Metlink International 2000

Pitsford Hall Weather Station, Northampton, UK

http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/weather
Pitsford Hall, Northamptonshire, UK
 
Location: 52º 18' N 0º 53' W, altitude 115m asl
 
Climate: Temperate Maritime. At the time of writing, we are experiencing
an unseasonally mild January with temperatures averaging at 6.5C, nearly
3C above the monthly mean. A 'normal' January would see a good deal of
cloud and wintry showers and frequent early morning fog. 
 
Local forecast and weather readings: +44 (0) 7967 438 314
 
Web site: http://www.brixworth.demon.co.uk/weather
 
Background:
 
Northamptonshire Grammar School has established itself within the county
as one of the leading suppliers of local climatological data. The school
maintains a permanent weather station whose instrumentation conforms to
the high standards of the UK Meteorological Office. The station is run
by a team of sixth-form geography students who have all completed a six-
week course in theoretical meteorology and observational practice. 
 
A typical day sees a round of weather observations beginning at 0830
GMT, the compilation of a local forecast from charts, satellite images
and numerical models available via the Internet, the despatch of a
weather report via e-mail and fax to a growing list of daily
subscribers, updating of the station's web site and the release of a
SYNOP coded report. Additional observations are collected at 1300 hours
and 1600 hours during term time. The station prides itself on a high
degree of professionalism, a feature which has attracted the attention
of local companies who regularly request data. The station supplies data
to local newspapers and the local radio station.
 
The range of observations made and instrumentation used are extensive. 
 
Equipment Used                          Weather Recorded
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Large Stevenson screen housing          Air temperatures: current,
sheathed maximum and minimum thermo-    maximum and minimum
meters, wet and dry bulb thermometers,  Relative humidities
hygrograph and thermograph.
 
Standard Stevenson screen housing
back-up Mahogany mounted maximum
and minimum thermometers
 
Met Office pattern raingauge and        Rainfall: total, duration,
tilting syphon rainfall recorder        intensity
 
Campbell Stokes sunshine recorder       Sunshine hours
 
Totalising cup-counter anemometer,      Winds: 10 min mean, mean
digital wind direction and maximum      over 24 hours, max gust, 
gust logger, wind vane                  direction
 
Open-scale micro-barograph and Fortin   Barometric pressure and
pattern mercurial barometer             tendency: station & sea level
 
Hook-gauge evaporimeter                 Evaporation (summer only)
 
Soil and earth thermometers:            Soil, grass, concrete and
bare earth,                             earth temperatures
5cm,10cm,20cm,30cm,40cm,50cm,100cm
 
Grass and concrete minimum thermometers
 
 
In addition, observations are made of the state of the ground within a
designated ground enclosure and representative area, present weather,
past weather (up to two descriptions), dew point, visibility, cloud
types and coverage (up to three levels), thunder and lightning and other
phenomena.
 
The weather station conducts observations from two enclosures on the
school site and has its own networked office with three computers. One
enclosure is on the roof of the main school building affording excellent
exposure for about a 2 mile radius. This enclosure is currently being
fitted out with an automatic weather station. The ground enclosure is
located in a small area of the school out of bounds to pupils. The
elevation of the ground enclosure is 115 metres. The cistern of the
mercurial barometer is at 125 metres. The station is a member of the
Climatological Observers Link, station no 91012, and a corporate member
of the Royal Meteorological Society. 
 
Pitsford itself is situated on a rise above the Brampton valley, a
northern tributary of the River Nene. Within the catchment lies the
supply reservoir of Pitsford Water, some 3/4 of a mile from the school.
The reservoir supports many water sports, particularly sailing. The
Northampton Sailing School is a regular user of our weather reports.