The changing daylight hours thread

[summer blizzard]

Talking about lengthening days.. Almost heresy.

[TonyH]

I guess I'm strange in that I tend to get kind of attached to the amount of daylight in each season. I begin to love the short days in winter and long days in summer as they become established, and in a way I am sad to see them go. I maybe unique In that the realisation of a turning point on the solstices is accompanied by slight disappointment, regardless of whether it's December 21 or June 21.

I am the same we are strange

[Backtrack]

Get in! Earliest sunset for this solstice has been and gone, 10 days until we start to gain around 2 minutes a day, by the end of March, sunset here is at 7:45!
Just 3 months until the clocks go forward

[cheese]

I am the same we are strange

Winter days are supposed to be short - especially when it snows. It would be boring to live in a place that had equal daylight all year.

[Lauren]

Get in! Earliest sunset for this solstice has been and gone, 10 days until we start to gain around 2 minutes a day, by the end of March, sunset here is at 7:45!

Just 3 months until the clocks go forward

 

[Summer of 95]

Winter days are supposed to be short - especially when it snows. It would be boring to live in a place that had equal daylight all year.

Thats the problem with Britain, it is supposed to snow reliably at latitudes where days get this short. Nowhere else on earth is so snowless at such a high latitude, especially northern Britain. 60 degrees is subarctic.

[cheese]

Northern Norway is - it is probably the mildest place in the world relative to latitude. There are places near 70N or further that have winter means above freezing.

[March Blizzard]

Northern Norway is - it is probably the mildest place in the world relative to latitude. There are places near 70N or further that have winter means above freezing.

Not sure about that. It seems a struggle to get winter means above freezing above around 63N, even on the coast. Trondheim, at 63N, averages slightly under 0C Dec-Feb. Further up north Narvik averages a few degrees below freezing and further north still Tromso and Hammerfest average 4/5C below zero. Rainy Bergen, at 60N, is surprisingly cool (1/2C) considering it's coastal position and relatively low latitude.

I'd say the UK is possibly the most northerly country in the world that can go an entire winter without much/any wintry precipitation/temperatures, at least at low altitudes. Other relatively mild locations further north I.e coastal Iceland and Norway, Faroe Islands etc routinely see sleet/snow in the winter months, even if many places there average above 0C in the winter.

On the flip side trees don't grow above 53N in parts of Labrador, Canada. The same latitude as Manchester. Shows the influence of a cold current vs a warm one.

Edited December 12, 2014 by March Blizzard

[Crepuscular Ray]

Get in! Earliest sunset for this solstice has been and gone, 10 days until we start to gain around 2 minutes a day, by the end of March, sunset here is at 7:45!

Just 3 months until the clocks go forward

Yippppppeeeeeeeeeeee! Can't wait!

[osmposm]

I'd say the UK is possibly the most northerly country in the world that can go an entire winter without much/any wintry precipitation/temperatures, at least at low altitudes...

 

If I were Irish I'd get so irritated by being continually lumped in with the UK by lazy Brits. If you mean the British Isles, do try and say so. And most of Ireland is even milder and less snowy than most of the UK at the same latitude.

Edited December 12, 2014 by osmposm

[Mother Goose]

We moved to the Scottish Borders this year from East Sussex, and now that Winter is upon us, I am amazed at how low in the sky, the sun is up here. It's like 4oclock in the after noon all day!!  it creates a beautiful light on a snowy day.

[March Blizzard]

If I were Irish I'd get so irritated by being continually lumped in with the UK by lazy Brits. If you mean the British Isles, do try and say so. And most of Ireland is even milder and less snowy than most of the UK at the same latitude.

Actually, no, I didn't mean Ireland, that's why I didn't mention it. The UK extends much further north than Ireland and therefore is probably the most "snowless" location in the world for such a high latitude. Anyway, we're going off topic here.

Thanks for your concern, though.

[cheese]

Not sure about that. It seems a struggle to get winter means above freezing above around 63N, even on the coast. Trondheim, at 63N, averages slightly under 0C Dec-Feb. Further up north Narvik averages a few degrees below freezing and further north still Tromso and Hammerfest average 4/5C below zero. Rainy Bergen, at 60N, is surprisingly cool (1/2C) considering it's coastal position and relatively low latitude.

I'd say the UK is possibly the most northerly country in the world that can go an entire winter without much/any wintry precipitation/temperatures, at least at low altitudes. Other relatively mild locations further north I.e coastal Iceland and Norway, Faroe Islands etc routinely see sleet/snow in the winter months, even if many places there average above 0C in the winter.

On the flip side trees don't grow above 53N in parts of Labrador, Canada. The same latitude as Manchester. Shows the influence of a cold current vs a warm one.

Rost, in Northern Norway, has an average February max of 3C and low of -1C, so not quite 70N, but very close. It's worth bearing in mind that Norwegian climatic averages are over 20 years out of date, and won't be updated until 2020 when new climatic norms are released, so Bergen will probably be quite a bit warmer now compared to the old averages, and it's still exceptionally mild for its northern location.

 

Seriously, people - compare Northern Norway to the same latitude in Canada and Russia and the difference is outstanding. It's exceptionally mild. Tromso has never gone below -20C. Even parts of England can do better than that!

 

Fareo Islands could go an entire winter without much wintry precipitation I suspect. Average winter temps there are very similar to parts of the UK - slightly colder.

Edited December 12, 2014 by cheese

[osmposm]

Actually, no, I didn't mean Ireland, that's why I didn't mention it. The UK extends much further north than Ireland and therefore is probably the most "snowless" location in the world for such a high latitude. Anyway, we're going off topic here.

Thanks for your concern, though.

 

In which case, my apologies, MB.

[Summer Sun]

Well we are now just 9 days off the shortest day can't believe how quick its gone by this year I think the warm / hot weather in September then the mild October helped early Autumn to pass by quickly

 

Once we get into January we soon start and gain the extra light after a slow start with 52 minutes gained in the afternoon the mornings are slower with 28 mins gained

 

Its February though we the biggest gains start we have the first 10hr + daylight with another 55 minutes gained in the afternoon taking us from 15:40 on December 11th to 17:40 on February 28th and another 58 minutes for the morning taking us from 08:28 at the end of this month to 06:56 at the end of February

 

Before we know it spring will be here 78 day's will soon go by......

Edited December 12, 2014 by Summer Sun

[March Blizzard]

In which case, my apologies, MB.

No worries.

You are right, though. Western Ireland (in particular) is hideously mild for it's latitude (check out Valentia Island!), and on the whole is worse for wintry conditions than most of the UK. Apparently Rost in Norway (as pointed out by Cheese) is the mildest place on earth for it's latitude. I guess all our points are valid to a degree, it's just a case of arguing how "wintry" a place is based on different opinions and parameters.

Anyway, joint latest sunset here (15:49) until the 17th, when we gain a minute in the evening. Latest sunrise not until Christmas day (08:25) and we stay on that until January 4th, when we slowly start to gain light in the morning again.

Edited December 12, 2014 by March Blizzard

[picog]

I think we are now on the earleist sunset here, 1557. Mornings continue to get darker for a while yet, but that does not bother me. By Jan 6 the later sunset time is very noticeable and uplifting.

[laserguy]

Much of the last two pages, 'celebrating' the soon-to-be-lengthening daylight, comprise some of the most depressing crap I have ever had the misfortune to read on the internet. Seriously.

[Lauren]

Well guess what LG, some of us here suffer from SAD so I can't tell you how much that can affect your mood and how much better daylight can make you feel. Need I remind you how much you complain about the heat in summer. We're all different, it would be boring if we weren't. Fair enough poke friendly fun at people, but to call it 'crap' is a bit much.

[stewfox]

 

Before we know it spring will be here 78 day's will soon go by......

 

Swear filter doesn't seem to be working ?

[Daniel*]

What irritates me is this constant only "2 weeks to go" ect... its like you are wishing your life away just for a few minutes of daylight, the reality is it will not start getting markedly lighter -till late Feb/March.

[Mokidugway]

It's not how much daylight there is , it's what you do with it that counts !!!...

[AderynCoch]

What irritates me is this constant only "2 weeks to go" ect... its like you are wishing your life away just for a few minutes of daylight, the reality is it will not start getting markedly lighter -till late Feb/March.

Exactly. It's loading the dice to a desperate, ridiculous extreme. The same thing happens in summer when some people start going on about how the long nights are coming when June has barely begun.

 

January is a dark month and a thoroughly miserable one when there's no wintriness about. Just like December but without Christmas.

Edited December 13, 2014 by AderynCoch

[hillbilly]

Exactly. It's loading the dice to a desperate, ridiculous extreme. The same thing happens in summer when some people start going on about how the long nights are coming when June has barely begun.

 

January is a dark month and a thoroughly miserable one when there's no wintriness about. Just like December but without Christmas.

January is a noticeably lighter month than December,especially the second half and especially in the evenings !!!

[stewfox]

January is a noticeably lighter month than December,especially the second half and especially in the evenings !!!

 

When I get home and can see the garden then its getting lighter and that def isn't in January !