Autumn 2015

[Moh]

The last 3 days have been beautiful at Heysham (this morning was wall to wall sunshine), it has been hot enough to sit out on the decking but the nights have been very cold. We have decided home and the heating called so we have wrapped it up for this year.

[Stanley]

Moh, looking at the weather pattern, the further west you are at the moment the brighter it is. It was clear with scattered high cloud at 21:00 last night.
We have the damp mizzle again this morning. The glass is tending to rise and is heading for 29.8", a good sign for continued settled weather. The forecast is very similar to yesterday but on the whole, damper and slightly colder under the influence of a steady moderate breeze from the NW. A theoretical high of 11C but it will never feel warmer than 8C.
We were back home at 06:45. A dark, overcast, damp and colder morning. I see we are lucky, -3C in the Scottish glens overnight and we haven't had a frost yet. Jack met the three legged old cur bitch that he knows. There is definitely a bond between them and it does my heart good to see the way Jack treats her and raises her attention levels, she'd take Jack home if she could! So, even on a gloomy morning there is a little ray of sunlight!

[Cathy]

Yesterday Adelaide sweltered thru 35C, today has been 25C with almost continuous soft cooling light rain... Much better.

[Stanley]

Nothing like that here Cathy.... At 21:00 last night it was almost clear, just enough scattered high cloud to keep the frost away. This morning I think we have more overcast. The glass is tending to fall slightly and is just below 29.7". The forecast is unchanged from yesterday. Overcast all day, moderate N or NE breeze. Theoretical high of 11C but it will never feel warmer than 8C, so slightly drier and colder.
06:15. Back home after an early walk on a calm, dry cool morning with full overcast and no frost. It could be a lot worse at this time of the year!

[Stanley]

Last night at 21:00 the sky was almost clear, just a few scattered high clouds. This morning we have full overcast, dry and calm, no frost. The glass is tending to fall and is on 29.6". The forecast is another re-run. Overcast all day, slight chance of light mizzle most of the day, a light NW wind is constant all day and while the theoretical high is 11C it will never feel warmer than 9C. We appear to be still locked in this pattern. No change in the offing.
06:30. Back home after a dark damp calm walk. The forecast got the mizzle right. Not rain, just a heavy mist drifting down from the overcast, hardly enough to wet the flags but definitely not uplifting! Still, mid to late October could be a lot worse!

[Stanley]

Yesterday was a gloomy day, the overcast persisted until late evening, it was breaking up by 21:00. First thing this morning the sky was brilliantly clear, now I can only see Venus... The glass is tending to rise and is just above 29.7" this morning. The forecast is for a bright overcast day with little or no chance of rain. The very light breeze swings all round the compass finally settling down late this evening in the west. There will be virtually no wind chill and so we shall reach the dizzy heights of 11C today. There are signs that this spell of settled weather is gradually coming to an end but there is nothing severe in the five day forecast.
06:45. Back home after a cooler walk on a calm dry morning with a clear sky and heavy dew. Dawn will be early this morning as the sky is clear in the east. Can anyone tell me what the blue flashing star is to the west of Venus and slightly lower in the sky? The CH confirms that it is cooler, it's kicked in for a short burst despite the stove....
11:40. Nice bit of very warm sun this morning.....

[Stanley]

Overcast last night and this morning with hardly any wind. Glass is tending to rise and is almost up to 29.8". The forecast is yet another re-run. A bright overcast day with a moderate westerly breeze. No rain forecast and a theoretical high of 11C moderated by the wind to no more than 9C. I can't remember ever seeing such a long settled spell of weather. Not complaining....
06:20. Back home, calm dry and a clearing sky, Venus and many of the stars peeping down on us. Not overly cold....
The news from the North is that they are expecting very strong winds late tomorrow or on Thursday. The present weather pattern is breaking up.... Make the most of it while you can!

[Stanley]

Last night at 21:00 we had scattered cloud and it was noticeable that the west wind was getting stronger. First thing this morning at 03:00 we had steady rain, it is still raining now but not as heavily. The glass is down sharply at 29.4". The forecast is for a good chance of rain all day, tapering off until early evening but then another band of heavier rain coming in. The moderate blustery west wind will be with us all day and while the theoretical high is 13C it will never feel warmer than 11C. The outlook for the next few days is similar but getting colder.

[Marilyn]

I shall have to post your vests back, Stanley

We are enjoying the cooler conditions at home after being in the tropics for a week. I could never live in that heat and humidity...it would drive me mad. Doesn't matter how much trouble you go to in the mornings, clothing and hair is wrinkled and sticking to you by lunchtime. I was constantly dabbing my face...sunglasses kept fogging up...sun hat went all limp. Have never felt so bedraggled. Still have my strange rash, but it isn't bothering me.
Had a lovely holiday though.

[Stanley]

I agree with you about the combination of heat and humidity Maz. I had a spell of 100F and 100% humidity at one time and felt tired all the time. In contrast I have had well over 100F in Death Valley and Australia but very dry and had no problems.
No shortage of moisture in Barlick this morning. We found a relatively dry spell but Jack still needed a good rub down with the towel! Much more wind than of late but not surprising when you hear the forecast for Northern Scotland for tomorrow who are anticipating winds of over 70mph. The long settled spell is certainly over. We can't see the moon this morning but in technical terms it is Waxing Gibbous, in other words we are in the first quarter and it coincides yet again with a change in the weather. Never mind, we've had a good run. We are back in the house warm and dry. Things could be worse!

[Stanley]

Broken cloud last night with a moderate breeze but almost dry. The rain forecast yesterday persisted for most of the day but was no more than sots blown on the wind. Similar this morning and the flags are drying out a bit. The glass is down slightly again at 29.2". The forecast is for a heavily overcast day with a similar pattern of spotty rain of a brisk west wind that will gust to 40mph at times. This wind will reduce the theoretical high of 11C to no more than 7C so it will feel colder. The wind will moderate a bit during the evening but never go away.
06:00. Out early, back early. No point hanging about once I had reached that point in my morning routine because daylight is still well over an hour away. Conditions are exactly as forecast, a blustery west wind is bringing more leaves down out of the trees. The gusts are strong enough to whip the upper branches about. But, for all that, a dry (just!) walk and a good start to the day, I've seen much worse!
Later at 11:30. We've had our second walk and it's a better day then forecast. Plenty of sun in between the clouds racing over in a wind that is I suspect stronger than was anticipated. Some fairly severe gusts but nothing to worry about.

[Stanley]

Last night at 21:00 the sky was clear after a brighter day than was forecast. This morning it is overcast but the wind has dropped. The glass is tending to rise and is up at 29.5". The forecast is for an overcast day with a chance of light rain during the morning. The wind is light and mainly from the south but this will not raise the temperature. The theoretical high is 10C but it will feel more like 7C. We've had our walk down to the butcher's and I've seen worse late October mornings. If today follows yesterday's trend there will be some sunny spells but at the moment these are not forecast.

[Stanley]

Broken cloud at 21:00 last night with a glimpse of the occasional star and a brisk west wind. The glass is falling and is on 29.2". The forecast is for a wet morning and the moderate SW wind will settle down into a westerly, tending towards NW, by dinnertime when it will brighten up and start to get colder. The theoretical high is 10C but will feel cooler than that all day falling to 4C by late tonight. I think an early walk is indicated!
05:15. We took an early dry walk! I trust the forecast and far better for my mate Jack if he has a dry morning, the scents are better! Blustery wind and I suppose it's cold but it didn't feel too bad. Nobody about.... Not a bad time to walk round the town.

[Stanley]

Less wind last night and at 21:00 we had a brilliant, almost full, moon. There has been light rain during the night and this morning it is overcast but with broken cloud. The glass is tending to rise and is almost on 29.6". The forecast is for a reasonably bright but overcast day with a varying mainly southerly wind all day. Hardly any chance of rain. The theoretical high is 10C but at the moment the temperature is dropping under the clearing sky and will get down to 3C, could be a grass frost before 9AM. It will never feel warmer than 7C.
We had our walk early, back in the hutch by 05:20, cool but not unpleasant and not raining so that's a good walk!

[Stanley]

Clear sky at 21:00 last night and cooler. Almost full moon is there but misty this morning. Calm and much cooler. The glass is falling and is on 29.4", funny, I would expect it to be rising. The forecast is for an overcast day with a small chance of a light shower later this morning. The wind is very light and from the East and will stay there and strengthen to a moderate breeze during the day. The theoretical high is 10C but will never feel much warmer than 7C.
05:15. My head is still running on BST so I was out and hour earlier. Calm, dry, cold, and not a soul about.... No frost that I can see yet....

[Stanley]

Overcast, slight breeze, cool but dry this morning. The glass is down again on 29.2". The forecast is very unusual, fog all day with a constant moderate East wind and a theoretical high of 11C but it will never feel better than 9C. I find this surprising, we shall see.....
06:20. Back from our walk and there is no fog, just a slight misty/mizzle, just enough to damp the road surface. Very light breeze and I wonder whether we are getting the easterly/Yorkshire or the westerly/Lancashire forecast this morning. We are on the boundary between the two forecasting regions and occasionally the forecast can't detect the boundaries between systems. Whatever, what we have is quite acceptable for late October....

[Wendyf]

Thick mist and an easterly wind of about 15 mph up here.

[Stanley]

It must have been over our heads Wendy. It never got bad but we had 100% overcast all day and the same this morning. It was dry first thing but raining the last time I want outdoors. The glass is down slightly again at 29.1", a very slow and sustained fall that suggests we are going to have it for a while. The forecast is for a high chance of rain all day until early evening. The light east wind will gradually swing into the south. The expected high is around 11C. A good day to be in the shed!
06:30. Back in after our walk on a dark morning with a light east wind and persistent rain. Never what you'd call heavy but enough to make it a touch miserable. never mind, not bad foir a late October morning, I've seen far worse!

[Stanley]

We've had our walk on a breezy, dry and mild morning, this and better will do! The glass is still falling slightly and is just above 29". The forecast is for a spell of rain from 08:00 to 13:00 but brightening up after as the moderate southerly wind drops and becomes variable. The temperature will be around 11C. We have a full Hunter's Moon.....

[Stanley]

Broken cloud on a southerly wind at 21:00 last night but no stars visible in the gaps. Light rain and hardly any wind this morning. The glass is tending to rise and is on 29.3". The forecast is for a high chance of rain all morning and the light east wind will soon swing into the South and strengthen. The theoretical high is expected to be warmer at 15C but will feel more like 12C. The outlook for the weekend and Monday is drier but also colder.
06:30. Back in the hutch after a wet walk in full wet weather gear. Jack is a star in the wet, never complains and just gets on with his job, he's had a good rub down and is a happy bunny. Not cold and not windy yet but steady persistent reasonably heavy rain.

[Stanley]

Very mild last night at 21:00. Broken cloud. Raining at 04:00 this morning but that has abated now. Glass is up again at almost 29.5". Forecast is for a bright overcast day with a bit of sunshine. It will be very mild under the influence of a very light southerly wind. Expected high of 14C which is warmer than they forecast yesterday in the outlook.
06:10. Back in the hutch after a dry, clam and very mild morning walk. Despite the fact there is no light apart from the street lamps the birds are singing. A three quarter moon is only partially veiled behind the clearing cloud. Not bad for the last day of October!
10:20. Dry mild and bright. The sun is trying to break though the clouds, a nice day! (November tomorrow, we are doing well!)

[Stanley]

Last night at 21:00 the sky was still overcast but I noticed that I could see my breath as I waited for Jack to have his late night pee. Still overcast this morning but dry, slightly misty and I think it's cooler. we may have lost the influence of that south wind. The glass is still rising and is just above 29.7". The forecast is for a foggy start to the day but some sun breaking through this morning before reverting to fog later. No appreciable rain. The wind is so light as to be almost calm and will be the same all day swinging round all points of the compass. We can expect a temperature of 13C and colder tomorrow. Good bonfire weather, dammit!
05:20. Back in the hutch after our walk. That's right, earlier than usual because I know from experience that firework fright loosens my mate's bowels and we don't want any accidents in the house! (I'm very careful how I feed him at this time as well....) It's mild out there and the mist has thickened. Only saw three cars and two of them were taxis... Barlick is still in bed so we had a very quiet and pleasant walk. This is not bad for the first day of November which can be one of the cruellest months of the year....

[Marilyn]

I was out with the fertilizer this morning, giving the Roses a good dose before it rained. I could see the rain coming over the horizon. the first few splotches of wet got me as I headed back indoors.
I've finished oiling the outdoor table and benches but still have two Jack and Jill seats to do. But I have also run out of the oil, so will have to put it on the list for next week.

[Stanley]

Overcast but dry at 21:00 last night. Dry, calm and a clear sky with a brilliant half moon this morning. Glass is down slightly at 29.6". Forecast is for a misty start to the day, some brightness around midday and misting over again after that. The wind is so light as to be negligible and will be mainly from the east. The expected high is 11C. Another quiet day.....
Back in the hutch by 06:20. The sky is still clear, the moon is easily visible but the blanket of mist is thicker than yesterday and it's a bit colder. The mist is thick enough to dampen road surfaces and condense on leaves and overhead wires so water drips down. Despite this I have seen worse November mornings!

[Moh]

Another lovely day - back to T shirts! I notice the crocuses (Crocii?) on our patio are shooting.