So it’s the end of September and we have now received more rainfall in the year to date than we did in the entirety of last year.
Or to put it another way we have received greater than 20 inches of extra rainfall compared to this time last year.
See the rainfall extra analysis for details.

7 to 8 inches of fresh snow on fields this morning – Dec 17th

The rain gauge has failed to register the correct rainfall over the previous 3 days (21st to 23rd Oct ‘09). I believe the lost measurements to total approximately 1 inch of precipitation. The anomaly has been caused by a Robin using the gauge not simply as a perch but as a toilet too! I have now cleared the problem & hopefully the Robin will learn better lavatorial manners

Light snow & hail this morning, didn’t stay long in the valleys but still evident on high ground this evening. I doubt it will amount to much this time, maybe milder by the weekend.

I’ve added a ‘Satellite Images’ menu in the sidebar to allow quick access to some excellent imagery from Eumetsat. Have also updated the historical reports to be available up until the end of ’08; I’ll have to find an improved menuing structure for the historical data, but that can wait a little while longer. On a side topic, get your sledges ready, we may have some snow next week.

Well after a dry frosty start to Jan 2009, the weather seems to be trying to make up for lost time. It started raining at about 6am on Sunday (yesterday) by 9pm this evening we’ve notched up 4.25 inches of rain. The local rivers are quite swollen but coping. Hope there are no problems further down stream.

Light dusting of powder snow this morning but now snowing a little more substantially. Temperature below freezing, snow sticking. Will it amount to very much?

Whilst 2008 has finished on a cold dry note, the year itself has been a wet & somewhat cloudy one. With 20% more rain than the recent average & 1% less sunshine, we recorded 100 inches of rainfall for the year.

Here’s hoping 2009 isn’t quite so wet!

Well maybe not. The evening of 1st September provided us with an hour of almost clear dusk sky. I was hopeful for some night photography but alas it soon clouded over. The run of cloudy weather seems set to continue, so no astronomy for the time being; I think its only one clear night in the last 2 or 3 months.

Anyway I did create a mosaiced panoramic at dusk, so at least I saw some stars
Here’s the 360 degree image:

August 2008 has provided us with roughly double our average rainfall, some 10.73 inches. I wouldn’t bet on autumn being much better than summer has been. Oh well, maybe its time to plant some rice.