Temperatures in Askam, January 2010

The first temperature update of 2010 and January was obviously an extremely cold month across the whole country. Perhaps unsurprisingly my datalogger recorded its lowest ever monthly mean and minimum temperatures for this month.

Mean temperature – 3.24 C

Maximum temperature – 10.77 C

Minimum temperature – -2.13 C

The minimum was recorded on the 7th of January at 9:13 AM. The mean temperature is a full 1.4 degrees below the temperature of December 2009, which was the coldest month on record.

Again these temperatures come with the caveat that the datalogger is located in a concrete yard and is exposed to the sun, which tends to record warmer temperatures than it would if situated in a rural location.

Two weekend walks in the Lake District

At home this weekend so I decided to make the most of a good, clear weekend’s weather by taking two walks. The first (Saturday) was a walk from Coniston, visiting Tilberthwaite, Little Langdale, Elterwater, Black Crag and Tarn Hows before returning to Coniston. The second walk on Sunday was a family walk to High Rigg near Thirlmere with a return down St. John’s in the Vale. A mention must be made on the second walk of the excellent tea room at Low Bridge End Farm, which has a self-service facility which we took advantage of. The weather all weekend was chilly, although there was a bit of warmth to the sun.

Walk one (Coniston):

Lovely valley scenery near Tilberthwaite with the Ill Bell ridge appearing over Loughrigg Fell.

Zooming in on Pike O’Stickle and Loft Crag.

Swirl How and Great Carrs above Little Langdale Tarn.

The classic view of the Langdale Pikes above Elterwater.

The River Brathay just downstream of the outflow from Elterwater.

A view from the top of Black Crag now, looking south to Esthwaite Water.

A view of Lingmoor Fell and the Langdale Pikes from the summit of Black Crag.

Cold Pike, Pike O’Blisco, Crinkle Crags and Bowfell.

A Belted Galloway cow, keeping warm with its two layers of fur, photographed near Tarn Hows.

A photo taken on the way home – Fairfield and Great Rigg above Coniston Water.

Helvellyn and the Fairfield Horseshoe fells above Coniston Water.

Walk two (High Rigg):

An early morning view of Crinkle Crags and Bowfell over Windermere.

Looking a bit brighter at around midday – Bassenthwaite Lake viewed from High Rigg.

The Eel Crag-Sail-Scar Crags-Causey Pike ridge.

A monochrome-looking Thirlmere to the south.

Blencathra and Tewit Tarn.

Castlerigg stone circle with the slopes of Latrigg behind it.

Skiddaw (Little Man).

The Eel Crag group of fells again.

A final view of Blencathra from Sosgill Bridge in St. John’s-in-the-Vale.

Eston Moor

With the forecast set for sunny, I decided to head out a short afternoon walk to Eston Moor, a low hill situated between Teesside and the North York Moors. It is a good viewpoint,  with an interesting contrast between urban and rural views to the north and south, respectively; however the day was much cloudier and hazier than expected. The walk was quite muddy and wet until the moorland was reached, with some melting snow hanging about on the path making walking a little awkward at times.

Eston Moor. The summit is called Eston Nab and features a monument made of the remnants of a watch tower which was built in 1808 (see http://fansonline.net/middlesbrough/lost_teesside/?p=9 for more).

A view from the summit, with a wide range of industrial activity situated around the mouth of the River Tees.

A wide view over Middlesbrough.

Looking south towards Captain Cook’s Monument and Roseberry Topping, with some snow remaining on north-facing slopes.

The hazy Carlton hills.

A zoomed in view on the iconic Transporter Bridge across the River Tees.

Durham snow

Back in Durham and the city has not escaped the large amounts of snow currently being experienced across the UK. I had a walk up to Aidans college to get some views across the city. There is about 5-6 inches of snow lying on the ground with more in drifts. The day seems a little milder than of late, however it is currently snowing again.

 

Durham Cathedral viewed from Aidans College.

Zooming in on the Penshaw Monument.

The Gilesgate area of Durham across the city. The round ball on the hill is a water tower.

Durham Observatory, home of the long-running weather record from the 1840s onwards (http://www.geography.dur.ac.uk/projects/weather/Home/tabid/666/Default.aspx)

Elvet Hill Road, Durham.

An elevated view from the ‘Mound’ at Ustinov College.

Askam, Torver and Elterwater

Beautiful blue skies today in South Cumbria so a few opportunities to take some photos. We went a short family walk to Elterwater (we had initially planned to do the Elterwater round but cut the walk short due to icy paths and time, walking instead to Skelwith Bridge and back). The fells looked stunning with the covering of snow being maintained due to the cold weather.

A late morning view from Askam Pier, with the Scafells covered in snow but the lower fells including Stickle Pike having lost their cover.

And a wider view.

Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man.

Driving up to Elterwater in the afternoon, a view of Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man from near Torver.

A robin at Elterwater. It was remarkably tame and was hopping around in the tree a yard or so away from where we were.

The classic view of the Langdale Pikes from Elterwater.

Zooming in on Harrison Stickle.

Temperatures in Askam, December 2009

An update on tempreatures in Askam over the last month. Unfortunately the datalogger battery ran out in November and therefore data held on the logger (October and some of November) was lost. However the logger is up and running again and data is complete for December. Firstly a reminder of the whole record:

Month	Year	Mean temperature	High	Low	Notes
March	2007	8.17	18.18	0.39	Incomplete
April	2007	12.69	25.33	2.95
May	2007	13.26	25.65	7.95
June	2007	16.51	28.47	10.44
July	2007	15.88	24.32	12.02	Incomplete
August	2007	16.91	31.7	11.5	Incomplete
September	2007	14.7	26.6	6.09
October	2007	12.48	22.21	5.65
November	2007	8.97	18.48	1.35
December	2007	6.12	12.47	-1.02
January	2008	6.76	10.41	1.47
February	2008	7.07	18.56	-0.76
March	2008	7.15	19.95	1.63
April	2008	9.54	23.16	1.59
May	2008	16.43	29.91	7.67
June	2008	15.01	24.07	9.94
July	2008	16.82	33.38	11.33
August	2008	16.24	24.43	12.56
September	2008	14.7	25.54	8.06
October	2008	10.79	20.86	3.58
November	2008	8.2	18.33	-0.63
December	2008	5.08	10.38	-1.46
January	2009	4.92	10.57	-1.99	6th January at 7:16 AM
February	2009	5.58	12.24	-0.41
March	2009	8.29	21.85	-0.07
April	2009	11.73	25.52	4.8
May	2009	12.83	32.33	7.1
June	2009	17.4	34.35	7.92	29th June at 1:30 PM
July	2009	17.28	33.06	11.53
August	2009	16.7	26.76	11.46
September	2009	14.88	28.31	9.02
October	2009				Missing
November	2009				Missing
December	2009	4.64	12.47	-1.59

December’s mean temperature of 4.64 C is the lowest monthly mean temperature recorded since the logger record started running. There were some very low temperatures from the middle of the month onwards, with -1.59 C the low. This December was 0.56 degrees colder than last December. On the whole, 2009 has recorded the coldest and hottest months in the (very short) record. Hopefully the datalogger will work reliably through 2010.

Alcock Tarn and Nab Scar

A family walk from Grasmere on New Year’s Eve. We had intended to climb up to Stone Arthur after visiting Alcock Tarn but the cloud was down, so we walked across to Nab Scar, descended to Rydal and returned via the old coffin road.

Silver How above Grasmere, viewed from the path up to Alcock Tarn.

Zooming in on Harrison Stickle.

The top of Helm Crag, with two people on top of the ‘Lion’.

A wider view of Helm Crag.

The frozen Alcock Tarn with the Langdale Pikes in the background. There was over a foot of snow on the ground where I was standing.

The Langdale Pikes.

Zooming in on Swirl How and Great Carrs across Red Bank, viewed from thne old coffin road above Rydal Water.

Some photos from Hoad

Yesterday I decided to take an afternoon walk up Oubas Hill, or ‘the Hoad’ from Ulverston. The Hoad monument itself is still undergoing maintenance and is surrounded by a large scaffolding structure. The views were quite good with a lot of snow still on the fells given the continuing cold weather.

Zooming in on Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man from Oubas Hill.

Looking over Ulverston to Birkrigg Common.

The Kent Estuary. A snow covered Ingleborough is in the background.

Scafell and Scafell Pike, with White Pike the closer fell in the middle distance.

More snow-covered fells to the north: High Street, Thornthwaite Crag, Froswick and Ill Bell.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day photos

A collection of local photographs from Christmas Day and Boxing day. On Christmas Day I had a walk onto Askam Pier and got some photographs of the snow-covered fells. On Boxing Day I went a walk around Hodbarrow near Millom with my family. The weather has got a bit milder than it was before Christmas, although the snow still persists on the fells.

Christmas Day 2009 and a view of Caw above the Duddon Estuary from Askam Pier.

And zooming in on Stickle Pike with snow-covered Harter Fell behind it.

Black Combe.

Askam with Ireleth and the windmills behind.

Zooming in on the Fairfield Horseshoe and part of Dunnerholme Rock.

Boxing Day, and the walk around Hodbarrow: Black Combe has noticeably less snow on it than it did on Christmas Day.

The wind farm off Walney Island from the outer barrier of Hodbarrow.

Black Combe above Hodbarrow lagoon.

Looking up to Stickle Pike and Caw above Hodbarrow lagoon.

A robin taking advantage of one of the bird feeders on the side of the path around Hodbarrow.

Christmas 2009 photos

I haven’t had the chance to get out any long walks of late with the inclement weather, so here are some photos from today and yesterday. Yesterday I visited How Tun Woods, a viewpoint in the Hawcoat area of Barrow, and did a late afternoon walk up to White Combe. Today I walked from Askam along the old line to Roanhead and back along the beach with my family. The fells certainly look spectacular and snow-covered. More photos will follow between Christmas and New Year, until then I wish a Merry Christmas to all that read this site.

 

The Isle of Man, with a good covering of snow, viewed from How Tun Woods across Walney Island.

Black Combe viewed across the industrial area of Barrow and Sandscale Haws.

Looking north from How Tun Woods – Stickle Pike (in sun), Harter Fell (dark).

Looking across to Millom with the snow-covered fells behind it. I was to ascend the valley in the background later in the day.

Now up on the moorland to the north of Black Combe (in some 2ft of snow) with a view to the Isle of Man.

Looking north to Buck Barrow, Whitfell, Great Gable, the Scafells and Esk Pike.

Looking out to sea from White Combe, with the slopes of Black Combe on the right.

The sun going down now, zooming in on a cold-looking Bowfell and Harter Fell.

To today (Christmas Eve): looking across the Duddon Estuary on a cloudy afternoon to Black Combe.

Zooming in on the snow-covered fells above the houses of the Lots, Askam, with the Scafells in sun along with Green Crag and Harter Fell. Stickle Pike is the conical fell in the shade.

A bit later on in the day, looking over Askam Pier. It was obviously a lot brighter in the central/northern Lake District today.

Merry Christmas!!!

- Jon