8
Brighter spells

Out as usual at 6.15. Very thick fog the other side of the reservoir, couldn't go faster than 30 mph. Quite a pleasant day after that, working about the house and enjoying the winter sunshine.

0600 0 *
HEAVY FROST
->FOG
0900 Sun
MIST
->0

0600 8
--->
some sun
1530 5 ripple Ac

8
Cold

8
Cold

8 RAIN
Windy SE

0600 0 *
->Sun
COLD

0700 ~4 Sc-allop
Sun
Cold
-->
1530 8 SHOWER

Cold bright day. Duly went to Co-op for Operation Satsuma.

Much sun
Cold

0600 RAIN
--->some sun

RAIN in night
0845 Sun-spell
0915 ->RAIN
1100 stops
->Sun

Rained all night and all morning, was glad I'd taken the day off.

RAIN
cont overnight
~1200 Sun-breaks
then spells

8
1100 SHOWER
1630 ~4
~1900 RAIN

0600 MIST
0800 ~2 Sun HEAVY FROST
->
1300 8 with bright streaks

Some sun
2100 RAIN

8
SPELLS OF RAIN all day

Cold
Much sun

0800 8
Cold
1030 RAIN
->
HEAVY
1130 stops
->Sun

RAIN overnight
0600 cont
1000 stops
->COLD
Some sun

Went out after 7am to vote - first time I've done it in a big winter coat and woolly hat.
Rain then obligingly paused for me to walk to work.

0700 *
HEAVY FROST
->
Windy
8 RAIN (SPELLS OF)

Much sun
COLD

Again up at 4.45 and off at 7.30. Red sky, and then classic yellow morning sky followed by rain.

HEAVY FROST
0700 ~6
->some sun
->8
INTERMITTENT RAIN
2100 SQUALLY RAIN

0600 *
SHOWERS
0900 ~6
Some sun
WINDY
Becoming less windy and cold
->0 Sun

0600 ~6 Ac-allop
->some sun
Gradually clearing
->cold
1600 ~2 Moon

<8
Some sun
1800 *

0700 8 low Sc RAIN
stops
->Breezy <8
1615 SHOWER

0600 ~4
HEAVY FROST
MIST
1200 ~6 As Sun-through

0600 ~4
HEAVY FROST
MIST
Calm
->1100 0 Sun
1600 0

Very cold this morning, was not really looking forward to the walk to work at 6.10. But I did have a new LED torch/ headlight for the dark bits.

Really cold and frosty in the morning.

0400 * HEAVY FROST
0700 ~3
->Sun
Very cold

Some sun
Cold

0700 FROST Sun
1030 SHOWER
1630 ~2 Moon

Very different weather - no more rain, a cold bright day.

0200 0 *
-><=2 Sun
FROST
COLD

0500 RAIN
stops
1230 DRIZZLE
stops
1515 Sun-break

RAIN overnight
0400 cont
1000 stops
Sun-breaks
1600 LIGHT RAIN

0600 8
1200 MIST
P.M. SHOWERS
1600 <8
1915 HEAVY SHOWER

0600 <8
->8 dark
SPELLS OF RAIN

Deadly-sounding date. Harvested some of the last reachable apples.

RAIN overnight
Warmer
8
1415 Sun-break

0600 RAIN
stops
8
1400 Occasional RAIN

It was raining when I came out of the opticians again, but it was just a shower, and the sun shone through before I got to the end of the High St.

SHOWERS
Cold
Breezy
Some sun

A dark, dry, cold windy day, the sort that's pleasant before Christmas.

8
COLD
Windy
Dry

0600 0/8 Cs * Moon-through
0800 8 mAck
Some sun
Breezy
VERY COLD

0600 FROST
0 *
->Much sun
VERY COLD

0700 ~6 Moon
->Sun
VERY COLD

0700 8 Cold
1000 Sun appears
--->
1600 ~2

8 high dark ripple Sc

8
1300 LIGHT RAIN
cont
1700 RAIN

Rain stopped during the day, and there was a flash of sun.

0300 RAIN
1000 stops
Sun breaks
->SHOWERS
Cold

Lovely sunny morning, but cold.

0600 ~2 Ac
->Sun
Cold
1230 5 Ci, Ac

Took the car for a spin at 6am. Coming back, from Peachow Hill I could see the full moon setting huge and red over the town.

At 11am I saw rain was coming, so had my post-early-lunch coffee and hurried off to work by 12.45. The rain started when I was 2 minutes from the office.

0600 0 Moon -> Sun
1100 6 Ci
--->
1300 8 Ns RAIN
1630 RAIN

0600 RAIN
c.1000 stops
Some sun later
1700 Moon

Made fantastic tomato/aubergine/chickpea ragout for early lunch - just the thing for cold weather.

Wrote a parser for the pre-diary weather file.

Cold
Much sun

Finished the 72-73 weather, so I now have complete coverage from the earliest date that my earliest memory can come from.

Harvested more apples - still plenty left. The birds are pecking the ones higher up, but leaving the lower ones for me.

FROST
Much sun
Cold

Carried on compiling the 1972 weather synopses, the ones with which I'm filling the Feb 1972- May 1973 gap. Got another 4 months to do.

0600 FROST
->some sun
Cold
1300 LIGHT SHOWER

Very wet morning, was glad I was working at home.

0500 RAIN
~1000 stops
1100 some sun
1600 1 Moon
->*

0700 MIST
1300 4/3 Cu/Cs

0700 ~4 MIST
->some sun

0400 8
0500 RAIN
0700 becoming intermittent
0800 stops
Some sun

Made good use of the day, which was a fine sunny autumn day till the afternoon.

Much sun
till
1500 8
1600 RAIN

Into town at 8.20 because I saw rain forecast for 10 am.

Rain duly started when I was still in Sainsburys. I got a bit wet walking home, but I was still pleased with myself for going in early. If I hadn't, I'd've got wet on my way into town.

Lib Dems came round canvassing. Told them how impressed I was that they were out in the pouring rain.

0700 Some sun
0930 8 wet S
0945 RAIN WINDY
1400 stops
1730 RAIN
1930 978 v

0600 8 S
0700 FINE RAIN
c.1400 stops
1700 <8

HALLOWE'EN. Weather Diaries wrapped round today in that I found myself posting the weather observations for a day in 2012 which had previously been the earliest non-diary archive entry. (Though there's some confusion there because Nov 2004-Nov 2011 have not yet been transcribed.)

7-8 low Sc
Sunny spells

COLD
Some sun a.m.
1300 7 large Cu, Ci

Some sun
eg 1200 6 Cu, Ci

Up at 4. Fine view of Orion and Canis Major over the rooftops, the streetlights being off. Saw down to eta Can Maj, nearly 30°S, without even trying.

Left at 7.30, had a fine cold walk across the south of town to the van hire place. It reminded me of the walk last December to the ultrasound place.

0400 0 * FROST
->Sun
COLD
P.M. Cu->Sc->8 Sc

Colder
Much sun

Into town. Couldn't get the paper I use for this diary - narrow feint, 80 gsm. I've got about 2 months to source some. Otherwise I could write on one side only of 70 gsm, or use wide feint 80 gsm , but they'd both use more paper. Or I could make the diary electronic, like Doogie Howser. But I value the meditative quality of writing, and the 'handwriting exercise'.

Rain was forecast for 2pm and it duly arrived at 1.50. Luckily I'd already got the sack barrow in from the shed to prepare for Monday.

0900 <8
->8
1350 RAIN, 1800 cont. All day WINDY

<=8 high S
1600 SHOWER
WINDY

Got soaked walking to work at 1.20, had to deploy the fans, fan heater and hairdryer.

RAIN till 1500
->some Sun

Typically 7 Cu Sun Cold
1630 SHOWER
1930 RAIN

Typically 6 large Cu Sun

Usual 4am start. Rotten dark wet morning.

RAIN on and off all day
8 S

Started adding Feb 1972-May 1973 to the file of extracts from the daily Guardian weather reports from the online archive. I'm using that file to try and reconstruct the pre-diary era. The purpose of this latest tranche is to include the time from my earliest memory, which can't be from earlier than Feb 1972.

Cold, some sun

Some sun

Up at 4.45, waited with an eye on the rainfall radar, got to work by 9.20.

HEAVY SHOWERS to 0700
->Sun ~5 low Cu
1600 with virgae

At 4pm a heavy shower began. I checked on the rainfall radar to see that it was just a shower, and stayed later than usual till it stopped. Only 18 minutes extra, but I felt like I was in Mad Men, working all night.

Much sun
1600 HEAVY SHOWER
1700 Sun
2000 HEAVY SHOWER

Hurried out at 7.10 because rain was forecast, got to work at 7.50.

8
0730 RAIN
stops
1300 <8 Sun
1600 SHOWER

8 S/Sc
->
Some sun p.m.

8 Ns
SPELLS OF RAIN, 1730 HEAVY
Sun-glimpses at times all day

Another wet day, up till 2pm.

RAIN overnight
SPELLS OF RAIN
till 1400
Sun-breaks

Hurried out just after 9 to the Tesco Express and Co-op, for minimal supplies. Rained all day as forecast. Glad I went out early while it was light.

RAIN overnight
8 S
RAIN all day
2300 cont

It was raining in the small hours, and when I got up I read that it would resume at 8am, so I hurried to work by 8.10.

RAIN in small hours
8 low Sc
RAIN in morning
1900 RAIN
2000 HEAVY
2030 stopped

Much sun
Gradually thickening Cs, As
Breezy

1300 5/5 Cu/Ci Sun
1830 0

0900 ~6 Ac, Cc Sun
1300 7 S
1600 SHOWER

Left unusually early just after 6am. Quite dark then of course, the first time this autumn it's felt like night.

0900 8 As Sun-through
1500 SHOWER
1630 RAIN

Was up refreshed at 5.30. I love getting up early on Sunday, I was happily browning chicken at 6.30 ready for the slow cooker.

Rained all day apart for a sunny spell around 11. The dark rainy Sunday morning at 7am made me think of 1979, or 1974, when I'd've had nothing to entertain myself with but a damp copy of the Observer.

RAIN overnight
0530 cont
HEAVY at times
1100 stops
some sun
1200 RAIN
1700 cont

Some sun
1000 6/7 dark Cu/Ci
1800 ~6 Ac

RAIN overnight
Some sun
<=8 high S
1700 SHOWER with sun

1000 8 As Sun-through
<=8 all day
2050 RAIN

Cold, bright day, fortunately reminding me more of Oct 91 than Oct 99.

0800 Sun Cold
1300 6 fair-weather Cu
1700 Sun

As I left work a huge wall of dark clouds were coming from the North, and when they were overhead the clouds in the north were incredibly black, clouds as dark as I've ever seen. Quarter of an hour later the downdraught came, and the lightning began. Luckily it didn't rain till just as I got home: by then the lightning was right overhead.

Some sun
-> 8 Sc
1200 SHOWER
1600 6
Huge Cu seen approaching from N
1700 8 very dark
⚡ THUNDERSTORM

0600 ~2
->Sun
1300 6/6 Cu/Cc
1600 8 Sc LIGHT RAIN
1830 RAIN
2100 cont

RAIN overnight
8 dark Sc
1200 <8 Sun
LIGHT SHOWERS

Got the lawns mowed, perhaps for the last time this year.

1200 5 Cu Sun
1600 5/8 As Sun-through

Fine old moon with Earthshine early on. Showers all afternoon; was glad I went into town in the morning.

0600 0 Moon
->
0900 Sun WARM
1200 SHOWERS
some heavy
1730 cont

Rain began when I got to the edge of the grounds at work, so I only got wet for the last 8 min or so of the walk.

It was still raining when I collected the first client from reception. I cleverly brought the umbrella I keep in the filing cabinet, so I lent it it to him and put the hood of my coat up.

Home just before 6. At the level crossing at 5.30 in the yellow sunset I was thinking about how twenty years ago I'd be arriving home at Turnpike Road then.

RAIN overnight
0815 RAIN
1000 stops
1200 8 dark S/Sc
->Sun ~6 Cu, Ci

1300 6 large Cu Sun
1600 SHOWER
1700 SHOWER
huge Cu

Wet day at first, but got less soaked than I feared on the way to work.

0600 8
0700 RAIN
Gradually stops
1300 <8 Sc
Then spells of RAIN and sun
1600 CuNi seen

0600 8 Sc
->
1300 5/3 Cu/Ci Sun
1630 Huge Cu, DROPS OF RAIN
1800 RAIN

Some sun in the morning
->8 Sc
RAIN @ 1100, 1600

Flawless weather, not a cloud in the sky all day, but not too hot. The nicest day of this hot spell so far.

Had exactly enough time later to mow the back lawns and pick up the windfalls, and not a minute more. 'Another coat of paint and I'd've been a goner.'

0 Sun
all day

Beautiful weather, sunny and cool.

0-2 small Cu Sun

Beautiful weather in the morning, almost cold, like early morning at the seaside in summer.

0-6 flat Cu Sun

Fine cool September day.

0700 Sun
1300 1-2 small Cu
Cooler
1600 4 flat Cu
1800 0

0730 DRIZZLE briefly
1300 8 dark Sc '9p'
c.1400 SHOWER
1630 Sun-breaks

0300 0 Moon
->Sun
Gradually increasing cloud Cu, Ac, As -> Sc

Woke up early at 3 am again, so constructively got up and did the weather diary update before going back to bed at 4.30. Full Moon shining all this time.

0300 0 Moon
0600 0
->Sun
Cu HOT
1600 ~7 Ac, Ci, As Sun

Very nice early morning walk to work at 6.30, birds singing; bought breakfast at Tesco, was at work by 7.15.

RAIN overnight
0500 ~7 Ac
->Sun
1200 5 fair weather Cu Sun

Some interesting clouds in a clear spell about 5pm - Cu, but rounded as if they'd had water poured over them; like scoops of buttery mashed potato, or whales' backs.

0700 0 Sun
->2-7 Cu, spells

Very dark cloud in the morning, and it lightened from the West as I walked to work - the unusual direction of the light gave the familiar buildings an unfamiliar look.

0800 8 very dark Sc
some rain
0900 lighter
1300 <8 S, Ac under
1600 3 Cu Sun
Warmer

Weather was fine in the morning, and I gambled that it would dry yesterday's rain up by the afternoon, so I took that afternoon off I'd been planning, to catch up with the garden.

Duly left at 12.40. Nothing like coming home at lunchtime. Set to in the garden: conditions were perfect, dry enough for apple harvesting, lawn mowing and potato lifting, damp enough for weeding. So I couldn't've judged that better.

Walked to work through the rain. The sun had been shining at 6.30am, but it had become a sombre day. At lunchtime carried on with Travels with Charley while looking out at the rainclouds over Dulchester.

0630 ~7 Sun
0730 8
smell of rain
0800 RAIN
1300 RAIN
1700 RAIN

0700 Some sun
--->
1130 8
1200 SQUALLY SHOWER
->~5 large Cu
Sun
Breezy

0700 Some sun
->
8 Sc-allop
1300 Bright cracks
1745 SQUALLY SHOWER
1815 Sun RAINBOW

0600 Sun
1300 3 small Cu
1800 0

Rain in the morning kindly stopped before I'd been walking to work for 10 minutes.

RAIN overnight
0600 8 RAIN
0900 stops
->-->
1300 6 flat Cu Sun
Breezy

0800 8
1300 7 flat Ac
->->
1600 Sun
WARM

Watching Free For All (appropriately, with the election rumours) - just as Number Six enters the green dome to 'take control', there's a lovely shot of his head in an archway, and behind him the green hills on the other side of the (real) estuary, the grey water, the high-piled clouds drifting inland on a Welsh afternoon 52 years ago.

0600 some Sun
1600 4/8 dirty Ac/As Sun-through

Sun
1400 4 Cu

Last day of summer.

At first 3-8 Ac Sun HOT
->
1500 8
1800 4/8 frac/As
Sun through

0600 7
->->4 Ci Sun
HOT

0600 ~7
->->
0830 4 Sun HOT
Typically 4 Ci, some Ac

RAIN overnight
0500 8
0800 SHOWER
->more Sun Ac,Ci
->1730 8
COOLER
1800 SHOWER

0 Sun
VERY HOT
1300 0/6 High haze
1700 3 Ci, Ac

Literally not a cloud in the sky today.

0 Sun
VERY HOT
1430 29°C

I intended to clear the potato patch at 9, then have lunch, but as it turned out I got involved in working out early retirement factors.

I wish I had dug the potato patch at 9, because when I did it at 12.30 after mowing the lawns, it was sweltering hot and I was afraid I'd keel over. Was glad I'd laid in the potato salad and pastry rolls for a cold lunch.

0600 Sun
~4 Ci, Ac
->
1300 <1
VERY HOT
1530 27°C

Sun HOT
Breezy

Weather hot and summery again - 'again' as in 'like a while back', not 'like yesterday'.

0500 0
->Sun
~5 small Cu, Ci
BREEZY
HOT

At lunchtime saw a cloud the shape of Ireland.

Sun
1300 5/5 Ac, Cu/As

0600 0
->
3-7 Cu Sun

RAIN overnight
5-7 large Cu Sun
1530 DROPS OF RAIN

8 Sc
1100 SHOWER
->
6 large Cu
Sun HOT

Up at 5.30 - it suits me very well. NB though, year getting on, only nautical twilight at 4.30 now. Also angle of the sunlight later in the morning no longer what it was.

0600 SHOWER
->5-8 Cu
Sun
WARM

Classic yellow-grey 'rain to come' clouds in the morning, and after a preliminary shower it came on to rain steadily in the afternoon.

<=8 As, Sun
1100 SHOWER
1400 RAIN
1630 cont

5-7 Cu Sun
Breezy

Wet day just as forecast.

0900 ~7 Cu Sun
1030 RAIN
cont with some dry spells to 1600
1700 RAIN

Rather nice 'roll credits' evening skyscape about 7pm last night btw.

Weather today bright and quite cool, a bit like September; had flashes of Sep 1988 on the A10.

0800 IN AREA
0-900 4 Sun Low Cu
->6 high flat Cu

Strolled down to Tescos in the grey, damp, windy morning. Fog on Rivington Pike.

(10.20 am). Slept quite well, 8½ hours, thanks to the very thick curtains I think. Heard rain and wind in the night, and it was a wet grey morning when I opened the curtains, though there are patches of blue now.
S. has invited me round for 11 so am just preparing to leave.

4 Cu Sun
HOT
1030 OUT OF AREA

Today has been rather strange and sombre.

Sun at first
->
1330 8 dark low Sc
1430 RAIN

Home to start my summer holiday, my 20th on this job.

~4 Cu Sun
Breezy

One problem with putting weather in the margins of this diary, as I have been since about 2005, is that sometimes I write a longer entry than I'd otherwise've done, just to get clear of the marginalia.

0700 <=8 Ac-allop Sun
c.1100 SHOWER
->less cloud
HOT

0700 0 Sun->
8 As Sun-through

Sun-through Cs & As
HOT

2-6 large Cu Sun

3-7 Cu Sun
1200 DROPS OF RAIN

6-8 Cu, Sc
Some sun
WINDY

Came on windy at lunchtime, and I walked home through bursts of rain. Luckily I'd brought a coat in my bag.

Sun HOT
->
1300 6 large Cu
WINDY
1630 BURSTS OF RAIN

0600 ~6 Sun
0900 ~4 Cu
Sun HOT

Sun came out about 5pm, lifting my spirits at the end of a gloomy Sunday. Not for the first time in these diaries.

8 Sc
1700 Sun Ci, Cu

I underestimated how long the rain on the radar would take to move away, so when I got to town I was completely soaked. So much so that I was afraid I'd get chucked out of Primark for leaving wet footprints.

But luckily I was wearing a polyester top which dried off quickly. And I got what I wanted in Primark, namely two long summer tops with long sleeves - the short-sleeved ones were a sunburn and heat liability this week.

0700 RAIN till 1030
8 Sc
Then SPELLS OF RAIN
->STEADY RAIN

Some more thunder and lightning about 4am, but no rain really.

0400 LIGHTNING THUNDER
0700 8 THUNDER
->~5 Ac, Cu, Ci Sun
HOT
1400 SHOWER

So hot that the recycling collection was cancelled! And in the afternoon the head of department brought ice lollies round. Very nice of him.

Storms heading this way on the radar. And odd, mini-towering Cu seen - towering relative to their size, rather like some smaller ones I saw in the morning.

Re the stratification issue with upstairs being much hotter - found fan placed at bottom of stairs helped very much with this.

May be just the rain clouds, but this is the first night this summer that it's got dark sooner than I expected.

92-93°F in the bedroom when I got home. Cooler now with the intermittent thunder squalls and the window open (9.25pm).

2-7 Sun
VERY HOT
1900 Rising Cu seen
1945 THUNDER
1950 BURST OF SQUALLY RAIN
2115 RAIN
LIGHTNING seen
THUNDER

Even hotter today. Had to use the ice-pack 'cold-water-bottle' trick last night as it was.

Everything was damp outside in the morning, so it must have rained overnight, but I didn't hear anything. And that despite feeling as if I was awake half the night.

When I noticed how much cooler it was downstairs, wished I'd bought a futon or sofa-bed as I'd intended to do after last summer, so I could sleep down there.

At work it went over 30°C in the office, as it had in the computer room at home when I got back, and the latter's never happened.

Btw, just read that 30 miles away was the hottest place in country today - 34.3 C, ~94° F.

RAIN OVERNIGHT
Early cloud
->Sun
VERY HOT
Breezy
1600 4 Ci, Cc

Heat much greater today, with worse forecast for tomorrow. Stopped on way to work to make token purchase in Tescos, just to cool down. Arm began to burn after <=30 min, had to stop and put sunblock on.

Coming home the interval was 15 min.

The poor electrified tree had been severely cut back overnight.

Typically ~3 Ci
Sun
VERY HOT
Breezy

Very hot on way to work, had to stop at Tescos for sun cream. As I was going over the bridge I heard a very loud mains hum and loud crackling. That big tree there, that I've often thought is very close to the pylon lines, was blowing back and forth and touching them, with bright yellow and orange flames and billowing smoke. I phoned the fire brigade and spent the rest of the day afraid the fire would go out before anyone got there and I'd be arrested for a making a hoax call and dragged off to Litchfield.

On my way home, at the bridge there was a smell of burning, and about 5 electricity board vehicles parked. Glad my report was acted on.

0900 ~4 Sun
HOT

Some sun
Warm
Breezy

0130 RAIN
0600 <=8 dark Sc
Sun-breaks
1100 6 huge Cu Sun
OUT OF AREA
1700 6 flat Cu HOT

<8 S, Sc
INTERMITTENT RAIN from 1400
Earlier some sun
Breezy

c. 0800 SHOWER
<=8 Sun
0930 SHOWER
More SHOWERS
1600 large Cu, Ci

Sun HOT
[s --->]4/8 Ac/As
Sun-through

0600 ~3 Ci Sun
->HOT
1200 5 faded Cu

8 Sc
Cooler
030 SPOTS OF RAIN
After 1600 <=8 some sun-breaks

to 0630 RAIN overnight
6-8 Sc
some Sun

<=8 Sc
Sun-breaks
Occasional DROPS OF RAIN
c.1300 DARK
Breezy

Typically 4-6 Ac, Cu of increasing size, Cs?
Breezy
HOT

0600 8 Sc
10000 ~6 Cu, Ac HOT
1600 larger Cu, Ac, Ci
1800 Showery Cu

0600 SHOWER
<=8 Sc
Some sun
HOT

8 Sc
HOT
Sun-breaks
DROPS OF RAIN?

0600 8 Sc
0730 DROPS OF RAIN
---->
1600 Hazy 4 Cu, Ci
Sun HOT

28 years to the day and weekday since I came back from university. Maybe that's why, just now, having finished the gardening and having a few minutes to spare, I sat pensively outside the shed thinking abt how I came to be at the end of my peaceful garden on a cool, cloudy summer day in 2019, the long road that led here.

<=8 Sc

0500 ~3 Sun
--->
1100 0/8 Sun-through
1300 8
1500 SHOWER
more RAIN later

Although it was very hot in the afternoon, had a quick 20 min in the garden. It is odd how I still get that dread of going into the garden, but before I'm halfway up the path I'm glad I came outside.

0-4 Ac, Ci Sun
HOT

0500 0 Sun
->~5 Ci, Cu
HOT

4-7 Cu Sun

4-8 Cu Sun

Glad I paid attention to the weather forecast, because it would otherwise have seemed like another hot day in prospect, but about 9 am it cooled off quite sharply.

Fine reservoir run this morning, the black road and the green fields and the blue water like that old dream image of the road and the flat fields (with delimit signs!)

0500 Sun
->HOT
Breezy
but
0900 ->->6 Cu Cooler
Thence
1300 6 flat Cu
1600 8 Sc
->Sun