Re: Ancient weather equipment and things

I first became interested in the weather as a small boy in Manchester when I asked my mum what caused thunder? She told me it was clouds banging together, from then on I watched the clouds a lot, I noticed when it did thunder it was usually tall fluffy ones. So I watched those more carefully waiting for them to bang together, of course they never did and my scientific mind was activated. When I was 14 my uncle bought me a "weather kit"; barometer, hygrometer, thermometer, anemometer and reference charts for clouds etc plus a log book for recording. My dad never got round to fixing the anemometer in our terraced house so I made do with the other equipment. I took readings every day with the thermometer nailed to the north wall of the coal shed in the back yard. I even bought and took another cheap greenhouse thermometer to school. My logs made excited reading with snow and thunder always in capital letters! When I was 16 I went to the library and taught myself the synoptic code, all about depressions and weather maps, I even taught myself how to work out cloud bases and tops on a tephigram. At 17 my father, who was a painter and decorator, always used to ask me what the weather was going to do - and I was often right I recall! Jack Scott and Graham Parker were my heroes. So when I applied to join the Met Office as an observer just after my 18th birthday, I knew it all! Or so I thought .... the rest, as they say, is history.

Nice thread.

Cheers,

Will
--

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ancient weather equipment and things
    ... She told me it was clouds banging ... thunder it was usually tall fluffy ones. ... When I was 14 my uncle bought me a "weather ... forecast to see if there was a chance of clear skies. ...
    (uk.sci.weather)
  • Re: Awesome IMC experiences - Stratiform rain question
    ... I was watching the weather from last Monday until Friday morning ... weather and the weather forecast for OWB did a 180 degree turn as late as ... solid deck of clouds from MBO to OWB. ... Now the stratiform rain questions. ...
    (rec.aviation.student)
  • [SI] Some "Weather" Comments
    ... the relatively insignificant extreme right edge of the composition. ... composition of this photograph. ... I applaud your choice of good over inclement weather as a subject. ... I like the vaguely similar shapes of the clouds, ...
    (rec.photo.equipment.35mm)
  • Re: Mt St Helens Activity
    ... >rock cracking and minor steam explosions from recent weeks of excess ... >Thunder is pretty rare in western Washington in January. ... McNut thinks his local weather determines or is an indicator of seismic ... would cause or indicate an impending seismic event would take place ...
    (sci.geo.meteorology)
  • ot: Stormy La Porte Indiana - man made weather
    ... La Porte is a town in northern Indiana. ... One year the weather bureau measured 31 percent more rain and snow, ... On the prevailing westerly winds the cumulus clouds with their ... heavy load of pollutants drifted eastward, ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)
Loading