MetLink International - School News

School Weather News Stories 2001

Message from Wells Cathedral school, UK
 
The Wells weather web pages contain graphs of the weather patterns over Wells 
in 1999 as well as a graph of daily changes. We will be having an analysis of the 
microclimate of the Wells area on there shortly after the Metlink period is over. 
The URL`s are:
 
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/wellscs/geog/wellsweather.html
 
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/wellscs/geog/wells1.htm
 
 
Best wishes,
 
Dr Andrew Hignell
 
Wells Cathedral School
 
see: Wells Metlink News Page

top


Floods in South Africa - Message from Hilton School
 
10 Feb 2000
 
Dear Mr Walker
 
Re: Floods South Africa/ and surrounding countries.
 
The floods to date have left about 100, 000 homeless and about 50 dead in SA.
Damage runs into millions of rands. The Kruger National Park is in flood and
is closed for the first time in its history. The floods are the worst in
living memory.
 
Johanesburg have had lowland areas flooded, and most rivers have burst
banks.Gaborone and Maputo are particularly damaged. Roads between SA and
these countries are closed as bridges are flooded or washed away.
 
The BBC world service had excellent coverage. If you wish me to forward via
the internet please let me know.
 
Regards Simon Taylor
 
23 Feb 2000 - flood update
Severe flooding has occurred in Mozambique. Aid agencies say humanitarian aid is needed urgently to save 
thousands of Mozambiquans stranded without food and housing in the wake of torrential flooding and the 
devastation caused by Cyclone Eline. 
 
According to the Red Cross, as many as 800 000 people are at risk from flood-related outbreaks of 
disease. At least 69 Mozambiquans have now been killed since the nset of flooding a few weeks ago and over 
200, 000 others have been displaced. The South African Air Force has sent five helicopters and two airplanes
to help distribute supplies, while the French air force has contributed a cargo plane.

top

Message from Two Boats School, Ascension Island, Mid-Atlantic
Water Supply on Ascension
Here on Ascension we do not have a natural fresh water supply and due to the irregularity of rainfall
we cannot rely on it throughout the year. Therefore we obtain all of our water from the sea.
We use a desalination process to remove the salt and all harmful substances from the water to make it potable.
The main desalination plant is situated on the northernmost point of the Island (English Bay).
There is however another desalination plant at the U.S.A.F base which caters only for the needs of the base itself.
The English Bay desalination plant store 10 days worth of water for the island in case of emergency.
Central Heating
On Ascension the climate is such that there is never a need to heat our homes.On the contrary, it is sometimes
necessary to cool buildings with air conditioning units.
Wind Turbines
On Ascension near dark crater, we have four white turbines that are used to generate some of the electricity.
Each turbine has a tower that reaches 90ft with 3 blades which are 50ft. The maximum power that each turbine
outputs is 250kw and costs approximately $ 750,000 to run.
In the next four years they are hoping to add another four windmills.
Weather and the Sea
Here on Ascension we do not experience extreme weather conditions. However at times the sea can become
very rough, we have rollers which can be huge. This causes problems for the local people and boats which
are moored in the small harbour. The boats are damaged and sometimes they are even sunk. Because of our
isolation supplies of all kind are brought to the Island mainly by ship. The rough seas cause havoc with the
operation of loading and unloading of goods. Another problem the rough sea causes is preventing the green
turtles which lay eggs on our beaches from doing so.

top

Message from Pitsford Hall, UK
Date sent: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 17:34:41 -0800
Dear Malcolm
We're looking forward to MetLink International starting on Monday.
I just thought I'd drop you a brief note to let you know what we're
going to be up to at Pitsford Hall.
Daily weather observations and reports will be dispatched in the usual manner.
I would be more than happy to answer any weather-related queries that students may have.
These could be questions about observation or more general meteorology-basedtopics.
Questions should be directed to the weather station e-mail address:
office@northantsweather.org.uk
2. Fieldwork for MetLink this year focuses on our year 7 students who will be studying urban heat islands.
They will measure temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction along a transect
from Northampton town centre through the suburbs to the urban fringe.
We hope to publish the results via our own web site or the MetLink site if you feel it is suitable.
3. Students will also be encouraged to borrow equipment to take their own weather measurements at home
during the course of the week and compare their readings with those measured at Pitsford Hall.
Again, it will be interesting to compare the students own readings from Northampton (urban)
with Pitsford Hall (rural).
Finally, MetLink participants may like to know:
1. Weather observations made at Pitsford Hall during the solar eclipse last year were published
in Weather magazine last month.
http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/eclipse/
2. Britain's longest broadcast meteorologist, Michael Fish, became patron of Pitsford Hall
weatherstation last September. Michael is a regular recipient of our Monthly Weather Reports
and we are very grateful for his support.
3. We now release weather reports via our own answerphone service which operates24 hours a day.
The number is 07967 438314.
Best of luck with the project
Mike Lewis
Pitsford Hall weather station
Pitsford
Northampton
E-mail:
office@northantsweather.org.uk (weather station)
Northamptonshire Grammar School
http://www.northantsweather.org.uk/
Daily Forecast
http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/updates/weather7.htm

top

Kenya, Nairobi - special climatic factors

Date sent:      	Mon, 29 Jan 2001 11:16:32 +0300
Subject:        	Re: MetLinkInternational project ideas
From:           	(David Robbins)

Thanks for the theme ideas.  We in  Nairobi, Kenya, are in an
interesting goegraphical location with two important factors that
influence our weather and climate.  Being so close to the equator,
most people cannot believe me when I tell them that Nairobi has an
ideal climate, with daytime temperatures averaging in the 70's F.  
We also, due to our location, have two rainy seasons that contribute to
Nairobi's beautiful lush surrounding.  The first factor is altutude
(we are at 5000 ft).  The second factor has to do with our being on
the East coast of the continent with the Indian Ocean to the East, 
and the trade winds bring moisture towards us.

So these may be additional themes, elevation and location on the
continent.

By the way, you can imagine the response Burton and his partner got
when they reported back to the society that there was snow on Mt.
Kenya, smack dab on the equator.

Thanks again.
David Robbins

top

Pitsford Hall: Climate Comparison for Northampton, UK

Date sent:      	Wed, 31 Jan 2001 21:30:29 +0000
To:             	education@royal-met-soc.org.uk
From:           	Pitsford Hall weather station <weather@brixworth.demon.co.uk
Send reply to:  	Pitsford Hall weather station <office@northantsweather.org.uk
Subject:        	Climate Comparison for Northampton (MetLink)

Dear Malcolm

MetLink participants may be interested to read about our current
analysis of Northampton's climate. The change from 1961-1990 to
1971-2000 averages has thrown up some interesting observations. 
So far we've simply compared mean temperature and rainfall figures 
between the two periods and published the results via the web site. 

Essentially, the data reveals a slight warming trend of +0.1C 
between the two periods and also a tendency for greater rainfall totals. 
Nine months showed an increase in rainfall, although February and 
August were noticeably drier. Moreover, winters appear slightly milder 
and autumns slightly cooler. Summer temperatures, on the other hand,
appear to be depart little from previous averages.

Over the next frw months we will get a fuller picture of the pattern
of climate change when we undertake a more detailed analysis of extremes.

Links:

Northampton Climate Comparison:
http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/weather30a.htm

Northampton's Climatic Averages & Notable Extremes:
http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/weather30.htm

Mike

Pitsford Hall weather station                   
Pitsford 
Northampton
NN6 9AX  
Tel. 01604 880306
Fax. 01604 882212

E-mail office@northantsweather.org.uk 

http://www.northantsweather.org.uk

Location: 52º 18' N 0º 53' W                  
Altitude: 115m AMSL
Local Forecast and Readings: (07967) 438314

top


Windchill pictures: Mikkeli school, Finland
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 08:23:56 -0000 
 
Hi Malcolm,
 
I here attach a weather forcast for Saturday afternoon (3.2.00). 
The picture is taken on TV-screen in this morning. Another picture 
describes the weather with the current wind chill.
Better stay inside the house ...
 
Greetings 
Erkki Katainen

top


Pitsford Hall on the radio
 
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2001 22:05:12 -0000
 
Dear MetLink friends
 
The Pitsford Hall Weather Station run by MetLink participants 
Northamptonshire Grammar School would very much like to hear 
from you. They are very willing to answer enquiries about the 
weather. Please contact Mike Lewis, the Head of Geography, 
using the following e-mail address:
 
weather@brixworth.demon.co.uk
 
MetLink participants who can pick up BBC Radio Northampton 
may be interested to know that staff and students from Pitsford 
Hall Weather Station will be interviewed on the Anna Murby show 
next Wednesday at 3pm.
 
The interview will centre round the work of the weather station, how 
it was set up and the range of projects that it is involved with such 
as MetLinkInternational.
 
For those who can tune in the frequencies are 104.2 and 103.6 FM.
 
Best wishes
Malcolm Walker

top

Drought in Hawaii

From: Forrest Luke
Sent: 04 February 2001 13:26
To: Malcolm Walker
Subject: weather

The 50 character comment space limits us.

Hawaii is having a drought.  January was the driest January ever on 
record. Our daily highs are about 3 degrees C above normal right now.

The cirrus invading the sky from the north on Friday 2300 GMT (Only 1/8 
at that time) foretold the weather on Saturday. Unlike mid-lattitudes, we 
rarely see middle-level clouds.

The enhanced vertical development on Saturday was apparent. Not our usual 
stable cumulus associated with trade wind weather.  04/0200-0300 GMT 
winds shifted abruptly from the north and became cold (Cold for us, at 
least).  The rain tapered off and the clouds thinned.  Some argue that 
because we are inside the tropics, we do not get cold fronts.  But that 
had to be the tail of a passing cold front to the north of us.  We really 
needed the rain.  Cold is relative.  Our homes do not even have provision 
for heat.

I have not been looking at the Honolulu observations, but there should be 
differences. Clouds here are highly influenced by the topography.  We 
have lower temps, more rain, and more cloud that the airport about 15 
miles (25 km) away. Even in frontal conditions, our rain is showers with 
great variability.  

My students take the observations on the days their class meets.  It is 
great to have them argue (debate) over whether the wind is a 2 or a 3 and 
whether the clouds add up to 2/8 or 3/8.  They have picked this up very 
quickly.  This is the first time we have offered an Earth Science class, 
and the students who enrolled are generally low achievers.  They need to 
see that they can succeed. Several students determine or measure each 
part and write it on the board. Then we put it all together and send it 
out.  My physics students see those notes and ask about what the Earth 
Science class is doing.

Forrest Luke, Science Teacher
Leilehua High School
1515 California Avenue
Wahiawa, HI  96786
(808) 622-6550   FAX:  (808) 622-6554

School web-site:
http://www.leilehua.k12.hi.us

top


 Madagascar - news from Antananarivo
 
From: American School [SMTP:asagen@simicro.mg]
Sent: 05 February 2001 13:07
 
Dear Malcolm,
 
Here are some impressions from the MetLink students at Antananarivo. Madagascar.
 
Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar.  It has a population of
approximately 1.5 million residents.  Nobody is exactly sure how many live
here but it seems to get more crowded with each passing year.  It is built
on twelve hills with rice paddies, lakes, streams and low plains found
between.  Located where we are at 19 degrees south latitude and at an
elevation of 1250-1400 meters, "Tana", as it is called by locals, has a
beautiful subtropical climate.  
 
We are in the middle of our rainy season now.  To date (from Jan. 1) we have 
had 69.5 cm of precipitation.  It has been raining practically everyday for two months.  
Most  of the low lying areas are under water.  The "official" number of people 
who have lost their homes due to high water is presently 13,000.  Daily temperatures 
at this time of year range from 17-30 degrees.  It is usually very pleasant.
During the winter season, June to September, the lows can reach 5 degrees
at night and the highs are in the low 20s.  Our dry season can last for
several months.  
 
Last year it didn't rain for nearly 9 months and it became
very dry and dusty.  This year has been much wetter and everyone is
thankful.  Most of Madagascar's people are subsistence farmers who depend
on the yearly rains for planting and growing their crops.
 
Madagascar is a large island located off the southeast coast of Africa.
It is a beautiful place with highlands, forests, and beaches.  Biologically
 it is one of the world's rare gems.  Most of the plants and animals found
here are only found here.  Millions of years ago Madagascar split off from
Africa.  The plants and animals found here have had millions of years to
evolve without much outside interference from other influences.  People
arrived on the island about 1500-2000 years ago from southeast Asia.  That
is why Madagascar has more of an Asian feel than African.  
 
One of Madagascar's major concerns is degradation of the environment.  Most of
the tropical forests have been cut and there is a desperate attempt to save
what little remains.



 
 
 
 
 
 
Regards,
 
Jay Long

top

Record low temperature in Sweden - 4 November, 2001

From: Christer Helander [SMTP:L-HEC@edu.varnamo.se]
Subject: New record for the middle of Sweden

Hi Malcolm

Thanks for publishing our pupils work. I am sure they like 
it very much! 

Now a new item:
Last Sunday,4th of February, the lowest temperature since 
1897 was recorded at Idre in the middle of Sweden. The 
temperature was -44 ºC. Idre is a popular skiing resort.
Many cars had problems with the cooling systems, the papers 
reported.

Best wishes
Christer
Bor School

top