Polar Maritime

A blustery night with light showers and fog forming, A low of 7.9c. Currently; Blustery, with light showers, Fog and low cloud. Temp 9.1c Wind N/E 7mph, Gusting 27mph. Rain since midnight 6.9mm

Cyclone Phailin: Mass evacuations in eastern India. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-24487130

Activity is now starting to pep up with another M class flare early'er on the far side, so want effect Earth, there are currently 138 sunspots for which Sunspot AR1865 has the energy for X class flares, notice how the sunspots are in the Southern hemisphere, we could be looking at the 2nd Peak in the predicted cycle in the coming few months. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MK9QWjAqTc

Yes, meteors have been linked to high numbers of Noctilucent clouds in recent years.

They could very well of done GW. and even passed hands ?

A blustery night with showers and an overnight low of 5.9c. A few branches down this morning. Currently; Blustery with showers. Temp 8.9c Dp 7.1c Wind Chill 7.3c Wind N/E 16mph Gusting 32mph Rain since midnight 2.8mm

A dry breezy day with sunny spells and a few showers during late afternoon, A high of 9.1c. Currently; Dry and brezy. Temp 6.7c Dp 2.4c Wind Chill 5c Wind N/N/W 12mph Gusting 21mph Humidity 70% Rain today 2.4mm

3,6c here now with a wind chill of -0.4c, so heating is now on.

A very cool, dry, mostly clear night with an overnight low of 3.8c. Currently; Dry and clear. Temp 3.8c Dp 0.6c Wind Chill -0.7c Wind N/W 14mph

US Cancels entire Antarctic Field Season McMurdo Station, the largest base established on the continent of Antarctica. Can hold up to 1258 residents, many of whom perform or support scientific research on the continent. The United States government, through the National Science Foundation, maintains 3 bases on Antarctica: McMurdo, Amundsen-Scott and Palmer, which house and support the work of hundreds of scientists who come to the continent and thousands of others around the world every year. That is, they did so until now. As a consequence of the U.S. Government shutdown, the National Science Foundation has not received any funds to continue the operation of these facilities this year. As a consequence, on October 8, orders were given to the contractors who operate the facilities to pack up and bring everything home. There is enough money to maintain operations through next week, but facilities in Antarctica can’t be evacuated easily, so the shutdown has to commence right now. A “skeleton crew†typically mans the stations for maintenance and security purposes during the Antarctic winter and the stations will be left with those limited personnel after they are shut down. The timing of this shutdown simply could not be worse for science. The field season in Antarctica only lasts a few months every year during the summer; during the long, Antarctic winter conditions are too harsh to allow much work. Scientists who want to work on the continent therefore have spent in most cases years planning and preparing their expeditions to get in during the narrow window around October when they can arrive, travel to the sites they wish to visit, and return before the beginning of winter. The government shutdown is happening right when the field season should be starting. The equipment and supplies for the people traveling to Antarctica this year have already been purchased. Contracts to get there have already been paid. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent preparing for scientific research on Antarctica that has now been canceled. Unless something changes in the next few hours, much of that money will not be coming back or salvageable next year, it will be completely wasted. Worse, this shutdown will literally devastate the life’s work of some scientists. There are many types of science done on Antarctica every year. Atmospheric scientists monitor the air currents and the state of the ozone, geoscientists monitor the ice caps and sample the unique rocks on the continent, oceanic scientists investigate the waters around the continent, and biologists monitor the life that exists there. Teams from the Smithsonian also travel to select locations on Antarctica collecting meteorites from the ice caps, producing samples that have revolutionized our understanding of the solar system. Many of these projects, such as monitoring the populations of organisms that inhabit the continent or tracking the movement of the ice sheets, have continuous data going back decades. Millions of dollars have been spent over the years creating those data sets. Those projects will lose a full year of data, and in some cases, if there is a 2014 field season, the research may essentially be starting from scratch. NASA runs a program known as Icebridge every year which has produced fascinating data on the health of the ice sheets and the type of land that lies underneath; that project is likely dying for the year as well. This shuttering doesn’t just impact American scientists either. Scientists from around the world use U.S. resources such as these stations and the U.S.’s transport capabilities to reach the continent. The shutdown of these bases will cost money and jobs worldwide. Thousands of scientists will not be able to do their jobs. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of students today are scrambling trying to figure out how to get the data they need to graduate while hoping their entire research careers won’t be ruined. If funding is restored soon operations at the bases will be restarted and it is possible some projects could be saved, but it will take time to get the bases re-staffed and to bring supplies to the facilities necessary for the start of field work. At this point, every hour is important in terms of saving this year's science season. Press reports: http://www.livescience.com/40274-shutdown-cancels-antarctic-research.html http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/10/united-states-suspends-antarctic-research-season.html

Is that wind chill or dew point SW ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPLW3LoM1C8

7c here now. I've opened the windows to feel the nice cool N/W air, and it feels wonderful.

Well Autumnal weather has arrived at last ! The day has been breezy with sharp showers developing during the afternoon, sometimes heavy with hail. A max temp of 11.2c. Currently; Blustery with sky's clearing, Feeling much cooler now with temps dropping rapidly. Temp 7.6c Dp 2.3c Wind N/N/W 15mph Gusting 21mph Wind Chill 3.6cc Humidity 66% Rain since midnight 2.1mm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOJrmXnqM8 At long last... a noteworthy solar flare to report. A moderate eruption measuring M2.8 was just detected around sunspot complex 1864-1865 in the southeast quadrant. This image by SDO/EVE captures the flare. http://www.solarham.net/index.htm

The cloud during the morning broke to leave long periods of warm sunshine, during mid afternoon the cloud rolled back in again and has turned breezy. A high of 16.9c. Currently; Dry with milky sky's. Temp 12.8c Wind N/W 8mph Rain today 0.1mm Edit;Skys have now cleared leaving a lovely orange tinge.

A cloudy night with the odd clear patch with an overnight low of 12.5c. Currently; Cloudy, with heavy dew. Temp 12.9c Wind S/W Humidity 87% Rain since midnight 0.0mm Edit 7.33, Very light rain, hardly wetting the ground.

COMET ISON IN COLOR: Comet ISON is brightening as it approaches the sun.Estimates by experienced observers put the comet between 10th and 11th magnitude. That's too dim to see with the unaided eye, but bright enough for color photography through mid-sized backyard telescopes. Michael Jäger of Weißenkirchen, Austria, observed the comet on Oct. 5th and found that it was green: To image the comet, Jäger combined multiple exposures through red, green, blue, ultraviolet and infrared filters. Details may be found here. ISON's green color comes from the gases surrounding its icy nucleus. Jets spewing from the comet's core probably contain cyanogen (CN: a poisonous gas found in many comets) and diatomic carbon (C2). Both substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight in the near-vacuum of space. http://www.spaceweather.com/

Way out i know, but just look at that for Greenland blocking...

A dry cloudy night with an overnight low of 11.1c. Currently; Dry and cloudy. Im just below the fog level at times. Temp 13.7c Wind S/W 7mph Rain since midnight 0.0mm

Congrats to Guinness record breaker Helen Rennie for four years of consecutive months of skiing in Scotland...! Trip over to the a' Chul Choire snow patch below Aonach Beag today to put in some October turns, Still about 5 feet thick at the upper edge so should last a while yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YjCIoPHT0U&feature=youtu.be

Morning Captain, I think it's the anticipation for some, but the transition in the sett-up we are in, between a pattern change, will always bring some kind of gloom for some before it takes hold proper.

I very nearly spat my tea out when 1963 was also mentioned...

I understand not everyone's cup of tea... But at least there are signs of Autumn in the charts at long last.