What a wild, wet and windy spell starting in the early hours this morning.
Driving over Woodbury Common near Budleigh Salterton at 8am this morning was
'interesting' with the twigs, acorns and small branches travelling
horizontal hitting the car and especially the windscreen and making hell of
a bang as they did. The wind at the time was gusting to over 40 mph which
was causing problems due to all the trees still being in full leaf. Some
trees were blown down blocking roads.

Temperature overnight did not drop below 15.2°C and it felt warm and very
humid for much of the day. Recorded a high of 18.0°C at 11:30 in the
sunshine after the rain cleared before it turned slightly cooler and
fresher. Recorded a maximum dewpoint of 16.8°C which was the highest
dewpoint since the 28th of July and the 2nd highest recorded this year.

A total of 13.4 mm in the last 24 hours, most of which fell between 06:45
and 09:30 today.

A very different night ahead with the stars shining and light winds, the
temperature is starting to drop.

(20:40), 11.3°C, RH 83%, DP 8.9°C, 1009 hPa (R), Wind 3 mph WSW.
________________
Nick.
Otter Valley, Devon
83 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 at 20:43:48, Nick Gardner
wrote in uk.sci.weather :

What a wild, wet and windy spell starting in the early hours this morning.

Indeed.

Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph
gust, yesterday.
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham (change 'invalid83261' to 'blueyonder' to email me)

On Oct 8, 8:15*am, Paul Hyett wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 at 20:43:48, Nick Gardner
wrote in uk.sci.weather :

What a wild, wet and windy spell starting in the early hours this morning.

Indeed.

Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph gust, yesterday.

What were you expecting in October?

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness?

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core?

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

John Keats
To Autumn, 1820:

Autumn 1820:

1st Aug = 05:56 = 6 = Overcast, low cloud.

8th August = 21:46 = 22 = 4.
17th August = 01:57 = 2.
23rd August = 22:33 = 4.
30th August = 14:39 = 2.
7th September = 13:50 = 2.
15th September = 14:14 = 2.

What a pile up. A series just like this year.

22nd September = 06:41 = Wet.
29th September = 02:53 = Thundery.
7th October = 07:03 = Wet.
15th October = 00:38 = 6 = Overcast, low cloud.
21st October = 16:01 = 4.
28th October = 19:11 = 7 = Wet

I bet there were a lot of hurricanes that year.

On Oct 8, 8:26*pm, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Oct 8, 8:15*am, Paul Hyett wrote:

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 at 20:43:48, Nick Gardner
wrote in uk.sci.weather :

What a wild, wet and windy spell starting in the early hours this morning.

Indeed.

Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph gust, yesterday.

What were you expecting in October?

* * Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness?

* * Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
* * Conspiring with him how to load and bless
* * With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
* * To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
* * And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core?

* * To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
* * With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
* * And still more, later flowers for the bees,
* * Until they think warm days will never cease,
* * For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

* * * * * * * * * * * * John Keats
* * * * * * * * * * To Autumn, 1820:

Autumn 1820:

1st Aug = 05:56 = 6 = Overcast, low cloud.

8th August = 21:46 = 22 = 4.
17th August = 01:57 = 2.
23rd August = 22:33 = 4.
30th August = 14:39 = 2.
7th September = 13:50 = 2.
15th September = 14:14 = 2.

What a pile up. A series just like this year.

22nd September = 06:41 = Wet.
29th September = 02:53 = Thundery.
7th October = 07:03 = Wet.
15th October = 00:38 = 6 = Overcast, low cloud.
21st October = 16:01 = 4.
28th October = 19:11 = 7 = Wet

I bet there were a lot of hurricanes that year.

Funny you should choose to illustrate the poem (I love Keats!) by
reference to Hurricanes in 1820. The poem wasn't written in 1820.

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:15:19 GMT, Paul Hyett
wrote:

Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph
gust, yesterday.

the alarm for mine is set for 20mph here in a sheltered aspect whereas
the one at work, in a more exposed location about 1 mile away, goes
off at 30mph!
R

On Wed, 8 Oct 2008 at 23:25:52, Robin Nicholson
wrote in uk.sci.weather :

On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:15:19 GMT, Paul Hyett
wrote:

Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph
gust, yesterday.

the alarm for mine is set for 20mph here in a sheltered aspect whereas
the one at work, in a more exposed location about 1 mile away, goes
off at 30mph!

I learned never to use those alarms, after they invariably get triggered
in the middle of the night...
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham (change 'invalid83261' to 'blueyonder' to email me)

On 8 Oct, 23:25, Robin Nicholson
wrote:
On Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:15:19 GMT, Paul Hyett

wrote:
Even my overly sheltered wind gauge managed to record its first 20mph
gust, yesterday.

the alarm for mine is set for 20mph here in a sheltered aspect whereas
the one at work, in a more exposed location about 1 mile away, goes
off at 30mph!
R

If I had an alarm on mine set at 20mph it would have gone off on 3855
of the last 6118 days (the number of days I've had an anemometer at
the correct height.) A decent sea breeze is stronger than that.

1774 days (or 29%) have seen gusts 30mph.

It never ceases to amaze me what people who live inland consider
windy. (Mind you a single snowflake can cause considerable exitement
here!)

The strongest gust at my current location was around 14:00 on 10th
March '08 at 73mph. At a time when this www.sennen-cove.com/10march08.htm
occured on the evening high tide, and when there was no severe weather
warning. (There had been a warning, but is was lifted around 11:00
just after the cold front went through). The sustained wind speed was
not exceptionally high for west Cornwall, but it was extremely squally
and sea conditions were horrendous.

My strongest ever gust was 80mph on 4th of Jan '98, and I'm in
relatively a sheltered location. It topped 100mph in exposed spots
that day.

Graham
Penzance

It never ceases to amaze me what people who live inland consider
windy. (Mind you a single snowflake can cause considerable exitement
here!)

The wild and windy bit was certainly 'wild'n'windy', but I said the wind was
gusting to 40 mph. That was recorded at my reasonably quiet '6 miles inland'
and sheltered site, but on top of Woodbury Common near the coast it is about
as exposed as you could ever get and I suspect the wind there was gusting
over 60 mph which was wreaking havoc with the trees which were still in full
leaf cover.

The snowflake thing reminded me of November 25th 2005 when in the village we
awoke to a dusting (maybe an inch on the grass but less everywhere else) of
snow and the locals stood around in amazement. By noon it had all melted.
That was the last time snow has actually settled here. In early April this
year I saw snow (it was really snow grains/ice pellets) falling briefly but
not settling, this was the first 'white stuff' to fall in over two years.

My neighbour who is rather on the ancient side assures me that even down
'ere, snow has fallen in such large quantities that the lanes have been
blocked and the villages cut off for days. Hmmm, this maybe but I think they
were always a rare occurrence and not the regular 'every year' thing he
remembers. He has well over 80 years to remember but insists every winter
had snow and frost, but the only ones I can agree with him on a 1947,
1962/63, 1978.

Does here on the south coast of Devon have hidden snow secrets I am not
aware of.
_______________
Nick.
Otter Valley, Devon
83 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk

"Nick Gardner" wrote in message
...
It never ceases to amaze me what people who live inland consider
windy. (Mind you a single snowflake can cause considerable exitement
here!)

The wild and windy bit was certainly 'wild'n'windy', but I said the wind
was gusting to 40 mph. That was recorded at my reasonably quiet '6 miles
inland' and sheltered site, but on top of Woodbury Common near the coast
it is about as exposed as you could ever get and I suspect the wind there
was gusting over 60 mph which was wreaking havoc with the trees which were
still in full leaf cover.

The snowflake thing reminded me of November 25th 2005 when in the village
we awoke to a dusting (maybe an inch on the grass but less everywhere
else) of snow and the locals stood around in amazement. By noon it had all
melted. That was the last time snow has actually settled here. In early
April this year I saw snow (it was really snow grains/ice pellets) falling
briefly but not settling, this was the first 'white stuff' to fall in over
two years.

My neighbour who is rather on the ancient side assures me that even down
'ere, snow has fallen in such large quantities that the lanes have been
blocked and the villages cut off for days. Hmmm, this maybe but I think
they were always a rare occurrence and not the regular 'every year' thing
he remembers. He has well over 80 years to remember but insists every
winter had snow and frost, but the only ones I can agree with him on a
1947, 1962/63, 1978.

Does here on the south coast of Devon have hidden snow secrets I am not
aware of.
_______________
Nick.
Otter Valley, Devon
83 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk


From my perch up here in Haytor I have looked at snowfalls over the last 5
years. As one would naturaly expect it is all down to altitude and distance
from sea in our part of the world. Below 200m asl lying snow is rare and
very rare at sea level and if it does lay at sea level then not for very
long. I am reliably informed that at Chudleigh Knighton circa 30m asl along
the river Teign no snow has layed for more than an hour or so in the past 5
years. Aquaintances at Torquay tell me "snow never lays in the town",
probably not quite true, but it will certainly be execeptional. Likewise
Teignmouth, but you only have to go up to 250m up in the Haldon hills
overlooking the town and they will gleam white at least once every winter.
Dartmoor, is, of course, famous for Devon snow, all the postcards show
ponies grazing on a white moor in winter. Perhaps a bit misleading as for a
lot of the time it is just wet and boggy but as you go from 200m to 400m asl
the number of days with snow cover increases dramatically. Never very deep,
the most I have seen at Haytor is 12cm since 2002, but quite a number of
occasions of morning snow of 2-4 cms melting by afternoon. Above 400m and
over the high moorland plateau in the north and west it is different again.
Snowfalls are more regular and deeper. Every year at least one day of deep
powder is guaranteed (you will normally find me out on that day) and in
colder winters several days are likely. Above 550m asl (the very high Tors
and the yes Tor escarpment), arctic like conditions are not uncommon. Our
part of Devon has a fascinating winter climate from frozen northern
hill-like conditions on the high Tors to the flourishing palm trees on the
coast where even frost is rare in a matter of an hour's drive!

I leave you with a typical picture of a light Dartmoor snowfall in Haytor
http://www.lyneside.demon.co.uk/Hayt...januaryday.jpg

A mere dusting by Copley standards :-)

Will (Haytor, Devon, 310m asl)
--

On Oct 10, 8:59*am, "Will Hand" wrote:
"Nick Gardner" wrote in message

...





It never ceases to amaze me what people who live inland consider
windy. (Mind you a single snowflake can cause considerable exitement
here!)

The wild and windy bit was certainly 'wild'n'windy', but I said the wind
was gusting to 40 mph. That was recorded at my reasonably quiet '6 miles
inland' and sheltered site, but on top of Woodbury Common near the coast
it is about as exposed as you could ever get and I suspect the wind there
was gusting over 60 mph which was wreaking havoc with the trees which were
still in full leaf cover.

The snowflake thing reminded me of November 25th 2005 when in the village
we awoke to a dusting (maybe an inch on the grass but less everywhere
else) of snow and the locals stood around in amazement. By noon it had all
melted. That was the last time snow has actually settled here. In early
April this year I saw snow (it was really snow grains/ice pellets) falling
briefly but not settling, this was the first 'white stuff' to fall in over
two years.

My neighbour who is rather on the ancient side assures me that even down
'ere, snow has fallen in such large quantities that the lanes have been
blocked and the villages cut off for days. Hmmm, this maybe but I think
they were always a rare occurrence and not the regular 'every year' thing
he remembers. He has well over 80 years to remember but insists every
winter had snow and frost, but the only ones I can agree with him on a
1947, 1962/63, 1978.

Does here on the south coast of Devon have hidden snow secrets I am not
aware of.
_______________
Nick.
Otter Valley, Devon
83 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk

From my perch up here in Haytor I have looked at snowfalls over the last 5
years. As one would naturaly expect it is all down to altitude and distance
from sea in our part of the world. Below 200m asl lying snow is rare and
very rare at sea level and if it does lay at sea level then not for very
long. I am reliably informed that at Chudleigh Knighton circa 30m asl along
the river Teign no snow has layed for more than an hour or so in the past 5
years. Aquaintances at Torquay tell me "snow never lays in the town",
probably not quite true, but it will certainly be execeptional. Likewise
Teignmouth, but you only have to go up to 250m up in the Haldon hills
overlooking the town and they will gleam white at least once every winter..
Dartmoor, is, of course, famous for Devon snow, all the postcards show
ponies grazing on a white moor in winter. Perhaps a bit misleading as for a
lot of the time it is just wet and boggy but as you go from 200m to 400m asl
the number of days with snow cover increases dramatically. Never very deep,
the most I have seen at Haytor is 12cm since 2002, but quite a number of
occasions of morning snow of 2-4 cms melting by afternoon. Above 400m and
over the high moorland plateau in the north and west it is different again.