Bernard Burton wrote:

"Norman Lynagh" wrote in message
...
Tudor Hughes wrote:

On both Thursday and Friday evenings I was able to see the setting
sun when its calculated geometrical altitude was -0.50. From my
front bedroom window the land slopes to the NW but at a shallow
angle (about 0.70) and there are useful gaps in the trees. The
height of this viewpoint only adds 0.1-0.2 degree to the dip of
the horizon. I shall probably be able to do this observation
Saturday night, Sunday night and far as I can see, for ever.
Soil is now like concrete (heavy clay over chalk).

Tudor Hughes, Hamsey Green, Warlingham, Surrey, 557 ft, 170 m.

In my years on the Ocean Weather Ships in the 1960s our ship did
occasional tours of duty at Ocean Station 'Alpha' (620N 330W) in the
Denmark Strait. I remember at least a couple of occasions when the
Greenland icecap was clearly visible to the NW even though it was
more than 300 miles away. No doubt refraction played a part in that
but it also says a lot for the clarity of the air.

-- Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
https://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr

Your note, Norman, reminded me of the occasion when I was on the
Weather Monitor in 1962, I think it was station Juliet, while we were
doing the 0600 pilot ascent. I was at the plotting table, and glanced
out of the porthole as the sun rose in my line of sight. I was
excited to see my first green flash, then as the ship rose and fell
on the swell, I saw a brilliant blue flash, then another green one,
all in the space of about 10 seconds. I have seen a couple of lesser
examples of the green flash since, but never again seen the blue one.
I did 2 trips to station Alpha, but never had the experience of a
visual sighting of the Greenland coast. However, we did have radar
refraction during anticyclonic weather, so that the Greenland coast
was clearly visible on the radar display, well beyond the maximum
radar range. Then, as the anticyclone moved eastwards, a couple of
days later, after the Greenland coast had faded, the coast of Iceland
appeared. If my memory serves me, the normal maximum radar range was
about 150 km.


I'm still waiting to see my first green flash. Not much chance of it in
the Derbyshire hills!

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.
https://peakdistrictweather.org
Twitter: @TideswellWeathr