Bracken House – Page 9 – Well Blogger Me

Winter storm brings record breaking gusts

Jan 112015

A vicious Winter storm, strengthened by a powerful jet stream, brought record-breaking gusts of wind, and rapidly fluctuating temperatures to Bracken House on Friday (9th) and Saturday (10th). The all-time record gust speed was broken when a gust of 49.5 mph was recorded at 06:23 on the 10th, from a westerly direction. One minute later, the January sustained wind speed record was also beaten with a speed of 31.1 mph. The storm also brought some record-breaking temperatures for January. At 17:37 on the 9th, the temperature reached 14.0°C, beating the previous January high of 13.3°C recorded at 16:31 on January 29th 2013. The temperature remained around [Read more]

The weather year – 2014

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Jan 032015

2014 was the joint warmest year so far recorded at Bracken House. The average temperature of 10.3°C equalled that of 2011. Every month recorded above average temperatures, except for August whose average of 14.2°C was the coldest August recorded here, and a full 1.0°C below the monthly mean. The highest temperature recorded was 27.6°C on the 26th July, with the coldest being -3.1°C on December 30th. The average high temperature was 14.1°C, equalling 2011’s best, with the average low temperature being 7.0°C, the highest for this location. The yearly mean temperature is now 9.4°C. The above You Tube video shows [Read more]

Weather review – December 2014

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Jan 022015

The weather in December 2014 was a very mixed bag with alternating mild and cold spells before the first significant snowfall of the Winter on the 26th. The all-time highest December temperature record was broken as was the yearly minimum temperature. Precipitation was well below average and winds were slightly stronger than normal. The maximum temperature in the month was 13.0°C on the 18th at 13:49 and the minimum temperature was -3.1°C on the 30th at 05:42. This was the highest December temperature recorded here, beating the previous best, set on December 26th 2011, by 0.1°C. The minimum temperature on this [Read more]

Weather bomb dumps 9 cms of snow on Selston

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Dec 272014

Weather bomb dumps 9 cms of snow on Selston

A weather bomb is defined as an intense low pressure system with a central pressure that falls 24 millibars in a 24-hour period. This phenomenon is known to meteorologists as ‘explosive cyclogenesis’ and often leads to high winds and heavy rain, or snow, if the temperature is low enough. On Boxing Day evening, this is exactly what happened as the ‘bomb’ tracked across North Wales, the North Midlands and South Yorkshire. Unfortunately, the southern edge of the system passed over Bracken House resulting in nine centimetres of snow falling between 17:00 and 02:00 the following morning. The maximum pressure recorded was 1030.0 [Read more]

Black-Headed Gull becomes 41st bird species seen at Bracken House

In the garden 1 Response »

Dec 262014

Gulls are very often seen flying over Bracken House, but none have ever landed in the fields or gardens until today. Never has a bird come close enough to be identified, but a Black-Headed Gull was seen feeding in the fields for most of today. Not really a black-headed bird, more chocolate-brown – in fact, for much of the year, it has a white head, as was noted today. It is most definitely not a ‘seagull‘ and is found commonly almost anywhere inland. Black-headed gulls are sociable, quarrelsome, noisy birds, usually seen in small groups or flocks, often gathering into [Read more]

Will 2014 have a White Christmas?

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Dec 052014

Around this time of the year, newspapers are awash with weather related stories, after all, weather sells copies. The prospects of a White Christmas is always discussed in these reports, but how likely are we to have one this year? Firstly, we need to decide what the definition of a White Christmas actually is. To most people, it means that snow is falling on to a ground already covered with snow. Robins will be hopping from post to post looking for scraps of food on the surface, while squirrels scratch in the snow looking for previously buried food. Unfortunately for snow-lovers, [Read more]

Weather review – November 2014

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Dec 012014

November 2014 was the least sunny month so far recorded at Bracken House. Despite this, temperatures were higher than average and rainfall was normal. Winds were light leading to many periods of misty and dull weather, especially in the latter half of the month. November’s maximum temperature was 15.7°C on the first of the month at 00:06. The minimum temperature was -1.2°C on the 25th at 07:05, the only frost day in both the month and the autumn season. Also on the 25th, the maximum temperature of 5.5°C was the lowest daytime maximum since January 30th. The average temperature for [Read more]

Jay becomes the 40th bird species to visit Bracken House

In the garden 1 Response »

Nov 032014

Jay becomes the 40th bird species to visit Bracken House

On November 3rd 2014, a Jay was seen at Bracken House. This was the fortieth different bird species recorded here since 2010. The bird was seen sitting on the fire pit, only a few feet from the kitchen, before flying into the large field. The Jay stayed here for a few minutes pecking at the ground before flying off. The Jay is a very colourful, though secretive member of the crow family. Found throughout the country they live in woodland, though they sometimes visit gardens. They feed on acorns, nuts, seeds and insects, but also eats nestlings of other birds and small [Read more]

Weather review – October 2014

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Nov 012014

Apart from the remnants of hurricane Gonzalo passing over the country on the 21st, creating a record wind gust for October, the month was decidedly average. Temperatures were slightly above average and rainfall amounts were exactly on average for the month. The maximum temperature in October was 19.1°C at 16:10 on the 3rd, with the minimum temperature being 2.8°C on the 12th at 08:02. This minimum is the lowest temperature since May 3rd when the thermometer fell to 0.6°C. This was also the first ground frost of the 2014/15 season, and the earliest a ground frost has been recorded here. [Read more]

Improving the front of the house

In the garden No Responses »

Oct 292014

When we moved in to Bracken House six years ago, the gardens were unsightly and tatty, while the land surrounding the gardens was overgrown and full of weeds. After a year of ‘seeing what comes up’ we decided to get in a team of landscape gardeners who ripped up the old borders and lawns and transformed the gardens. The work on the gardens and adjacent meadows was completed in early summer 2010 and I then tried to maintain the gardens myself. After four years of struggling, I decided that I wanted to sit back and enjoy the garden, and not spending all [Read more]

Weather report for September 2014

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Oct 012014

September 2014 was the second driest month and the least windy month ever at Bracken House. Temperatures were above normal, though not as warm as September 2011. The average temperature was identical to that of August 2014. The maximum temperature recorded in the month was 21.8°C on the 18th at 17:10, with the minimum being 5.2°C on the 22nd at 04:19. The average temperature for the month was 14.2°C, 0.7°C more than the September mean of 13.5°C. The average high temperature was 18.7°C, also the same as August, and the average low temperature was 10.2°C. A run of 26 days [Read more]

Was Summer 2014 one of the best?

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Sep 122014

For meteorologists, the year is split up into the following seasons: Spring – March to May Summer – June to August Autumn – September to November Winter December to February So, at midnight on August 31st, the Summer of 2014 came to an end, but what sort of Summer did we have? The temperature over the Summer averaged 15.5°C, 0.4°C cooler than the warmest recorded so far in the five years that the Bracken House weather station has been in operation. The warmest Summer so far was in 2013. The coldest Summer was in 2012 when the average temperature was only 14.5°C. The highest [Read more]

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