#then today in record temps of 31 celsius

[zonkedz]

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[manontheline]

Comments on the results from weather observations taken from Glasgow between 2005 and 2017

In 2004 I decided to start taking some simple weather observations from my home in Glasgow. I felt that I wasn't seeing the sun quite as much as I had in previous years but wondered if this was a case of seeing the past through rose tinted spectacles.  

Since May 2004, I have categorised the day's weather into 5 categories. Category 1 is for precipitation, category 2 is for dark cloud, category 3 is for white cloud, category 4 is for sunny intervals (i.e. a mixture of cloud and sunshine) and category 5 is for clear sunshine. The observations were for the dominant weather type for that day.  I then split these readings into what I called negative weather types where we don't see any significant sunshine during the day (categories 1 to 3) and positive weather types where we do see significant sunshine (categories 4 & 5).

The results show that negative weather accounts for 60% to 74% of the days and positive weather from 26% to 42% of the days. Drawing a linear trend line through the data shows an increase in negative weather types in Glasgow since 2005 from about 65% to 71% with positive weather falling from about 35% to 29%.

I’m conscious that a statistician might take issue with my method of presenting the data (e.g. is a linear trend line appropriate) and of course this data only covers 13 years so it falls short of displaying climatic information.

In addition to weather type, I have also been recording significant weather events and extreme weather observations. There are periods of extreme wind, significant rain, long cold spells and of course in keeping with my earlier comments, extended periods where we did not see the sun.  It is difficult to say which of these observations are down to just weather, which are down to natural cycles (such as El Niño and La Niña) and which are suggesting a more climatic change. Certainly, the thesis that I am seeing more cloudy days and less sunshine due to global warming is consistent with more heat meaning more moisture leading to more cloud.  I hope that with continued observations it might help to see if there is indeed a link between what I am seeing and what is happening climatically.  

Here are the notes of significant or extreme weather observations:

04/05/2006 - Warm day - temp up to 21 Celsius. Bad thunder storm in evening lasting about 2 hours - passed directly overhead travelling from South West to North East. Caused damage to computer, wireless router, CD player and phone line (insurance claim required). Some flooding in parts of Glasgow - some puddles coming up over kerb on street outside house.

13/12/2006 - Relentless Atlantic weather has led to the ground being saturated and prone to water logging. Many roads closed due to flooding. Winds are also quite high.

22/06/2007 - Extremely heavy downpour with thunder. Streets accumulated large amounts of surface water very quickly. Glasgow Queen Street station flooded.

08/01/2008 - Extremely high winds at night. Two fence panels at back and archway blown over. Atlantic weather has been dominant for some time now.

22/01/2008 - Run of Atlantic weather systems are relentless

02/01/2010 - Cold weather continues - unusually long cold spell (since about 9th December)

25/06/2010 - Reports of possible water shortages in North West England http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8757000/8757614.stm.  Report on BBC news that this could extend into West of Scotland.

01/12/2010 - Some heavy snow showers. Now measuring 4 inches of lying snow. Still sub-zero all day.

24/12/2010 - -10.5C during the early hours of the morning.

25/12/2010 - Temperature started to rise from about 0:30 in the early hours of Christmas. Short shower of freezing rain at lunch time but mostly dry and daytime temperature around freezing. Marks the end of cold spell which has been with us since around November 23rd.

28/09/2011 - Incredibly warm for the time of year. High of 25.2C recorded on home weather station at 14:53

14/10/2011 - Weather has been quite oppressive recently with constant Atlantic weather causing a lot of cloud, rain and very little sunshine at all.

31/10/2011 - October has been mild and wet with very little sunshine at all. Atlantic systems have been dominant.

08/12/2011 - Extremely high winds. Highest wind speed recorded this year.  Met office red alert warning.  Some flooding on roads. Fence panel blown over in back garden. Aerial cable blown off roof. Hail and a single flash of lightning with thunder at 12:51. Schools closed all day and some works sent home. Milder at 8C but becoming colder again behind the frontal system. Highest gust 69.1 mph (force 11 - violent storm) at 3:36PM and highest wind speed average 52.1 mph (force 9 - strong gale) recorded at UWS weather station which is highest this year. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-16089053

12/12/2011 - In 11 weeks of Astronomy Course at Glasgow University (Monday nights - tonight being the last night) there has not been a single Monday night where the sky has been clear and so views of stars through the observatory telescope have not been possible at all.

13/12/2011 - Very windy again: highest gust 66.8 mph (force 11 - violent storm) at 17:09 and highest speed 10-minute average 49.2 mph (force 9 - strong gale) at 16:40 (record from UWS weather station). Fence panel blown over in front garden.

28/12/2011 - Wet and very windy again: UWS weather station reading Highest gust 64.6 mph (force 11 - violent storm), highest speed 10-minute average 42.9mph (force 8 - fresh gale)

03/01/2012 - Very severe winds in the morning. Hurricane force gust (F12) recorded UWS weather station at 08:34am at 88.1 mph. Windspeed average at 08:07am at 66.2 mph (F11) violent storm. Seven fence panels down, 10 roof tiles down with further 7 loose and other more minor damage including Christmas lights blown off roof and minor gutter damage. Insurance claim required for roof tile damage.  Lights flickering, DAB radio reception intermittent. My wife’s parents wall in back garden in Kilbarchan blown down. Significantly worse than the high winds of the 8th of December. High winds have featured a lot over the past month. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Ulli

22/06/2012 - Freak thunder shower passed overhead mid-afternoon around 3:00ish. Extremely heavy rain with some hail. Road southside flooded. Patches of grass in back garden waterlogged.

09/07/2012 - Jetstream still showing no signs of moving northwards. This more southerly path is creating anti-clockwise loops over us (low pressure systems) due to the accelerating jetstream. This relentless situation has caused a miserable summer over the UK (and is conversely causing a heatwave over the eastern side of the USA due to a different position of the jetstream from normal in that part of the world).

25/09/2012 - 971.3mb recorded on own weather station. (UWS weather station recorded 975.2mb) Official met office reading of 973mb was the lowest pressure recorded across the UK for 30 years. See http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/

11/04/2013 - Long spell of cold, dry weather has finally ended (started around February 15th totalling 55 days) and Atlantic weather has returned.

05/12/2013 - Very windy in morning. Severe gales. Several fence panels in back garden blown over and fence posts snapped. Outdoor bench blown over.  Localised flooding on roads and grass waterlogged in places. Calmer but colder by afternoon and snow showers by late afternoon into evening.

02/01/2014 - Weather has been relentlessly wet and windy since the beginning of December. This has been due to very cold air and a large temperature contrast over the USA leading to a very strong jetstream. See http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/2013-decwind

02/08/2014 - Very heavy rain causing some localised flooding on street.

30/09/2014 - High of 22.3C today. September was a warm and very dry month with no significant rain recorded. See http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/early-september-stats

10/12/2014 - Continuing very windy and with a couple of rumbles of thunder (wind snapped the feet from the slide in back garden). Squally, heavy showers with hail. Weather associated with "Explosive Cyclogenesis" (also known as a weather bomb". See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30407295

09/01/2015 - Extremely windy overnight. Another episode of weather associated with "Explosive Cyclogenesis" (also known as a "weather bomb"). See http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/30747636

28/01/2015 - Squally, wintry showers. Heavier, lying snow in evening. Clap of thunder at around 9:15pm - known as Thundersnow - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/31066255 - Heavy snow overnight.

02/02/2015 - The current cold is associated with a weather feature called a Greenland block. Over the past week, a ridge of high pressure has formed over the Atlantic Ocean and Greenland

05/12/2015 - Continuing very wet and windy. Grass in garden waterlogged. Still no sign to the end of this constant stream of Atlantic weather systems.

30/12/2015 - Very heavy rain and wind overnight. Back garden waterlogged and puddles on roads on to pavement. See http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2015/storm-frank-summary

08/01/2016 - Turned colder. Although the mild weather we have had since the beginning of November has ended, the weather type had not and we continue to get no sunshine.

14/01/2016 - Weather finally changed from almost constant cloudiness (except 3 days) since 2nd November. Cold.

29/01/2016 - Extremely windy in the morning. Bench lifted by wind over patio wall. Storm Gertrude. See http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/uk-storm-centre/storm-gertrude.

16/10/2017 - Windy. Very strange, dim light today with car headlights still on in middle of day. Southerly wind was bringing Saharan dust and forest fire particles from Iberia. Some parts of UK reported an orange hue to the sky although I didn’t observe this; just a very dim light level. Remnants of Hurricane Ophelia passed to west which was the most easterly hurricane on record but ceased to be a hurricane before reaching UK waters.

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New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/this-week-odd-news-stooges-hairdo-and-a-284b-bill/58557/

This week in odd news: 'Stooges' hairdo and a $284B bill

FALLS CHURCH, Va./December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A suspect wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “Trust Me” allegedly stole a car with an accomplice in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The Washington Post reports that the two suspects from Falls Church were arrested by police in the stolen car not long after the unlocked Honda Civic was taken as it warmed up.

Police say they also found several forged checks during the arrests.

The newspaper says Wilmer Lara Garcia has been charged with auto theft and two counts of forgery. Police say he was wearing the shirt that read “Trust Me.”

His accomplice was charged with auto theft.

FLORIDA MAN SAYS HE PUNCHED ATM FOR GIVING TOO MUCH CASH

COCOA, Fla/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A Florida man told investigators he punched an automatic teller machine because it gave him too much cash.

An arrest report says 23-year-old Michael Joseph Oleksik man caused about $5,000 in damage to an ATM at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Cocoa on Nov. 29. He was arrested Dec. 22 on a criminal mischief charge after bank officials decided to press charges.

Florida Today reports surveillance video captured Oleksik pummeling the touchscreen.

An arrest report says that Oleksik told a bank manager he was angry that the machine was giving him too much money and he didn’t know what to do because he was in a hurry for work. He apologized for causing damage.

Jail records don’t list a lawyer for Oleksik.

DEFINITION MISSION: A RHYMING LIMERICK FOR EACH ENGLISH WORD

One man’s joke has become his mission: to give each word a rhyming definition.

Chris Strolin was teasing English buffs in an online forum years ago when he said the dictionary would be greatly improved if definitions were written as five-line limericks. Then he decided to try it for real.

The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form — or OEDILF (OH-dilf) for short — has published more than 97,000 rhyming definitions since Strolin started the online dictionary in 2004. He expects to reach limerick No. 100,000 sometime in 2018.

Even with help from roughly 1,000 contributing writers, Strolin’s limerick dictionary is nowhere near finished. It currently ends in the Gs at the word “gizzard.”

Strolin hopes his grandchildren — or perhaps their kids — will finish the Zs.

WOMAN STUNNED TO FIND ELECTRIC BILL LISTED AS $284 BILLION

ERIE, Pa/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A Pennsylvania woman says she went online to check her electric bill and was stunned at the amount — more than $284 billion.

The Erie Times-News reports that Mary Horomanski said her eyes “just about popped out” of her head when she saw the amount. She suspected that her family had put up their Christmas lights wrong.

The silver lining was that she didn’t have to pay the full amount until November 2018 — only a $28,156 minimum payment was due for December.

Horomanski’s son contacted Penelac, her electric provider, who confirmed the error. Parent company First Energy said a decimal point was accidentally moved. Her new amount was quickly corrected to $284.46.

STYLIST ACCUSED OF GIVING MAN UNWANTED ‘STOOGES’ HAIRDO

MADISON, Wis/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— Police in Madison, Wisconsin, arrested a hairstylist after he gave a customer a very unwanted Larry Fine hairdo.

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain says the 22-year-old victim told officers the stylist asked him to stop fidgeting and moving his head during the Friday haircut. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that DeSpain says the stylist then nicked the customer’s ear with his clippers before running them down the middle of the man’s head on their shortest attachment, “leaving him looking a bit like Larry from ‘The Three Stooges.'”

DeSpain says officers arrested the 46-year-old hairstylist, Khaled A. Shabani, who pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct Wednesday. DeSpain says Shabani told officers it was an accident.

WOMAN ACCUSED OF TRYING TO SNORT COCAINE IN POLICE STATION

LEDYARD, Conn/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A woman has been accused of trying to snort cocaine inside a Connecticut police station while waiting to be booked on unrelated charges.

Police say Nicole Hunter was charged on Christmas Day with possession of narcotics, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct.

Police had arrested Hunter after a confrontation at her home in Ledyard while investigating a report of an erratic driver. They say the vehicle involved matched the one in Hunter’s driveway.

Police say Hunter was in a waiting area of the police station when she pulled cocaine wrapped in paper from inside her clothing and tried to snort it.

Hunter doesn’t have a listed phone number and can’t be reached for comment. She’s due in court Jan. 8.

ANTI-GAMBLING CRUSADER WINS $25K IN GAMING SWEEPSTAKES

CHICAGO/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A suburban Chicago woman who has crusaded against gambling for decades has won $25,000 by playing a sweepstakes game at a gambling cafe.

Kathy Gilroy tells the Chicago Tribune that while it’s ironic she won the sweepstakes, the distinction is that she didn’t spend her own money to gamble.

Gilroy has said gambling can lead to addiction, bankruptcy, crime and suicide. She helped shut down a $1.6 million Queen of Hearts raffle put on by the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in rural Morris this year until the raffle was properly licensed.

Gilroy says she’s participated in other sweepstakes and won prizes, including electronics and trips to the Bahamas and California. She says she enters sweepstakes because they’re made available free of charge under state law.

POLICE: WOMAN RUINED $300K WORTH OF ART ON DATE WITH LAWYER

HOUSTON/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— Authorities say an intoxicated Dallas woman on a first date with a prominent Houston trial lawyer caused at least $300,000 in damage to his art collection, including two Andy Warhol paintings.

Lindy Lou Layman was arrested Saturday on criminal mischief charges after her date with Anthony Buzbee. She was released on $30,000 bond. Online court records don’t list an attorney for her.

Prosecutors say Buzbee told investigators that the 29-year-old Layman got too intoxicated on their date, so he called her an Uber after they returned to his home. She allegedly refused to leave and hid inside the home, and that when Buzbee found her and called a second Uber, she got aggressive.

Authorities say she tore down several paintings and poured red wine on some, and she threw two $20,000 sculptures.

The damaged Warhol paintings were each valued at $500,000.

HEARTWARMINGLY ICY: DESPITE MINUS 34 TEMP, COUPLE GET ENGAGED

SARGENT’S PURCHASE, N.H/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News) — A New Hampshire man hasn’t let an extreme cold get in the way of a heartwarming proposal.

WMUR-TV reports that 31-year-old Josh Darnell, of Londonderry, dropped to his knee and popped the question after climbing Tuckerman’s Ravine on Thursday, the same day it hit minus 34 (-37 Celsius) on Mount Washington.

There’s a happy ending: twenty-seven-year-old Rachel Raske (RASS’-kee), of Lowell, Massachusetts, said yes. Raske tells WMUR that Darnell had hiked Tuckerman’s Ravine last summer with his dad and had been planning to pop the question there ever since.

MAN CHARGED WITH SNEAKING INTO HOME TO TRY TO STEAL UNDIES

WASHINGTON, Mo/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— Police say an eastern Missouri man told officers he has an “underwear fetish” and admitted to sneaking into a home to try to steal a pair.

The St. Louis Post- Dispatch reports that 34-year-old Cody Hassler, of Washington, Missouri, was charged Wednesday with first-degree burglary, first-degree stalking and stealing. No attorney is listed in online court records. Bond is set at $75,000.

Police say Hassler admitted to sneaking into the house through an unlocked basement door in October while a mother and her teenage daughter were sleeping and taking a pair of underwear from the laundry room.

The teenager awoke when she heard footsteps and police were called. Officers found a pair of underwear that apparently had been dropped when the suspect fled. Hassler also admitted to looking through bedroom windows.

BURNT BAGEL BLAMED FOR ST. LOUIS AIRPORT EVACUATION

ST. LOUIS/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— A burnt bagel is being blamed for the evacuation of a terminal at Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

Airport officials say a bagel burned in a restaurant in Terminal 2 around 6 p.m. Tuesday, setting off smoke detectors and prompting a full evacuation. An estimated 300 to 400 people were required to go outside, where the temperature was 11 degrees.

The airport says the evacuation lasted only about five minutes, but passengers had to go back through security checks once they re-entered the building. No flight delays were reported.

A COUGAR IN YOUR LUGGAGE? HUNTING CARCASS FOUND AT AIRPORT

LAS VEGAS/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)Police say a hunter’s trip home hit a snag in Las Vegas after security screeners found a dead cougar in his luggage.

No crime was committed because the man had a hunting tag. But police Lt. David Gordon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Transportation Security Administration agents held the man at McCarran International Airport late Tuesday to confirm the validity of the Utah hunting tag.

His name and where he was headed weren’t released.

Airport spokeswoman Melissa Nunnery says the man ended up shipping the cougar carcass home, not on the airplane.

Gordon says it’s not a crime to transport legally possessed game on an airline flight. But he says airlines can refuse to transport certain items.

LIFELONG BEST FRIENDS DISCOVER THEY’RE ACTUALLY BROTHERS

HONOLULU/December 30,2017(AP)(STL.News)— Two Hawaii men who grew up as best friends have recently learned that they’re actually brothers.

Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane have been friends for 60 years. Born in Hawaii 15 months apart, they met in the sixth grade and played football together at a Honolulu prep school.

Macfarlane never knew his father. Robinson was adopted.

Honolulu news station KHON-TV reports that the men learned they’re related through a family history and DNA website. They revealed the discovery Saturday.

Macfarlane’s daughter, Cindy Macfarlane-Flores, says when they started digging into answers about his family history, a top DNA match was someone with the username Robi737.

Robinson’s nickname was “Robi” and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines.

They plan to travel and enjoy retirement together.

Robinson says it’s the best Christmas present.

By Associated Press, published on STL.NEWS by St. Louis Media, LLC (TM)