Well, it's coming up to the big day. Personally, I don't feel very "Christmassy" at the moment- it tends to be the case that I need there to be snow events shortly before Christmas in order to get me into the "Christmas spirit". My house is currently a construction site because of a new extension that is being built into the back garden, making things a little awkward, although it should be worth it come next summer when our garden will be more conducive to sitting outside. I will be meeting
I would like to have an opportunity to take a photograph of proper snow using a digital camera. The last time I saw more than a few granules on the ground was on 26 February 2004- just before I got my first "digicam". For there to be an opportunity for snow photography tomorrow, those showers drifting down the North Sea need to come inland early tomorrow morning. The GFS has it progged to happen at around 9am which is pretty ideal, but things can easily change. Another issue is that my camera
Well, after an extremely hectic last week of term in Leeds University, I am back in Cleadon, Tyne & Wear for the Christmas holidays- but unfortunately coming down with a bit of a cold. Will be seeing quite a bit of the people I know from my junior school, one of whom has been my closest friend for over 10 years. Also have a bit of revision to do for exams in January. Having set up my professional weather station and, for the first time, having a thermometer which I know is accurate to withi
After the thread about gay marriages (which I played a large role in) up comes another controversial and philosophical blog entry. I am not homosexual, but I am going to admit to something equally taboo- as things currently stand, I have no ambition to have children. If nobody believes me that it's a taboo, consider the answers I usually get when I say I don't want children: "Oh, it's just a phase, you'll grow out of it and you'll want kids when you're older." "It's unnatural not to have childr
In Cleadon, Tyne & Wear, the stats were: Mean Max 9.6C Mean Min 3.2C Warmest: 14.6C (3rd) Coldest: -3.7C (19th) Lowest max: 2.6C (28th) Precipitation: 49mm (62) Air frosts: 10 Days of snow lying: 0 (smattering on 28th) Sleet/snow: 3 Hail: 3 It was the coldest November since 1998, and the sunniest since at least 1947 (probably for much longer). The first half averaged 10.2C and the second half averaged just 2.5C making it the warmest first half of November since 1994, while the mean minu
I had two projects to hand in on the 18th November- one of which was a Project Proposal for studying convective cloud initiation (a bit technical I'm afraid, but very much down one of my main interest areas) Went to a couple of parties the last couple of days. I nearly didn't go to either of them because it was difficult to find where they were, but Friday's was particularly good once I got there. I saw some of the people connected to those on my course- close friends, sisters, boyfriends etc
In Leeds, this was a very warm and extremely dull month. The statistics on Philip Eden's site suggested that the North East had barely half the normal sunshine, and I can believe it. The first week saw near-normal temperatures, and persistent anticyclonic gloom- layers of stratocumulus covering the sky the whole time. It became brighter in the second week with some notable warmth around the 10th and some sunny spells, but then it became dull again. The 15th to 26th was another extremely dull
Had quite a hectic week this week.
On the work front, I had to sort out my project for my MRes course- am doing investigations into a convective cloud initiation project. This will hopefully be relevant to my interests as convective clouds have always been a major fascination area.
The Atmospheric Science Away Day on Tuesday was good- if a little bit intensive, it is hard to maintain concentration through 3 hours at a time of talks! Also had a good party on Wedensday evening with the Tenpin
A very warm first half. I spent the first third of the month on the Isle of Arran, with some very warm, sunny and summerlike weather during the first week, but the second week was somewhat more cloudy. A funny 'quirk' on the 10th- while I travelled from Arran to Leeds and then Tyneside, it was dull everywhere apart from a 10-mile radius around Lancaster (!!) where it was very sunny. The second half of the month didn't contain any particularly memorable events in Leeds (where I went to universit
In most summer months, the east coast of Tyne & Wear is mostly thunderstorm and "sunshine and showers"-free, relative to much of the rest of the country. Not so in August 2005- this time Tyneside had quite a convective month while many other areas had a very benign month. The first week of the month was dominated mostly by sunny intervals and showers, with a couple of dull days thrown in there. Some quite dramatic convective storms too. The second week was also predominantly showery, and
July 2005 began with me taking a fortnight's holiday in France. The first three days were sunny and quite hot with a 32C on the 3rd, the day when I went to see the French Grand Prix (and subsequently suffered heat-stroke) The weather turned rather cloudy during the following few days. I remember one day with a little sunshine and a few convective showers, but most of the time it was dull. In the second week- which I spent near Strasbourg- the weather was hot and sunny with occasional thundery
June 2005 was spent mostly in Lancaster.The month got off to a very dull and damp start, but the 6th to 8th were very sunny. I remember wandering around Lancaster doing shopping on the 8th in bright sunshine, and getting somewhat sunburnt. Temperatures were very low for the time of year, but in the sun it felt warm.The weather turned showery towards the 12th with a couple of spectacular rainbows, then a few dull damp days followed. So far, so average.I think, though, that the second half of J
Just to complicate things, I spent this month in Lancaster!May 2005 began with some remarkable convective storms. I was woken up at 7:30am on the 1st by a thunderstorm (if there's one thing I don't mind being woken up by, it has to be thunderstorms) then the 2nd featured some extremely high intensity convective storms. I spent much of that day outside tracking the cumulonimbus cells around Lancaster.The next few days weren't particularly memorable, then a cold north-westerly spell dominated th
I don't know if anyone is actually interested in these personal monthly summaries, but if anyone is, I apologise for the lack of updates- I forgot about it. With my now having a professional weather station, I should have more of an incentive to update every month!April 2005 began with a fairly warm and sunny spell at my location in Cleadon, Tyne & Wear. Then it turned more unsettled. My main memories of April 2005 are the day of sunshine and heavy rain/hail showers on the 6th, and more s
Just for the sake of it, as winter is fast approaching, here are the number of days of more than half cover of snow at 0900 in Cleadon (South Tyneside) during the winters since I started taking weather records:1993/94: 191994/95: 41995/96: 181996/97: 101997/98: 41998/99: 91999/00: 12000/01: 122001/02: 82002/03: 52003/04: 112004/05: 3And here are the figures for Lancaster:1993/94: 41994/95: 61995/96: 171996/97: 61997/98: 21998/99: 41999/00: 02000/01: 82001/02: 62002/03: 2200
After a couple of philosophical entries, now's the time to say what's been going on in the green and pleasant land.I have an ongoing geophysics project to be handed in tomorrow- must do a lot of work on it today- and it's quite monotonous. Then again it's the only project I'm going to have to do that isn't based on atmospheric science, so hopefully the others will be more interesting.The 'Chatmosphere' session was pretty good- I think I'll be making regular appearances there. (Chatmosphere is
Disclaimer: A bit controversial and, of course, people don't have to agree with me and are entitled to their opinions, but it's some food for thought.It is commonly thought that we need family life for a good society, and that people should respect, stand by and love members of their families. I don't disagree with that at all, but my question concerns the definition of "family". In today's culture, "family" tends to mean the people we know we are related to (typically to within a few generat
My modules for the course are mostly chosen now. It's shaping up to be a good one, with modules in Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics, Coupled Ocean and Atmosphere Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Weather and Forecasting. Looks like there could potentially be a lot of scope for me to further 'refine' my ideas on issues such as climate change.On the discussions front, I may appear to be strong and opinionated to some at times, and my tendency to challenge accepted wisdom doesn't always go down wel
So, I can now safely say that I'm officially an MRes student at Leeds doing Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere- after getting the 2:2 I thought there was no way I'd end up here, but nonetheless, it happened!The course encourages students to specialise in a particular area, including Geology, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Science/Meteorology. There can be no surprises for guessing which area I will be specialising in, with general choice of modules with large amounts of meteorological content.I d
I left Lancaster on Monday 27th June. It was quite a good last day at the University, I got everything sorted and said goodbye to all of the lecturers and students that mattered to me. Inevitably, it was hard to leave the place- I paced up and down campus for 20 minutes before realising I'd miss the train home unless I got a shift on.I wasn't quite as sad to leave as with either of my old schools, partly because I didn't make as many friends there and partly because I know it may not necessari
This hasn't been the greatest of birthdays so far, although hopefully that might change with tonight's Extravs. Then again, 21 was never my favourite number anyway, even if it is the most hyped of birthdays.My exam results, due out tomorrow, came out today- and I got a 2-2 degree, so I will find it incredibly hard to get funding for the MSc in Leeds that I was applying for (a 2-1 was paramount). I may have to fall back upon the backup option of getting a job after all, but I hope it won't have
Next week should be a cracker- lots of Extravs, including two on my 21st birthday! It should be the best week of my time in Lancaster, shame it's the last one, but then there's two weeks in France (including seeing the French GP) to look forward to.My exam results are on the 23rd June- and as outlined in previous entries, I kind of need a 2-1. :blink: Today had some exciting thunderstorms, but as often happens, the main storm hit Tyneside and missed Lancaster. Lancaster did catch the western
Well, I'm having a reasonably relaxing time at the moment- went out yesterday and did some food shopping, but got a bit sunburnt- it's another gloriously sunny day in Lancaster again today!I've got a conditional offer for the Leeds MRes course, but I need a 2-1 for it, so it's a case of 'waiting with baited breath' for the exam results to come out, apparently on or around the time of my 21st birthday (present or shock!? We'll have to see!)Will be going down to the Blackpool area this weekend to
At long last- after one hell of a work period- I may not have revised a great deal over Easter, but I certainly had to work my socks off these last three weeks!Of the 9 exams (in 3 weeks), five went well, three were decidedly 'iffy' and the remaining one was in-between. Now all that awaits is whether I did enough to get a 2-1 or above...Going to chill out this evening by going out with the crowd from Chaplaincy to see the new Starwars film, A New Hope- then I can add my opinion to the glut of v
A bit of a hectic period recently- with 9 exams in 3 weeks! Last week was particularly tough with 4 exams, this week has 3 and next week has 2, so it does get progressively less difficult.Spare time was difficult to come by last week, but I made sure I had at least a couple of hours per day free for relaxation and recreation. With four exams, it was vital to get the preparation done. Doing Environmental Mathematics, I have had a mix of both Environmental Science and Mathematics exams, the ES
