... well, that's what the dratted 'single-figure' mean temperature 
will show; as of today, the mean temperature at Hurn is exactly 16.5°C 
(for the month so far), with an anomaly on the 1971-2000 series 
[whole-month] of exactly 0.0degC.

This is a good example of how a 'mean' figure disguises a wide spread 
between night and day.
The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Max (and within 0.1degC also 
the day Max) is -2.1degC
The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Min (and also the same for the 
night Min) is +2.1degC.

Only on two days (2nd & 8th) did the day max. exceed the long-term 
mean; on no fewer than 12 days the day max has not reached 20°C, and 
today will mark the 10th day in a row when Hurn failed to reach that 
figure.

Martin.

-- 
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N   Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023

On 20 Aug, 14:00, "Martin Rowley"
 wrote:
> ... well, that's what the dratted 'single-figure' mean temperature
> will show; as of today, the mean temperature at Hurn is exactly 16.5°C
> (for the month so far), with an anomaly on the 1971-2000 series
> [whole-month] of exactly 0.0degC.
>
> This is a good example of how a 'mean' figure disguises a wide spread
> between night and day.
> The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Max (and within 0.1degC also
> the day Max) is -2.1degC
> The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Min (and also the same for the
> night Min) is .1degC.
>
> Only on two days (2nd & 8th) did the day max. exceed the long-term
> mean; on no fewer than 12 days the day max has not reached 20°C, and
> today will mark the 10th day in a row when Hurn failed to reach that
> figure.
>
> Martin.
>
> --
> Martin Rowley
> West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
> Lat: 50.82N   Long: 01.88W
> NGR: SU 082 023

Similar situation in Penzance, though not so pronounced Av Max -1.0,
Av Min .9. The north coast of Cornwall has suffered most with the
persistent strong onshore winds, so whilst the overall average is near
normal on the south coast of Cornwall, it's 0.7C or so below on the
north.

The most notable aspect this summer is the lack of days which have
reached 20C

Taking Summer (June/July/Aug) statistics since 1991, when my records
start:-

Summer 2005 saw the most days reach 20C  - 69 days
Summer 1998 saw the least days reach 20C - 21 days

So far this June/JulyAug has only seen just 16 days reach 20C. Only 4
days have reached 20C in August so far. The average here is 20 days,
the least was 9 in 1994.

Last summer, which was perceived as fairly poor by many, saw 44 days
reach 20C during Summer, and there were a further 17 days in September
which reached that figure.

At then other end of the scale, the last day to fail to reach 17C was
9th July - showing just how little maximum temperatures have varied.
It's got to the point that I know the maximum temperatures is going to
be within a degree of 19C before I open the screen!

Graham
Penzance

On Aug 20, 2:56 pm, Graham Easterling 
wrote:
> On 20 Aug, 14:00, "Martin Rowley"
>
>
>
>  wrote:
> > ... well, that's what the dratted 'single-figure' mean temperature
> > will show; as of today, the mean temperature at Hurn is exactly 16.5°C
> > (for the month so far), with an anomaly on the 1971-2000 series
> > [whole-month] of exactly 0.0degC.
>
> > This is a good example of how a 'mean' figure disguises a wide spread
> > between night and day.
> > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Max (and within 0.1degC also
> > the day Max) is -2.1degC
> > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Min (and also the same for the
> > night Min) is .1degC.
>
> > Only on two days (2nd & 8th) did the day max. exceed the long-term
> > mean; on no fewer than 12 days the day max has not reached 20°C, and
> > today will mark the 10th day in a row when Hurn failed to reach that
> > figure.
>
> > Martin.
>
> > --
> > Martin Rowley
> > West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
> > Lat: 50.82N   Long: 01.88W
> > NGR: SU 082 023
>
> Similar situation in Penzance, though not so pronounced Av Max -1.0,
> Av Min .9. The north coast of Cornwall has suffered most with the
> persistent strong onshore winds, so whilst the overall average is near
> normal on the south coast of Cornwall, it's 0.7C or so below on the
> north.
>
> The most notable aspect this summer is the lack of days which have
> reached 20C
>
> Taking Summer (June/July/Aug) statistics since 1991, when my records
> start:-
>
> Summer 2005 saw the most days reach 20C  - 69 days
> Summer 1998 saw the least days reach 20C - 21 days
>
> So far this June/JulyAug has only seen just 16 days reach 20C. Only 4
> days have reached 20C in August so far. The average here is 20 days,
> the least was 9 in 1994.
>
> Last summer, which was perceived as fairly poor by many, saw 44 days
> reach 20C during Summer, and there were a further 17 days in September
> which reached that figure.
>
> At then other end of the scale, the last day to fail to reach 17C was
> 9th July - showing just how little maximum temperatures have varied.
> It's got to the point that I know the maximum temperatures is going to
> be within a degree of 19C before I open the screen!
>
> Graham
> Penzance

What's notable is that the "default maximum temperature", the sort of
temperature we get in a standard W or SW airstream, is a couple of
degrees down on the normal for recent years - but this is only the
case in the southwest: other areas exposed to onshore winds, sich as
western Scotland seem to be getting average, or even above average
temperatures, which is much more typical for August. In other words,
the absolute temperatures being experienced in "greater southwestern
England" (including Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Sussex in
addition to the typical SW counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset)
are similar to those being experienced on the west coast of Scotland -
this must be unusual.

Nick

I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature post 
designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its 
always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of detachment 
in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that really 
know the state of our disgusting summer.
Forget yer statistical nonesense All I know is its the worst weather for 
years, marginal worse than last year for sure, every bleedin day is heavy 
cloud... hang on ---wow as I type I see a burst of sunlight! more like a 
shaft oh now its gone again... anyway to continue, and no more than 20C on 
my temperature guage and I'm in the darling South East! where you'd expect 
it be a touch better than elsewere. Apart from that fairly good spell ( i've 
even forgotton now when it was) but I know it was mid July sometime when we 
got a few 30's, apart from that its been lousy.
-- 
Dave R. [west London]

On 20 Aug, 16:49, nick150...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> On Aug 20, 2:56 pm, Graham Easterling 
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 20 Aug, 14:00, "Martin Rowley"
>
> >  wrote:
> > > ... well, that's what the dratted 'single-figure' mean temperature
> > > will show; as of today, the mean temperature at Hurn is exactly 16.5°C
> > > (for the month so far), with an anomaly on the 1971-2000 series
> > > [whole-month] of exactly 0.0degC.
>
> > > This is a good example of how a 'mean' figure disguises a wide spread
> > > between night and day.
> > > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Max (and within 0.1degC also
> > > the day Max) is -2.1degC
> > > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Min (and also the same for the
> > > night Min) is .1degC.
>
> > > Only on two days (2nd & 8th) did the day max. exceed the long-term
> > > mean; on no fewer than 12 days the day max has not reached 20°C, and
> > > today will mark the 10th day in a row when Hurn failed to reach that
> > > figure.
>
> > > Martin.
>
> > > --
> > > Martin Rowley
> > > West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
> > > Lat: 50.82N   Long: 01.88W
> > > NGR: SU 082 023
>
> > Similar situation in Penzance, though not so pronounced Av Max -1.0,
> > Av Min .9. The north coast of Cornwall has suffered most with the
> > persistent strong onshore winds, so whilst the overall average is near
> > normal on the south coast of Cornwall, it's 0.7C or so below on the
> > north.
>
> > The most notable aspect this summer is the lack of days which have
> > reached 20C
>
> > Taking Summer (June/July/Aug) statistics since 1991, when my records
> > start:-
>
> > Summer 2005 saw the most days reach 20C  - 69 days
> > Summer 1998 saw the least days reach 20C - 21 days
>
> > So far this June/JulyAug has only seen just 16 days reach 20C. Only 4
> > days have reached 20C in August so far. The average here is 20 days,
> > the least was 9 in 1994.
>
> > Last summer, which was perceived as fairly poor by many, saw 44 days
> > reach 20C during Summer, and there were a further 17 days in September
> > which reached that figure.
>
> > At then other end of the scale, the last day to fail to reach 17C was
> > 9th July - showing just how little maximum temperatures have varied.
> > It's got to the point that I know the maximum temperatures is going to
> > be within a degree of 19C before I open the screen!
>
> > Graham
> > Penzance
>
> What's notable is that the "default maximum temperature", the sort of
> temperature we get in a standard W or SW airstream, is a couple of
> degrees down on the normal for recent years - but this is only the
> case in the southwest: other areas exposed to onshore winds, sich as
> western Scotland seem to be getting average, or even above average
> temperatures, which is much more typical for August. In other words,
> the absolute temperatures being experienced in "greater southwestern
> England" (including Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Sussex in
> addition to the typical SW counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset)
> are similar to those being experienced on the west coast of Scotland -
> this must be unusual.
>
> Nick- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I think the fact that for the last couple of months the SST to the
west & SW of Devon & Cornwall has been a good deal lower (at least 2C
- & nearer 4C lower than 2006) than recent years must be a factor.
This has been the only part of the north Atlantic with temperatures
close to or just below the 1970-2000 norm in recent weeks.

This sort of setup http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/sst/wksst.20080730.gif
has been typical.
The SST has been consistently above normal off western Scotland.

The root cause is probably down the consistently southerly track of
the jet stream & associated weather.

Graham
Penzance

On Aug 20, 5:05 pm, "Dave R."  wrote:
> I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature post
> designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its
> always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of detachment
> in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that really
> know the state of our disgusting summer.

But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
better there! :-)

Nick

On Aug 20, 5:46 pm, Graham Easterling 
wrote:
> On 20 Aug, 16:49, nick150...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Aug 20, 2:56 pm, Graham Easterling 
> > wrote:
>
> > > On 20 Aug, 14:00, "Martin Rowley"
>
> > >  wrote:
> > > > ... well, that's what the dratted 'single-figure' mean temperature
> > > > will show; as of today, the mean temperature at Hurn is exactly 16.5°C
> > > > (for the month so far), with an anomaly on the 1971-2000 series
> > > > [whole-month] of exactly 0.0degC.
>
> > > > This is a good example of how a 'mean' figure disguises a wide spread
> > > > between night and day.
> > > > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Max (and within 0.1degC also
> > > > the day Max) is -2.1degC
> > > > The anomaly (wrt 1971-2000) of the 24hr Min (and also the same for the
> > > > night Min) is .1degC.
>
> > > > Only on two days (2nd & 8th) did the day max. exceed the long-term
> > > > mean; on no fewer than 12 days the day max has not reached 20°C, and
> > > > today will mark the 10th day in a row when Hurn failed to reach that
> > > > figure.
>
> > > > Martin.
>
> > > > --
> > > > Martin Rowley
> > > > West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
> > > > Lat: 50.82N   Long: 01.88W
> > > > NGR: SU 082 023
>
> > > Similar situation in Penzance, though not so pronounced Av Max -1.0,
> > > Av Min .9. The north coast of Cornwall has suffered most with the
> > > persistent strong onshore winds, so whilst the overall average is near
> > > normal on the south coast of Cornwall, it's 0.7C or so below on the
> > > north.
>
> > > The most notable aspect this summer is the lack of days which have
> > > reached 20C
>
> > > Taking Summer (June/July/Aug) statistics since 1991, when my records
> > > start:-
>
> > > Summer 2005 saw the most days reach 20C  - 69 days
> > > Summer 1998 saw the least days reach 20C - 21 days
>
> > > So far this June/JulyAug has only seen just 16 days reach 20C. Only 4
> > > days have reached 20C in August so far. The average here is 20 days,
> > > the least was 9 in 1994.
>
> > > Last summer, which was perceived as fairly poor by many, saw 44 days
> > > reach 20C during Summer, and there were a further 17 days in September
> > > which reached that figure.
>
> > > At then other end of the scale, the last day to fail to reach 17C was
> > > 9th July - showing just how little maximum temperatures have varied.
> > > It's got to the point that I know the maximum temperatures is going to
> > > be within a degree of 19C before I open the screen!
>
> > > Graham
> > > Penzance
>
> > What's notable is that the "default maximum temperature", the sort of
> > temperature we get in a standard W or SW airstream, is a couple of
> > degrees down on the normal for recent years - but this is only the
> > case in the southwest: other areas exposed to onshore winds, sich as
> > western Scotland seem to be getting average, or even above average
> > temperatures, which is much more typical for August. In other words,
> > the absolute temperatures being experienced in "greater southwestern
> > England" (including Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Sussex in
> > addition to the typical SW counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset)
> > are similar to those being experienced on the west coast of Scotland -
> > this must be unusual.
>
> > Nick- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I think the fact that for the last couple of months the SST to the
> west & SW of Devon & Cornwall has been a good deal lower (at least 2C
> - & nearer 4C lower than 2006) than recent years must be a factor.
> This has been the only part of the north Atlantic with temperatures
> close to or just below the 1970-2000 norm in recent weeks.
>
> This sort of setuphttp://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/research/sst/wksst.20080730.gif
> has been typical.
> The SST has been consistently above normal off western Scotland.
>
> The root cause is probably down the consistently southerly track of
> the jet stream & associated weather.
>
> Graham
> Penzance

Interesting - I guess the easterly in May, with persistent warmth in
Scotland and tendency for cool/wet, particularly late in the month
down here, will have played a part. So I wonder if there is a more
general correlation between southerly tracking lows in spring and cool
weather in summer?

Nick

wrote in message 
news:6e83530b-69c3-47ae-ac14-7e56f9ec54bc@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> On Aug 20, 5:05 pm, "Dave R."  wrote:
>> I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature 
>> post
>> designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its
>> always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of 
>> detachment
>> in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that 
>> really
>> know the state of our disgusting summer.
>
> But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
> day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
> better there! :-)
>
> Nick
>
Day after day?  I don't think that 21C has been reached in Farnborough on 
many days this month.  Central London might be a little different.

Roger
Farnborough Hants

wrote in message 
news:6e83530b-69c3-47ae-ac14-7e56f9ec54bc@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> On Aug 20, 5:05 pm, "Dave R."  wrote:
>> I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature 
>> post
>> designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its
>> always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of 
>> detachment
>> in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that 
>> really
>> know the state of our disgusting summer.
>
> But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
> day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
> better there! :-)
>
> Nick
>
That 21C you so proudly show off is only a brief - either side is much lower 
as its a maximum temperature as you know. Its 6pm now and Heathrow is 19C 
but its a very blowy gusty wind plus thick cloud for most of the day so it 
doesnt feel like it. No rain yet but tonight were are in for more heavy 
showers from your goodselves. This has been pretty much the case for weeks 
now. I'll give you "its marginally better" but I wont have "much better 
here!" purely from the point of view you are on an exposed coastal 
peninsula.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:49:46 -0700 (PDT), nick150971@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

>...
>other areas exposed to onshore winds, sich as
>western Scotland seem to be getting average, or even above average
>temperatures, which is much more typical for August.
>...

Average temperatures here for August:-

	Max. 	Min. 	Mean
2003	21.9	11.3	16.6
2004	20.6	12.4	16.5
2005	19.0	10.6	14.8
2006	20.2	11.0	15.6
2007	19.3	10.5	14.9
2008	19.0	11.4	15.2 (so far)
Mean	20.0	11.2	15.6

So, here, the average max and the mean have been *lower* than average so
far.

The dominant wind direction, rather than being onshore, has been NE.

-- 
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:55:52 -0700 (PDT), nick150971@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

>But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
>day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
>better there! :-)

Our perception is that this summer has been the most *disgusting* since
we moved here in August 2002 in terms of lack of sunshine and amount of
drizzle. Remarkably, temperatures have held up reasonably well but have
done little to compensate.

-- 
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

Not here.

August 1st - 19th
Min 13.1°C (+1.1°C)
Max 19.4°C (-1.8°C)
Mean 16.2°C (-0.4°C)

And it has been very, very wet. Many events this BH weekend have been 
cancelled due to the waterlogged ground.

Rain 111.4 mm

And it has been very, very cloudy.

Sunshine 61.8 hours
________________
Nick.
Otter Valley, Devon
83 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk

On Aug 20, 6:04 pm, "Roger Smith"  wrote:
>  wrote in message
>
> news:6e83530b-69c3-47ae-ac14-7e56f9ec54bc@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>
> > On Aug 20, 5:05 pm, "Dave R."  wrote:
> >> I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature
> >> post
> >> designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its
> >> always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of
> >> detachment
> >> in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that
> >> really
> >> know the state of our disgusting summer.
>
> > But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
> > day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
> > better there! :-)
>
> > Nick
>
> Day after day?  I don't think that 21C has been reached in Farnborough on
> many days this month.  Central London might be a little different.
>
> Roger
> Farnborough Hants

Sorry, by "southwest" I didn't mean the classical definition of SW,
but a rather larger area (see earlier post) stretching as far as
Hampshire and Sussex - essentially that area of southern England which
is most exposed to the onshore winds. Was contrasting this greater
"southwest" against more sheltered areas such as London, Essex, and
north Kent. Not doubting that Farnborough has been disappointingly
cool and overcast this month as it's just 40 odd miles from me.

Nick

180mm up here in Haytor so far this month.
No day has exceeded 21C, highest temperature so far - 20.3C on 2nd.

Coolish and on the wet side, even for Dartmoor. *Average* August rainfall 
for August is 111mm, coincidentally the same you have had up to now Nick.

I don't bother measuring sunshine as we get a lot of cloud normally but this 
month has been very dull up here with the house lights going on early most 
days.

Today the 20th we had rain and drizzle all afternoon and occasional fog.

But I wouldn't call it "disgusting" it's just cloudy, foggy and wet and goes 
with the territory in a cyclonic summer, it will make up for it sometime. 
Might be a nice cold dry winter for a change :-)

Will (Haytor, Devon, 1017 feet asl)
--

"Nick Gardner"  wrote in message 
news:V76dnQucItebxTHVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@bt.com...
> Not here.
>
> August 1st - 19th
> Min 13.1°C (+1.1°C)
> Max 19.4°C (-1.8°C)
> Mean 16.2°C (-0.4°C)
>
> And it has been very, very wet. Many events this BH weekend have been 
> cancelled due to the waterlogged ground.
>
> Rain 111.4 mm
>
> And it has been very, very cloudy.
>
> Sunshine 61.8 hours
> ________________
> Nick.
> Otter Valley, Devon
> 83 m amsl
> http://www.ottervalley.co.uk
>

"Will Hand"  wrote in message 
news:g8hs32$il6$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
>.. with the territory in a cyclonic summer, it will make up for it 
>sometime.

You might not be around then but hang on, I thought you prefered a cyclonic 
summer? so what can there possibly be that would make up for it? The Summer 
that is, and not some other season.
Dave R

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:04:59 +0100, Roger Smith wrote:

>  wrote in message 
> news:6e83530b-69c3-47ae-ac14-7e56f9ec54bc@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>> On Aug 20, 5:05 pm, "Dave R."  wrote:
>>> I don't give two hootanannies about your so called average temperature 
>>> post
>>> designed to make it look as though this August is pretty 'normal'. Its
>>> always you lot in the South West that seem to have some kind of 
>>> detachment
>>> in the lobotomy department compared to us in the rest of country that 
>>> really
>>> know the state of our disgusting summer.
>>
>> But it's the southwest that *is* getting the "disgusting" summer! The
>> day after day 21C+ in the southeast seems to indicate things are much
>> better there! :-)
>>
>> Nick
>>
> Day after day?  I don't think that 21C has been reached in Farnborough on 
> many days this month.  Central London might be a little different.
> 
> Roger
> Farnborough Hants

Up to now 21C has been exceeded on 10 days here with amaximum of 25C. The
nights have been quite warm as well as there has been a lot of cloud cover.

The main problme with the month is that it has rarely been reliably dry
which creates difficulties with outside activities which need a good dry
spell. 

 
Alan Gardiner
Chiswell Green, St Albans
101m ASL
21/08/2008 10:15:41