[OBS] Niton, Isle of Wight - Sat 11th Apr 2020
 

1500Z: 09005KT 12KM 1AC100 18.1/9.5 QFF 1021.5
SYNOP: 42962 10905 10181 20095 40215 57011 81030 333 81360=
Beaufort letters: by
Patchy Ac floccus around this morning, dispersing to zero for a time
before more floccus appeared; currently scraps of thin Ac to the south.
Medium size Cu tops visible NW-NE but too far away to see their bases.
Visibility improving inland but the horizon remains 'fuzzy' over water.
Light breeze from due east. RH 57%. Max temp so far 19.3

Nigel (Niton, Isle of Wight)
101m amsl

[OBS] Niton, Isle of Wight - Sat 11th Apr 2020
 

On 11/04/2020 16:18, Nigel Paice wrote:
1500Z: 09005KT 12KM 1AC100 18.1/9.5 QFF 1021.5
SYNOP: 42962 10905 10181 20095 40215 57011 81030 333 81360=
Beaufort letters: by
Patchy Ac floccus around this morning, dispersing to zero for a time
before more floccus appeared; currently scraps of thin Ac to the south.
Medium size Cu tops visible NW-NE but too far away to see their bases.
Visibility improving inland but the horizon remains 'fuzzy' over water.
Light breeze from due east. RH 57%. Max temp so far 19.3

Nigel (Niton, Isle of Wight)
101m amsl

Dependant where you are in Niton it's quite high up (we visited Niton
last year and stayed at the Enchanter Manor).
So viewing the horizon at sea level (well we'll say 1.7m as that might
be one's height) the horizon is 4.5 to 5km away. At 100m (about Niton's
height) it will be ~36km. If the viz is say 20km, the horizon will
'fuzzy'. The lower you go, the closer the horizon is and eventually it
will be closer than the visibility so it will then be sharp.
In my day (and probably now) coastal observing sites didn't report
visibility over the sea, only landward, presumably because of this (and
lack of viz points. The equation is =SQRT(m)*3.57 - where m is the
figure in meters.

[OBS] Niton, Isle of Wight - Sat 11th Apr 2020
 

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 7:54:34 PM UTC+1, Metman2012 wrote:
On 11/04/2020 16:18, Nigel Paice wrote:
1500Z: 09005KT 12KM 1AC100 18.1/9.5 QFF 1021.5
SYNOP: 42962 10905 10181 20095 40215 57011 81030 333 81360=
Beaufort letters: by
Patchy Ac floccus around this morning, dispersing to zero for a time
before more floccus appeared; currently scraps of thin Ac to the south.
Medium size Cu tops visible NW-NE but too far away to see their bases.
Visibility improving inland but the horizon remains 'fuzzy' over water.
Light breeze from due east. RH 57%. Max temp so far 19.3

Nigel (Niton, Isle of Wight)
101m amsl

Dependant where you are in Niton it's quite high up (we visited Niton
last year and stayed at the Enchanter Manor).
So viewing the horizon at sea level (well we'll say 1.7m as that might
be one's height) the horizon is 4.5 to 5km away. At 100m (about Niton's
height) it will be ~36km. If the viz is say 20km, the horizon will
'fuzzy'. The lower you go, the closer the horizon is and eventually it
will be closer than the visibility so it will then be sharp.
In my day (and probably now) coastal observing sites didn't report
visibility over the sea, only landward, presumably because of this (and
lack of viz points. The equation is =SQRT(m)*3.57 - where m is the
figure in meters.

Luckily, there are various places visible from west Cornwall that can give a good idea of visibility. Scilly is 29 miles from Sennen, quite useful when I lived there. I have on a few occasions seen Lundy from the top of the moors, around 80 miles. Lizard point from Penzance is a useful landmark, 18 miles, if it's clear enough to see the rocks off the point, then it's probably 30 miles. On very hazy days (like today) headlands 5 miles away are hard to see.

I find landmarks around the coast very useful in judging visibility, Google Earth helpful in knowing the exact distance.

Graham
Penzance

[OBS] Niton, Isle of Wight - Sat 11th Apr 2020
 

Graham Easterling wrote:

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 7:54:34 PM UTC+1, Metman2012 wrote:
On 11/04/2020 16:18, Nigel Paice wrote:
1500Z: 09005KT 12KM 1AC100 18.1/9.5 QFF 1021.5
SYNOP: 42962 10905 10181 20095 40215 57011 81030 333 81360=
Beaufort letters: by
Patchy Ac floccus around this morning, dispersing to zero for a
time before more floccus appeared; currently scraps of thin Ac to
the south. Medium size Cu tops visible NW-NE but too far away to
see their bases. Visibility improving inland but the horizon
remains 'fuzzy' over water. Light breeze from due east. RH 57%.
Max temp so far 19.3

Nigel (Niton, Isle of Wight)
101m amsl

Dependant where you are in Niton it's quite high up (we visited
Niton last year and stayed at the Enchanter Manor).
So viewing the horizon at sea level (well we'll say 1.7m as that
might be one's height) the horizon is 4.5 to 5km away. At 100m
(about Niton's height) it will be ~36km. If the viz is say 20km,
the horizon will 'fuzzy'. The lower you go, the closer the horizon
is and eventually it will be closer than the visibility so it will
then be sharp. In my day (and probably now) coastal observing
sites didn't report visibility over the sea, only landward,
presumably because of this (and lack of viz points. The equation is
=SQRT(m)*3.57 - where m is the figure in meters.

Luckily, there are various places visible from west Cornwall that can
give a good idea of visibility. Scilly is 29 miles from Sennen, quite
useful when I lived there. I have on a few occasions seen Lundy from
the top of the moors, around 80 miles. Lizard point from Penzance is
a useful landmark, 18 miles, if it's clear enough to see the rocks
off the point, then it's probably 30 miles. On very hazy days (like
today) headlands 5 miles away are hard to see.

I find landmarks around the coast very useful in judging visibility,
Google Earth helpful in knowing the exact distance.

Graham
Penzance

Furthest visibility point from our garden is 4km. Even so, we can see
maritime Cb over the Irish Sea and the North Sea. For long range
visibility I rely to some extent on the Cat & Fiddle webcam which looks
NNW across Greater Manchester. On clear nights the lights on the Winter
Hill TV mast near Bolton can be clearly seen.

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

[OBS] Niton, Isle of Wight - Sat 11th Apr 2020
 

On 11/04/2020 20:56, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Graham Easterling wrote:

On Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 7:54:34 PM UTC+1, Metman2012 wrote:
On 11/04/2020 16:18, Nigel Paice wrote:
1500Z: 09005KT 12KM 1AC100 18.1/9.5 QFF 1021.5
SYNOP: 42962 10905 10181 20095 40215 57011 81030 333 81360=
Beaufort letters: by
Patchy Ac floccus around this morning, dispersing to zero for a
time before more floccus appeared; currently scraps of thin Ac to
the south. Medium size Cu tops visible NW-NE but too far away to
see their bases. Visibility improving inland but the horizon
remains 'fuzzy' over water. Light breeze from due east. RH 57%.
Max temp so far 19.3

Nigel (Niton, Isle of Wight)
101m amsl

Dependant where you are in Niton it's quite high up (we visited
Niton last year and stayed at the Enchanter Manor).
So viewing the horizon at sea level (well we'll say 1.7m as that
might be one's height) the horizon is 4.5 to 5km away. At 100m
(about Niton's height) it will be ~36km. If the viz is say 20km,
the horizon will 'fuzzy'. The lower you go, the closer the horizon
is and eventually it will be closer than the visibility so it will
then be sharp. In my day (and probably now) coastal observing
sites didn't report visibility over the sea, only landward,
presumably because of this (and lack of viz points. The equation is
=SQRT(m)*3.57 - where m is the figure in meters.

Luckily, there are various places visible from west Cornwall that can
give a good idea of visibility. Scilly is 29 miles from Sennen, quite
useful when I lived there. I have on a few occasions seen Lundy from
the top of the moors, around 80 miles. Lizard point from Penzance is
a useful landmark, 18 miles, if it's clear enough to see the rocks
off the point, then it's probably 30 miles. On very hazy days (like
today) headlands 5 miles away are hard to see.

I find landmarks around the coast very useful in judging visibility,
Google Earth helpful in knowing the exact distance.

Graham
Penzance

Furthest visibility point from our garden is 4km. Even so, we can see
maritime Cb over the Irish Sea and the North Sea. For long range
visibility I rely to some extent on the Cat & Fiddle webcam which looks
NNW across Greater Manchester. On clear nights the lights on the Winter
Hill TV mast near Bolton can be clearly seen.

Having worked at Aberporth on numerous detachments, I have gained a
reasonable experience of visibility reporting out to sea from cliff
tops. In fact. a 9-group (980VsVs) was mandatory when the 'sea vis'
varied significantly from the land vis but I don't intend using it here.
The clarity of the horizon does indeed appear to change with height,
noticing the 'improvement' in sharpness when I walk the dog down to St.
Catherine's Point. Container vessels and oil tankers are often seen in
the English Channel which helps determine the visibility to some degree.

Nigel