Weather Musing...How cold have the first 10-days of December

[weatherman]

How cold have the first 10-days of December been?

It seems to have been much colder this year than for a good many years and people have made comments to me that the seasons seem to be back in order this year.

So, I got my best weather anorak on and decided to compare the first 10-days of December 2008 to each of the first 10-days of December since 1999 (yes, I am that sad!). I picked a random station (Sennybridge in mid-south Wales) for which daily data was available over the past 10-years. Now, you must remember this datat is onl;y for one station, and things may be different country wide, but it is an interesting exercise to perform.

And here is the result. Our perceptions are correct. The first 10-days of December 2008 have been significantly colder than any of the first 10-days of December I the past 10-years. Mean temperatures have been just 1.2C so far this year. The nearest coldest in terms of mean temperature (the average of maximum and minimum) was 2003 with 3.4C, but this is still a full 2.2C above where we are now.

So, if you think it has been cold this year, then you are absolutely right. Not only has it been cold, it’s been VERY cold when compared to the last 10-years, and certainly compared to the temperatures we have got used to for the start of December.

The full details are below:


Sennybridge (Wales) Mean Temperature Data for 1st to 10th December for the years 1999 to 2008

YEAR MEAN MAX MEAN MIN MEAN TEMP

2008 5.0 -2.5 1.2
2007 9.9 4.2 6.8
2006 7.9 3.4 5.2
2005 6.6 2.6 4.5
2004 7.7 2.6 5.1
2003 5.7 0.8 3.4
2002 5.7 2.8 3.9
2001 6.9 1.4 4.2
2000 9.3 3.7 6.7
1999 7.4 2.7 5.2


Hope that is useful (and interesting),
Simon

[Nick]

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It has certainly been a lot colder over here near Oban than we are used to at this time of year. Should be a good test of my theory that 'winterising' our freshwater cooled engine is a waste of time and money . . .

Of course, it proves conclusively that global warming is just a socialist plot to tax the entrepreneurial classes into the ground . . .

[ParaHandy]

Hope that is useful (and interesting), Simon

Indeed it is. I've been thinking that the weather's more extreme now than it used to be ....

A year or two ago I started to log the data off one of the channel buoys for about a month - principally to compare the met office forecasts with the actual (for some reason the 5 day forecast was more accurate than the 3 or 2 day forecast). It did me no good, of course ... Anyway, can a normal joe public bod obtain weather data off these buoys going back years? Just out of interest and for same reasons as you investigated the December temperatures.

[Julian]

Simon, do you by chance have the figures for say, 1971 - 1982. This was the last time I remember it being this cold.

For the last few Decembers I have been wearing a tee-shirt outside and feeling warm. I am worried how cold we can expect February if this is anything to go by.

brr

[JackJ]

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.......Of course, it proves conclusively that global warming is just a socialist plot to tax the entrepreneurial classes into the ground . . .

Well said Nick. Glad you've seen the light at last about all that global warming guff. Welcome!

[claymore]

Para - yer blood is gettin thinner wi every dram o ra Pulteney - fer goads sake man, and fer ra sake o' yer boozy auld nose, moderate yer intake an the weather wullnae seem sae cauld

[DaveS]

Speakin o the Pulney,

BAA are currently doing the 12yo at £24.99 a litre, less £10 if you buy two (of any malts) making it effectively £19.99 a litre, which I think is no' bad. As of yesterday I have one of them and a Glen Garioch at £2 less!

[garredfox]

Bottles of Speyside Malt in Tesco last week at 12.49 - bought one to test - googled - established 1865 - Glenfarclas - tested by one who knows.

Unfortunately gone back to 24.99 - damn

[Julian]

Simon, do you by chance have the figures for say, 1971 - 1982. This was the last time I remember it being this cold.

For the last few Decembers I have been wearing a tee-shirt outside and feeling warm. I am worried how cold we can expect February if this is anything to go by.

brr

ah, one way traffic I see, never mind