslexia of sorts about the word "see" :)
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the problem is, 18 would be the maximum
and that would not occur until late summer/early autumn
not this time of year, where the sea temperatures are coming out of the lowest point of the year, , being late spring/early summer
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I left this one thinking it would go away I see it did not :)
There is no mention of the sea. As Rob has stated he is simply miles away from the sea. It has no interest to him. That temperature of 18 refers to the air temperature not the sea.
Anyways Rob how is the forecast shaping up for Wombles. I would hope not to have a repetition of the French final. Very difficult for both players.
Cheers
Jenny
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sorry if I took
we would expect to see temperatures at a minimum of 18C not 10 or below........
as being about sea temperatures when I was not supposed to
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Rob I thought you might find some of this interesting :)
http://sandaysoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7462 (http://sandaysoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7462)
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Many thanks for that link Jenny, quite a contrast between Kent and Staffordshire but we are at the end of the Cheshire valley so do tend to get dumped on a bit.
Dry days (24 hour periods) continue to elude us and more of the wet stuff is on it's way, although we have not had any of the big deluges reported in the more northern areas.
There is a little spark of a possibility that things will improve next week, with a more settled period on its way, although you can't read dry into the latest predictions.
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why am I made to look like the bad person?
(not impressed)
why not just say you made a typo and sorry for the confusion?
instead of people adding in more insult to injury by putting their oar in, again?
if you guys dont want me to partipate, then just say so
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Brian there is more to this topic. I will message you.
The see thing I feel has only been a bit of humour to glossy over what is missing. I will message you.
if you guys dont want me to partipate, then just say so
and that better be a joke also. Of course we want your input. I for one have learnt heaps from you.
Dont you dare consider not helping us :(
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All
There seems to be two parts running in this thread, one part useful, and one part not so useful. Can we ask all who are taking part to refocus the discussion on the good stuff in this topic to generate the constructive discussion we are all wanting to read.
The moderation team are reluctant to close any thread on the forum - it's part of our philosophy here to encourage a friendly community forum based on the community moderting itself.
However if the not so useful behaviour is not able to be moderated by the community, the moderation team will need to more actively step in. That would be a shame if it occured, as there is some really valuable discussion in this thread.
Please can I ask you all to refocus back on the core topic of this discussion
Thanks