Weather- September 2010

[Tony Willis]

Lovely pictures Dave,the skies remind me of the view out of our windows.

Since we got back from our holidays on the 12th July it has not rained(I cannot use the words-been dry) on only two days. Today the garden at the bottom end is under 6 to 8 inches of water which makes the hydrangea villosa which is in full flower look strangely odd as it's branches rise out of the water. No doubt the fritillaria meleagris planted near it are happy.

[David Lyttle]

Here are some pictures I took yesterday morning on the sixth day of the storm that is causing havoc over various parts of New Zealand. Invercargill and places south of here have borne the brunt of it with a lot of snow and very strong winds.

1,2 A dusting of snow that had fallen overnight on the hilltops round here.

3. Looking south into the heart of the storm with more squalls coming in from the south. Lesley lives up on the hill in the distance in the murk.

4. Not withstanding the bitterly cold conditions and wind chill my newly installed solar hot water system kept on working whenever the sun appeared!

There was a moderate westerly gale this morning but it cleared up a bit later. The fronts are continuing to come through but with less ferocity.

This has been a quite an unprecedented storm in its duration with very strong southwesterly winds. The western part of the North Island has copped a lot of rain while the southern part of the South Island has got the snow.

[Paul T]

David,

You might want to explain to some here what a solar hot water service is?  I'm not sure that the scottish folk would ever have heard of one would they?  I mean, after all, you'd need to actually see the sun for it to be useful, so I can't imagine they've ever heard of one. 

 

[TheOnionMan]

Still bone dry here, it just doesn't want to rain.  After some nice cool (yet dry) fall weather, we're back into moderately hot temperatures (mid 80s F, 30 C) with drying winds.  The one beneficial side effect of dry years, is more intense autumn leaf coloring, which is already starting.  The Virginia Creeper vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), which covers much of the stone wall in my front yard, and travels to the very top of an ancient (and dying) Sugar Maple, has turned brilliant red; some years it is more of a mahogany red color.

[David Nicholson]

David,

You might want to explain to some here what a solar hot water service is?  I'm not sure that the scottish folk would ever have heard of one would they?  I mean, after all, you'd need to actually see the sun for it to be useful, so I can't imagine they've ever heard of one. 

 

Ah! but they have porridge heating systems

[angie]

Yep and it sticks to your ribs  today felt like winter, don't know what's happened to Autumn.

Angie

[Anthony Darby]

David,

You might want to explain to some here what a solar hot water service is?  I'm not sure that the scottish folk would ever have heard of one would they?  I mean, after all, you'd need to actually see the sun for it to be useful, so I can't imagine they've ever heard of one. 

 

We have solar panels of various sorts here in Scotland, including those that heat water. We also have double glazing. We don't have air conditioning, though I could do with some in my classroom. Black out blinds so that I could use my projector. I missed out on one of the two interactive white boards that will be installed in science soon. Had to wait 10 years for just two. Only another 10 science rooms to be kitted out. School will have fallen down by then!

[David Lyttle]

I have been exercising my mind for uses of solar technology- all that free heat. A solar-powered still would not be out of place in Scotland.

A mild sunny day today so had a chance to catch up on some outside jobs. However the wind has picked up this evening with the prospect of another front on its way

[David Nicholson]

David,

You might want to explain to some here what a solar hot water service is?  I'm not sure that the scottish folk would ever have heard of one would they?  I mean, after all, you'd need to actually see the sun for it to be useful, so I can't imagine they've ever heard of one. 

 

We have solar panels of various sorts here in Scotland, including those that heat water. We also have double glazing. We don't have air conditioning, though I could do with some in my classroom. Black out blinds so that I could use my projector. I missed out on one of the two interactive white boards that will be installed in science soon. Had to wait 10 years for just two. Only another 10 science rooms to be kitted out. School will have fallen down by then!

What about tapping in to some sponsorship funding. Must be some high tec industries in your part of the world Anthony who would like to be associated with science teaching in schools given that it doesn't seem to be a popular subject with some kids these days.

[Anthony Darby]

We have no problem attracting kids into science David. Intelligent kids in Scotland tend to want to do something useful with their lives and want to be doctors, dentists, vets, solicitors or teachers, not go off to do some Mickey Mouse history and politics degree and then off to make a killing in the city for a fortnight, bleeding the country dry, before retiring to Guernsey or The Bahamas. Alas, there is no money in Science or state education! If I wrote down our science budget for this session year down on a piece of paper it would be smaller than the figure for 25 years ago!

[cohan]

after the first half of september cool to downright cold (we had some days in low single digits C, and frost to at least -6C) and wet (i have a big set of fungi pics coming that tell it all...) we have finally been having some sunny days, and temps managing to crack 15C--in fact we have been above 24C at least twice! and have a forecast 27 on the weekend.. today is at least partly cloudy with 30% chance of showers--wouldn't want things to get too dry
poor farmers may have some hope of getting some crops harvested if this weather holds a bit... been so cold things have been slow to ripen, and too wet to harvest if they did.....

david--a 6 day storm, wow!
mark--our fall colours are good too, in spite of lots of wet-i think frost helps  (though they are nothing like eastern north america here, except in artificial plantings, we just don't have the maples etc that get those great reds--aspens are mostly yellow, understory shrubs etc have more reds and oranges; parthenocissus in front of my house turned to mush already a week or two ago)

[David Nicholson]

.......not go off to do some Mickey Mouse history and politics degree and then off to make a killing in the city for a fortnight, bleeding the country dry, before retiring to Guernsey or The Bahamas..................

Didn't seem very "Mickey Mouse" when I got mine. Must have got it all wrong though, no killing in the city; don't think my pension so far will have bled the country dry, and haven't managed either Guernsey or the Bahamas. If I come back for a second life maybe I should be a scientist

[Anthony Darby]

Not sure what I'd come back as David. Certainly not a teacher, not because I don't enjoy teaching, but because I don't like the way teaching is going.

[Lesley Cox]

Snow here last week (I was elsewhere) and today our outside thermometer says 25C. I'm having to water some things! We live near Saddle Hill, as in David's picture.

[Anthony Darby]

We had frost on Saturday morning. Supposed to be -4^oC somewhere in Scotland last night, which (I heard) is the lowest September temperature for decades.