[Dave K]

Following on from "Boggy Britain" which I still hope to continue to 12 months duration, the first four month's results will determine a to-be-decided numer of candidates for the International Challenge of 2012 which will be 15 - 20 locations in the Northern Hemisphere in a Maritime/SubPolar Oceanic climate of 45 to 60 °N and below 500m asl.

To make it manageable the locations will be Synop stations with data taken from Ogimet, 06Z for Europe and 12Z for North America. No points system, simply precipitation totals in mm and I hope snowfall won't mess it up too much!

Representatives outside the UK will most likely be:

IRELAND: Valentia Observatory, Belmullet, Connaught Airport

NORWAY: Bergen/Florida

CANADA: Port Hardy (British Columbia)

USA: Quillayute Airport (Washington State, west of the rain shadow that Seattle lies in), Yakutat Airport (Alaska, one of the wettest places in the USA).



Comments welcome, more info to come.

[Dave K]

So the qualifiers from the UK to add to those listed above and make a startlist of 20 are:

SCOTLAND
Skye Lusa
Tulloch Bridge
Loch Glascarnoch
Eskdalemuir
Glasgow Bishopton
Aultbea
Islay: Port Ellen

NORTHERN IRELAND
Ballypatrick Forest
Lough Fea

ENGLAND
Shap
Keswick

WALES
Capel Curig
Lake Vyrnwy

Competition will open with the 06Z synops reported on the 2nd January for European stations and 12Z for North American stations. Full updates here probably every three days or so.

And to add a little spice there will be a "Devil take the hindmost" eliminator every two months, so the location with the lowest total will be removed from the competition

[Dave K]

Here is a rough table with the data for the first three days, as at 06Z or 12Z on each date, early scares because of unreported synop data from Bergen/Florida and Capel Curig but happily all sorted and up to date now.

LOCATION	TOTAL mm	02/01/2012	03/01/2012	04/01/2012
Tulloch Bridge	74.8	21.2	29.0	24.6
Lake Vyrnwy	67.8	17.2	35.6	15.0
Capel Curig	64.8	19.0	34.4	11.4
Shap	59.2	10.8	33.0	15.4
Quillayute, WA	50.3	0.0	15.2	35.1
Skye/Lusa	47.4	10.0	20.8	16.6
Bergen/Florida	47.2	10.7	25.1	11.4
Eskdalemuir	43.8	2.0	24.0	17.8
Yakutat, AK	42.9	30.0	0.5	12.4
Loch Glascarnoch	42.4	11.2	9.4	21.8
Port Hardy, BC	42.2	Trace	8.4	33.8
Aultbea	36.0	10.2	8.8	17.0
Glasgow Bishopton	30.0	1.2	18.6	10.2
Valentia Obs.	27.6	4.0	21.9	1.7
Islay: Port Ellen	26.6	6.0	13.8	6.8
Lough Fea	24.4	0.4	12.0	12.0
Connaught Airport	23.9	9.0	12.0	2.9
Ballypatrick Forest	21.0	0.8	11.4	8.8
Keswick	20.2	1.6	14.8	3.8
Belmullet	20.0	6.0	9.0	5.0

[Dave K]

I'm not intending to do an update every day like this, but I though I'd put today's up just in case it is the only day when a UK station isn't at the top

LOCATION	TOTAL mm	02/01/2012	03/01/2012	04/01/2012	05/01/2012
Quillayute, WA	111.5	0.0	15.2	35.1	61.2
Lake Vyrnwy	106.4	17.2	35.6	15.0	38.6
Tulloch Bridge	103.6	21.2	29.0	24.6	28.8
Shap	89.6	10.8	33.0	15.4	30.4
Capel Curig	88.2	19.0	34.4	11.4	23.4
Loch Glascarnoch	75.4	11.2	9.4	21.8	33.0
Eskdalemuir	70.8	2.0	24.0	17.8	27.0
Port Hardy, BC	67.6	Trace	8.4	33.8	25.4
Skye/Lusa	65.8	10.0	20.8	16.6	18.4
Glasgow Bishopton	59.4	1.2	18.6	10.2	29.4
Aultbea	55.8	10.2	8.8	17.0	19.8
Lough Fea	51.2	0.4	12.0	12.0	26.8
Bergen/Florida	50.1	10.7	25.1	11.4	2.9
Yakutat, AK	49.8	30.0	0.5	12.4	6.9
Ballypatrick Forest	45.8	0.8	11.4	8.8	24.8
Islay: Port Ellen	45.4	6.0	13.8	6.8	18.8
Keswick	44.4	1.6	14.8	3.8	24.2
Connaught Airport	34.9	9.0	12.0	2.9	11.0
Valentia Obs.	33.6	4.0	21.9	1.7	6.0
Belmullet	30.7	6.0	9.0	5.0	10.7

[Ian Williams]

Quite impressive totals there Dave with over 4 inches in 4 days, I would imagine that some places in Essex never saw that amount in any single month in 2011

[Dave K]

Ian Williams, on 05 January 2012 - 20:18, said:

Quite impressive totals there Dave with over 4 inches in 4 days, I would imagine that some places in Essex never saw that amount in any single month in 2011

HI Ian, inspired by the total for Squamish Airport B.C yesterday I am going to try and include it too as I see it's wetter per annum than Port Hardy. The synops are a bit odd but I make it the new league leader with 146.6 mm in 4 days!

[DG57]

I can perhaps bring you some French stations ? From Brittany ? Or even from Basque Country ? You could also include Chinese stations or stations from other Eastern countries ?

Edit : I've just realized it's a challenge for climate of the western side of continents, so China doesn't match.

This post has been edited by MorganeLanesle: 06 January 2012 - 01:09

[Dave K]

MorganeLanesle, on 06 January 2012 - 01:06, said:

I can perhaps bring you some French stations ? From Brittany ? Or even from Basque Country ? You could also include Chinese stations or stations from other Eastern countries ?

Edit : I've just realized it's a challenge for climate of the western side of continents, so China doesn't match.

Hi Morgane, yes I did think about adding French or Spanish Galician stations but not sure that there's anywhere really quite wet enough! Even Cornwall would struggle to keep up. Also considered the far east, e.g Kamchatka and northern Japan but there is the time difference issue and the fact that I need to keep it down to manageable proportions or it's too much work.

[Dave K]

Morgane - actually the synop station at Tarbes Ossun Lourdes has a competitive annual average rainfall and below the 500m asl threshold so I will add it to the "Challenge". Also I will add Vigo / Peinador from Spain but that is all as it makes 23 which is quite enough!

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 06 January 2012 - 12:04

[Flatlander]

I've been to the Quillayute area (the Olympic national park) and it is a little "damp".

I suspect we were the last people up the Hoh River (which flows into the Pacific a little south of Quillayute) the year we visited, as we were alone at the upper campsites (more 'approved places to pitch a tent' than anything) and only a day or two after we got out, 15 inches of rain fell in a day, washing out all the trails, bridges, trees etc etc and closing the place until the following spring (this was in October). There were at least 4 inches on the day we walked out, and I remember the town of Forks being awash.

I think that it it reasonably dry in the summer though, so it will be interesting to see if it can beat western Scotland or Alaska over a whole year.

In the US it is heralded as their 'rainforest' - albeit a temperate one. We have very similar temperate rainforest habitats in W Wales, Devon and particularly Scotland, but without the huge Sitka and Douglas Fir, although where these have been planted in the 19th century and left to grow there is a distinct resemblance. The Tongass in Alaska is the largest unmessed with (for now) version of this habitat.

As you (BDG) like to post some info on locations, I'll post a couple of pictures here to give you an idea of the natural habitat of the area - hope this is OK. The first could be somewhere in 'Boggy Britain', the second probably not!

Attached thumbnail(s)

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This post has been edited by Tim Prosser: 06 January 2012 - 12:59

[Dave K]

Thanks Tim, always good to hear from people with first hand experience of a place. The climate does have a fairly distinct wet season from November to March with rainfall similar to the eastern UK for June/July/August. The Olympic Mountains give a rain shadow for the city of Seattle which isn't as wet as its reputation which was the reason for choosing an "unknown" place like Quillayute as it lies open to all the Pacific weather systems can throw at it!

[Ian Williams]

Prins Christian Sund in Greenland at 60 deg north has its fair share most of it snow

http://www.ogimet.co...&min=0&ndays=30

[Dave K]

Ian Williams, on 06 January 2012 - 14:16, said:

Prins Christian Sund in Greenland at 60 deg north has its fair share most of it snow

http://www.ogimet.co...&min=0&ndays=30

Good grief they must be up to their eyes in snow a good find, that will bring it up to 24! (I'll just say goodbye to any vestiges of a life that I had left )

I'll be taking of one per month in the "Devil Takes the Hindmost" now though...

[Dave K]

Right , well after all the new additions I need to put up the proper League Table so far so we can see where things stand. At last Scotland may have some real competition!

[Dave K]

Update of rainfall totals for the last 3 days only to 06Z for Europe and Greenland and 12Z for North America. Capel Curig currently isn't reporting 24 hour rainfall totals. NW Europe relatively dry at the moment.

LOCATION	TOTAL mm	07/01/2012	08/01/2012	09/01/2012
Port Hardy, B.C.	101.4	0.0	70.0	31.4
Prins Christian Sund	72.0	19.3	31.8	20.9
Yakutat, AK	69.1	12.7	43.2	13.2
Squamish Airport, B.C.	33.3	0.0	11.6	21.7
Skye/Lusa	24.2	11.4	1.6	11.2
Bergen/Florida	24.0	12.5	9.2	2.3
Aultbea	23.8	9.8	1.2	12.8
Loch Glascarnoch	21.4	7.8	4.2	9.4
Tulloch Bridge	17.2	8.4	3.2	5.6
Quillayute, WA	13.2	7.3	2.3	3.6
Ballypatrick Forest	8.8	5.2	2.4	1.2
Eskdalemuir	8.2	4.8	1.0	2.4
Connaught Airport	7.8	2.4	0.5	4.9
Islay: Port Ellen	7.6	3.8	1.6	2.2
Glasgow Bishopton	7.0	3.2	0.8	3.0
Belmullet	6.5	2.2	0.2	4.1
Lough Fea	5.8	2.8	0.4	2.6
Lake Vyrnwy	5.0	5.0	0.0	0.0
Keswick	4.8	N/R	3.4	1.4
Shap	3.2	2.6	0.2	0.4
Valentia Obs.	2.6	1.2	0.4	1.0
Tarbes Ossun Lourdes	1.4	Trace	0.0	1.4
Capel Curig	Trace	N/R	N/R	Trace
Vigo / Peinador	Trace	Trace	Trace	Trace

[tormenta]

The annual precipitation is around 3250 mm, here daily data in Tofino

http://climate.weath...2&Month=1&Day=6

[Dave K]

tormenta, on 09 January 2012 - 17:50, said:

The annual precipitation is around 3250 mm, here daily data in Tofino

http://climate.weath...2&Month=1&Day=6

Yes indeed, unfortunately it doesn't report through Ogimet like many much wetter stations than those I have to leave out because it's too much to trawl through different sites to get the figures each day. So I haven't got a definitive selection for sure but it's only for fun anyway. Perhaps another year I can get a different way to do it and maybe have an East Asian and New Zealand in there too.

[Dave K]

Day 11: An update of the overall league table. With 11 days gone many places still awaiting a dry day. Capel Curig not reporting properly but as yet I don't think it's made a huge difference.

---

Can't find out much about Prins Christian Sund but the first picture shows steps leading down to the bay from the weather station, the second looking up. From 1961 - 1990 it averaged 2474mm precipitation per year.

[Ian Williams]

Hi Dave not sure if this place fulfills your criteria but this place has flagged up because its been the wettest place in Europe for 3 days running, a quick add up on the old abacus lol reveals Liarvatn in Norway has had 294.5 mm of the wet stuff since the 2nd January, and of course whether your able to add another place to your growing list

http://www.ogimet.co...&min=0&ndays=30

[Dave K]

Ian Williams, on 13 January 2012 - 16:10, said:

Hi Dave not sure if this place fulfills your criteria but this place has flagged up because its been the wettest place in Europe for 3 days running, a quick add up on the old abacus lol reveals Liarvatn in Norway has had 294.5 mm of the wet stuff since the 2nd January, and of course whether your able to add another place to your growing list

http://www.ogimet.co...&min=0&ndays=30

EDIT: there is some recent historic data for Liarvatn at http://www.yr.no/pla...statistics.html

It doesn't show any 30 climate normals as it was only set up in July 2010 - so that's my reason for missing it!


Yes I pretty much knew that whatever places I pick, there will be wetter ones on average and that as soon as it starts somewhere I hadn't even thought of will turn out to be much wetter. That's the way of it really but there comes a point where a line has to be drawn or I'll end with a hundred of them! Perhaps when I do the Devil takes the Hindmost later on I can slip a new one in retrospectively. At the moment Ireland, France and Spain are struggling to compete though it would be a shame to lose a nation completely. Scotland may be over-represented

So keep posting any new ideas (anyone) about potential places to add but bear in mind that it's one in and one out to keep it manageable, adding retrospective data to 50 days is possible with Ogimet so mid Feb will be the final cut off for that.

The figure for Prins Christian Sund is interesting, another huge addition today. I am presuming that this is not a heated gauge giving contemporaneous rainfall equivalent but is doing it in dollops as accumulated snow melts as it gave 56 mm in 12 hours at -2 °C with sunshine as the reported weather condition! So the "daily stats" might not strictly represent 24 hours.

This post has been edited by Big Dave's Gusset: 13 January 2012 - 17:23