Category Archives: Historical climatology

Using Old Ships To Do New Science

Posted on 6 March, 2023 by danaallen

By: Praveen Teleti Weather Rescue at Sea: its goals and progress update. Observing the environment around us is fundamental to learning about and understanding the natural world. Before the Renaissance, everyday weather was thought to be works of divine or … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Data collection, Data rescue, Historical climatology, Reanalyses | Leave a comment

2021 Weather Ups and Downs In Reading

Posted on 24 January, 2022 by danaallen

By Roger Brugge Averages and anomalies mentioned in this report refer to the climatological period 1991-2020. Historical records date back to 1901 for rainfall, 1956 for sunshine and to 1908 for most other weather elements. 2021 seemed to be a year … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Historical climatology, Sunshine, Temperature | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Rescuing the Weather

Posted on 13 May, 2019 by danaallen

By: Ed Hawkins Over the past 12 months, thousands of volunteer ‘citizen scientists’ have been helping climate scientists rescue millions of lost weather observations. Why? Figure 1: Data from Leighton Park School in Reading from February 1903. If we are to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, data assimilation, Data processing, Historical climatology, Outreach | Tagged | Leave a comment

Seasonal Forecasting and the 2018 European Heatwave

Posted on 26 November, 2018 by danaallen

By Len Shaffrey The summer of 2018 has been one of the warmest on record in the UK and Europe. Warm temperatures over the summer led to impacts on agriculture, water resources and human health. One interesting question is how predictable … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantic, Atmospheric circulation, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Environmental hazards, Historical climatology, Hydrology, Numerical modelling, Seasonal forecasting, Waves | Leave a comment

Is it a normal season this year for tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific?

Posted on 19 November, 2018 by danaallen

By Xiangbo Feng  The Western North Pacific (WNP) is the most active area for tropical cyclones (TCs).  The number of TCs occurred in the WNP so far (end of October) this year is 26 – just the average number of … Continue reading →

Posted in Atmospheric circulation, Climate, Climate modelling, earth observation, ENSO, Equatorial waves, Historical climatology, Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), Numerical modelling, Seasonal forecasting, Tropical cyclones, Waves, Weather forecasting, Western North Pacific, Wind | Leave a comment

Wind generation in the UK during the summer of 2018

Posted on 24 September, 2018 by

By Daniel Drew The record breaking summer of 2018 has featured in a number of recent blog posts (link1 and link 2), but one area not discussed is the impact of the prevailing hot, sunny and calm conditions on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Historical climatology, Renewable energy, University of Reading | Leave a comment

Summer temperatures 2018 – the ‘new normal’?

Posted on 6 August, 2018 by

By Professor Sir Brian Hoskins (Grantham Institute, Imperial College London and Emeritus Professor at the University of Reading department of Meteorology) and Stephen Belcher (Met Office Chief Scientist and Visiting Professor at the University of Reading department of Meteorology) Figure 1. Hyde … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Greenhouse gases, Historical climatology | Tagged | Leave a comment

What a summer!

Posted on 16 July, 2018 by

By Ben Cosh What a summer it has been so far. The data is brilliant when it is like this. Stephen Burt keeps an eye on it and has filled me in on the (nearly) record-breaking numbers we’re seeing. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Historical climatology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sea Surface Temperature Climate Data Record

Posted on 13 February, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Owen Embury Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is ocean and knowing its temperature is important for understanding both weather and climate. Historically sea surface temperature (SST) has been measured in situ – from ships and more recently from … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, earth observation, Historical climatology, Measurements and instrumentation, Remote sensing | Tagged | Leave a comment

When Did Fronts First Appear in the Met Office’s Daily Weather Report?

Posted on 9 May, 2016 by Stephen Burt

By David Livings One of the good things that can now be found on the web is a complete series of the Met Office’s Daily Weather Report going back to 1860. An overview of the early history of the report … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical climatology, History of Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment