[Dave K]

Those who followed the "Icebox Europe/Britain" threads by Ian Williams and myself  will know how this works. Basically it is a bit of fun to produce the kind of performance league table beloved by our politicos, in this case to find out which UKMO stations (no personal AWSs ;) ) are most consistently the wettest over an extended period by rainfall totals.

I propose to start this on 1st September, see how it goes through the autumn and then carry it on though the winter if it's not too time consuming, for a whole year if I can really be ar bothered. In the meantime I open the thread for comments, questions and suggestions.

Here are the basic rules:

1) Data is taken solely from Synoptic Stations from Ogimet online rankings for 00h - 00h simply because it is an handy resource. Thus no Climate Reporting stations, sorry;
2) For reason above the highest readings on the daily Met Office lists may differ greatly or not appear on here;
3) All elevations are considered, even mountain stations;
4) "Britain" = the whole UK of course, with Crown Dependencies Isle of Man and Channel Islands stations also included for interest;
5) Points will be awarded for the 10 highest amounts each day ( 00h - 00h ): 10 for wettest, then 9, then 8, down to 1 point for 10th;
6) Locations with equal amounts on a day will share a ratio of the points as long as the share is 0.1 or more;
7) In ongoing rankings, places with equal points will be ranked secondly by number of appearances in daily rankings, thirdly by highest amount on any one day.

[PaulKn]

Capel Curig should do well!

[Dave K]

Quote

PaulKn - 26/8/2011 13:54 Capel Curig should do well!

That's where I'd put my money ;)

[Flatlander]

Quote

Big Dave's Gusset - 26/8/2011 14:03

Quote

PaulKn - 26/8/2011 13:54 Capel Curig should do well!

That's where I'd put my money ;)

This could be an interesting one as it isn't obvious! Skye would be a good bet, if Lusa wasn't in the rainshadow area. Tyndrum?


I would think it should be relatively easy to automate this by reading the ogimet website, BDG. Would that take away the fun?

Where do you get the totals from?

[4wd]

Borrowdale usually wins this.

[Andy Mayhew]

I think Loch Glascarnoch would be my favourite for this

Others that ought be included in thhe Highlands would be Altnaharra, Lusa (Skye), Tulloch and possibly Aultbea. And also Lerwick - which may not get the highest rainfalls but I suspect sees the most days with rainfall and will often score when the rest of the country is dry.

Unfortunately places like the Cluanie Inn and Tyndrum aren't synop stations.

[Ian Williams]

Great idea Dave look forward to it starting. Tim using the Ogimet data is so much easier and it gives us totals 00Z to 00Z whereas other data supplied say by the met-office is from 21Z to 21Z, so using Ogimet the parameters are all the same. Using any other methods is really really time consuming :-)

My 3 favs would be Shap, Capel Curig and Eskdalemuir

[Flatlander]

I'll have a look at how easy it is to read from Ogimet after work. Once read it will be a simple task to calculate the scores. After all, it is raining today...so I won't be going out!

Pity about the Cluanie Inn. "Glen Shiel" kind of gives the game away about the local weather (maybe that's for the rain in different languages thread). The "Cluanie Curtain" is not a myth! I've seen it many times.

[Dave K]

It's probably not impossible to automate it to some extent and incorporate all 150 odd synop listed stations in OGIMET so that every daily rainfall amount for each station could be totalled up and a league table of total mm for everywhere kept but it just goes beyond what I want to do.

As Ian says, the OGIMET ranking makes it easy to create something straightforward for a bit of fun and this isn't meant to be rigorously scientific anyway. :)

[Dave K]

The good thing about OGIMET is if I miss a day you can always go back and get data from the past, if I miss what the UKMO says and it isn't posted in the daily round up on UKWW then it's missed for good.

Here's a sample of a day's results using yesterday's figures on OGIMET as an example.

24 hours amount precipitation. 08/26/2011 at 00:00 UTC
(10 of 134 stations)			POINTS
1	Dundrennan (United Kingdom)	25.0 mm	10
2	Hereford/Credenhill (United Kingdom)	20.0 mm	9
3	Middle Wallop (United Kingdom)	19.0 mm	8
4	Thorney Island (United Kingdom)	18.0 mm	7
5	Coleshill (United Kingdom)	17.8 mm	6
=6	Church Fenton (United Kingdom)	16.8 mm	5
=6	Pershore (United Kingdom)	16.8 mm	5
=8	Fylingdales (United Kingdom)	16.0 mm	3
=8	Linton-On-Ouse (United Kingdom)	16.0 mm	3
10	Saint Catherine's Point (United Kingdom)	15.0 mm	1

This all gets dumped into a simple Access relational database with queries for sorting league tables: by location, by nation, by month etc.

[Flatlander]

Wasn't suggesting anything like that, though obviously it is possible. Was just something to automate generating a table so you don't have to! If you'd rather do it manually then fair enough - if the computer just churns numbers out it lacks the human touch and/or the sanity filter.

This is asking "where does it always seem to be raining" as opposed to "where collects the most rain", which is perhaps more enlightening, anyway.

[skanky]

Edit - cross-posted.

This url will get a text listing of all SYNOP reports from ogimet for the UK for 00z 24th to 00z 25th.

http://www.ogimet.co...af=00&send=send


Should be relatively easy to knock up a script that does that every day, then strips out the relevant field and totals it up.
Here's the output format:

Quote

################################################################################
# SYNOPS from 03002, Baltasound (United Kingdom) | 60-45N | 000-51W | 15 m
################################################################################
201108232350 AAXX 24004 03002 15684 /1009 10126 20100 30142 40161 57010 69941 92350
333 88/46=
201108240050 AAXX 24014 03002 45681 /1008 10125 20098 30138 40156 58011 90050
333 87/46 87/56=
201108240150 AAXX 24024 03002 45668 /0907 10125 20104 30132 40150 58014 90150
333 88/45=

I see Baltasound reports rainfall every 6 hours.
Rainfall is the field starting with 6 and the next three digits are quantitiy in mm up to 989 with 990 being trace, and 991-999 being 0.1mm etc.
The last digit is time period - but that's normally (IIRC) the period since the last ob.


There is a daily summaries look-up that would be easier, but the resultant page is in html - the text format still returns html, so it's harder to parse - though probably possible in something like C# or python using an html library.

http://www.ogimet.co...ays=1&Send=send

[Dave K]

Quote

Tim Prosser - 26/8/2011 14:56 Wasn't suggesting anything like that, though obviously it is possible. Was just something to automate generating a table so you don't have to! If you'd rather do it manually then fair enough - if the computer just churns numbers out it lacks the human touch and/or the sanity filter. This is asking "where does it always seem to be raining" as opposed to "where collects the most rain", which is perhaps more enlightening, anyway.

Well I did think about it before making the original post. Last year I kept daily mean temperatures for various locations in Europe during winter but used about 15 selected stations only, copying output from OGIMET into Excel and importing it into Access...wasn't quite as bad as you might think! Selecting the "right" stations in the first place was difficult though.

For this "Boggy Britain", once  the station list is stored in a data table in a one off task, adding the daily data manually doesn't take long, probably takes just as long to import it.

Just see http://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynext?lang=en&state=United+K&rank=15&ano=2011&mes=08&day=26&hora=00&Send=send for the daily ranking, simple.

[Flatlander]

"Boggy Britain": Results for Thu, 25 Aug 2011

Location	Rain (mm)	Points
Dundrennan (United Kingdom)	25.00mm	10.0 points
Hereford/Credenhill (United Kingdom)	20.00mm	9.0 points
Middle Wallop (United Kingdom)	19.00mm	8.0 points
Thorney Island (United Kingdom)	18.00mm	7.0 points
Coleshill (United Kingdom)	17.80mm	6.0 points
Church Fenton (United Kingdom)	16.80mm	4.5 points
Pershore (United Kingdom)	16.80mm	4.5 points
Linton-On-Ouse (United Kingdom)	16.00mm	2.5 points
Fylingdales (United Kingdom)	16.00mm	2.5 points
Saint Catherine	15.00mm	1.0 points

"Boggy Britain": Totals up to Thu, 25 Aug 2011

Location	Points	Entries	Highest Rainfall (mm)
Dundrennan (United Kingdom)	10.0	1	25.00
Hereford/Credenhill (United Kingdom)	9.0	1	20.00
Middle Wallop (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	19.00
Thorney Island (United Kingdom)	7.0	1	18.00
Coleshill (United Kingdom)	6.0	1	17.80
Church Fenton (United Kingdom)	4.5	1	16.80
Pershore (United Kingdom)	4.5	1	16.80
Linton-On-Ouse (United Kingdom)	2.5	1	16.00
Fylingdales (United Kingdom)	2.5	1	16.00
Saint Catherine	1.0	1	15.00

---

"Boggy Britain": Results for Fri, 26 Aug 2011

Location	Rain (mm)	Points
Redesdale (United Kingdom)	39.00mm	9.5 points
Loftus Samos (United Kingdom)	39.00mm	9.5 points
Kinloss (United Kingdom)	30.00mm	8.0 points
Scampton (United Kingdom)	29.00mm	6.5 points
Liscombe (United Kingdom)	29.00mm	6.5 points
Lyneham (United Kingdom)	27.00mm	5.0 points
Cottesmore (United Kingdom)	26.00mm	4.0 points
Waddington (United Kingdom)	23.20mm	3.0 points
Leconfield (United Kingdom)	23.00mm	2.0 points
Milford Haven (United Kingdom)	22.00mm	1.0 points

"Boggy Britain": Totals up to Fri, 26 Aug 2011

Location	Points	Entries	Highest Rainfall (mm)
Dundrennan (United Kingdom)	10.0	1	25.00
Redesdale (United Kingdom)	9.5	1	39.00
Loftus Samos (United Kingdom)	9.5	1	39.00
Hereford/Credenhill (United Kingdom)	9.0	1	20.00
Kinloss (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	30.00
Middle Wallop (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	19.00
Thorney Island (United Kingdom)	7.0	1	18.00
Scampton (United Kingdom)	6.5	1	29.00
Liscombe (United Kingdom)	6.5	1	29.00
Coleshill (United Kingdom)	6.0	1	17.80

---

"Boggy Britain": Results for Sat, 27 Aug 2011

Location	Rain (mm)	Points
Fair Isle (United Kingdom)	26.00mm	10.0 points
Kirkwall Airport (United Kingdom)	21.20mm	9.0 points
Lerwick (United Kingdom)	15.20mm	8.0 points
Redesdale (United Kingdom)	14.00mm	7.0 points
Spadeadam (United Kingdom)	13.00mm	6.0 points
Rhyl (United Kingdom)	12.80mm	5.0 points
Charterhall (United Kingdom)	10.00mm	4.0 points
Capel Curig (United Kingdom)	9.40mm	3.0 points
Linton-On-Ouse (United Kingdom)	8.00mm	1.0 points
Crosby (United Kingdom)	8.00mm	1.0 points
St. Athan (United Kingdom)	8.00mm	1.0 points

"Boggy Britain": Totals up to Sat, 27 Aug 2011

Location	Points	Entries	Highest Rainfall (mm)
Redesdale (United Kingdom)	16.5	2	39.00
Fair Isle (United Kingdom)	10.0	1	26.00
Dundrennan (United Kingdom)	10.0	1	25.00
Loftus Samos (United Kingdom)	9.5	1	39.00
Kirkwall Airport (United Kingdom)	9.0	1	21.20
Hereford/Credenhill (United Kingdom)	9.0	1	20.00
Kinloss (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	30.00
Middle Wallop (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	19.00
Lerwick (United Kingdom)	8.0	1	15.20
Thorney Island (United Kingdom)	7.0	1	18.00

---

[Flatlander]

The above is the result of some experimental Python code, auto-posting results gathered from ogimet and applying BDG's rules. Guess it works!

Rather than spoil BDG's effort here, maybe there could be some suggestions for something similar that this game-bot could play?

Windiest? Sunniest? Best place to live? Highest diurnal range?

The rules can be whatever you like as long as they can be applied daily, and the values are reported on Ogimet. The game-bot won't care if they are time consuming...

PS I was waiting for this season's plum harvest to turn into jam! Beats watching TV. :%

[Dave K]

Thanks Tim, I know nothing about Python whatsoever but it looks useful though I shall continue with what I know (Excel, Access) for now. Has to be said that blue text on blue background isn't easy to read though ;)

Sunshine would be an interesting one to do if only there were more synoptic stations reporting sunshine hours (NW England especially lacking). There are a few extra Climate stations reporting sunshine but integrating those (from Meteogroup online data) would be too much work I expect.

Well, back to the topic and the models suggest there will be plenty of rain about from the end of the week, the far NW looks set to stake an early claim for this no doubt unwanted accolade...

[Flatlander]

Quote

Big Dave's Gusset - 29/8/2011 10:52

Thanks Tim, I know nothing about Python whatsoever but it looks useful though I shall continue with what I know (Excel, Access) for now. Has to be said that blue text on blue background isn't easy to read though ;)

Sunshine would be an interesting one to do if only there were more synoptic stations reporting sunshine hours (NW England especially lacking). There are a few extra Climate stations reporting sunshine but integrating those (from Meteogroup online data) would be too much work I expect.

Well, back to the topic and the models suggest there will be plenty of rain about from the end of the week, the far NW looks set to stake an early claim for this no doubt unwanted accolade...

Yes, I'm not suggesting changing your methods - was just an experiment on my part to see if it could be done. The game-bot can take over if you get bored. I forgot the text colour depended on your settings though - should have made sure it was black!

I'll have a look at sunshine - reading from Meteogroup wouldn't be too hard, but its such an unreliable indicator that it probably isn't worth the effort.

I wondered about doing one that ogimet can't do automatically - such as "Middle Britain". The most average! Where best represents the day's weather.

[Dave K]

BTW Tim I see you managed to interpret my explanation of how the points are shared as I intended although I'm not sure I put it very clearly!  There is a maximum of 55 points available each day, so if as is possible on a dryish day 15 locations all tied for first place with 0.2mm they would get an equal (albeit awkward) share of 55/15 and not 10 points each. Similarly if 5 locations all tie for 1st place they will get 10+9+8+7+6 (40)/5 = 8 points each. This means that an outright winner on its own at the top gets the best reward.

[Dave K]

Here is the result of the first day in the "competition". Wondered if we might get a completely dry day to start but rain duly arrived in the north west...

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Port Ellen is a small town on the island of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland.

Port Ellen (Scottish Gaelic: Port Ìlein) is named after the wife of the founder, Frederick Campbell of Islay. Its previous name, Leòdamas, is derived from old Norse meaning "Leòd's Harbour".

Port Ellen is built around Loch Leodamais, Islay's main deep water harbour. It is the second largest town on Islay, only slightly smaller than Bowmore and provides the main ferry connection between Islay and the mainland, at Kennacraig. The Port Ellen Distillery was first established in the 1820s and ceased production of Scotch whisky in 1983. The large malting continues to produce for the majority of the distilleries on Islay.

The area around Port Ellen has a variety of archaeological sites covering the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age periods. There are standing stones at Kilbride, a fort at Borraichill Mor, several chambered cairns, and a chapel at Cill Tobar Lasrach. Nearby lie the ruined remains of the 14th-century Dunyvaig Castle, once a fortress of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles.

George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Labour politician and former Secretary General of NATO was born in Port Ellen on 12 April 1946.

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[scrapemedic]

I like the inclusion of a little local information