Nottinghamshire basked in sun last month - but the region was
actually warmer during March 1990, the year Pavarotti shot to fame
during the football World Cup, says a weather expert.
Southwell-based
Jim Rothwell (FRMetS), a Fellow of the Royal Meteorlogical Society, and
former MET office forecaster, hit the headlines last year for compiling
Central England’s most comprehensive record of weather data –
stretching back to Roman times.
His record, the Central England
Weather Series, is kept in the Nottinghamshire County Council archives
service and details hundreds of interesting weather events and facts and
figures sourced from history books, the MET office, weather journals
and other historic sources such as the writings of Samuel Pepys.
And
while hundreds of people enjoyed the unseasonally warm afternoons
during March here in the region, Jim says the monthly mean temperature
was 8 degrees C. Yet, in 1990 the mean temperature for March was warmer
in the region at 8.5 degrees C.
Jim’s comprehensive records show
that the highest temperature recorded in March this year was 20.5
degrees C, but this was eclipsed by a recording of 23 degrees C on March
9, 1948. Jim said: “People’s interest in the weather never wanes,
especially when we appear to have unseasonal weather. It was a warmer
month than normal last month but the mean temperature was compromised
because while we had a lot of hot afternoons there were also a number of
ground frosts in the mornings.
“It is quite interesting to note that the average temperature in the region was actually higher in 1990 than this year in March.
“The
weather never ceases to amaze with the advent of snow in Scotland this
week after a week of warm weather. But again, rapidly changing
conditions have been witnessed before. For example, just two weeks
before the highest weather for the region was recorded in March 1948
there had been snow on the ground.”
Jim (80) is on the editorial board for the journal Weather and worked for the Met Office for 38 years as a weather forecaster.
On
his retirement in 1989, he turned detective to begin to piece together
the most comprehensive weather study there is for central England.
In
his time at the Met Office he spent ten years as a weather observer at
College of Aeronautics at Cranfield in Bedfordshire, and also spent some
years at the research unit at Cardington, near Bedford, for climate
research. It was his job to advise the RAF on when to fly by forecasting
the weather. He was also the expert weather forecaster for filming of
the 1965 James Bond classic Thunderball, where the Vulcan bomber was
filmed at RAF Waddington Airfield.
Mark Dorrington, Team Manager
Archives and Local Studies, at Nottinghamshire County Council, said:
“This is a fantastic and comprehensive record of weather in Central
England and we are privileged to have it in our archives.
“The
weather is always a fascination for people and this collection of
records is a hidden gem, so we are delighted to let people know it is
available.”
The records (Ref: DD1963) can be consulted at
Nottinghamshire Archives, Castle Meadow Road, Nottingham, NG2 1AG on
Tuesday 9am-8pm, Wednesday, Friday 9am–4.45pm and Saturday 9am–12.45pm.
They
are freely accessible to anyone with a valid Archives reader’s ticket
which can be obtained by providing proof of identity and address.
From: http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/nottinghamshire-weather-records-available-to-view-1-4413414
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