53.49725 -3.05768 Met Office Assessed CIMO Class 4 Installed 1/1/1983
Many weather stations were located at Coastguard stations for obvious reasons. They are logically always coastal sites but vary from remote outposts to often seaside towns such as Crosby. However, Crosby Coastguard station was closed in 2015 and the site is now used by various different occupants such as the Liverpool Maritime and Fishing Survey Office.
The street view image indicates the scale of the problems with this site.
It is often sarcastically claimed that weather stations are drawn to air-con exhausts – it seems car parks and engine exhausts are equally attractive. The 10 metre circled image is centred exactly on the screen revealing 6 parking bays within the radius, it is under 6 metres to the rear of the white car shown.
I have no doubt that the Met Office inspector who assessed this site can justify the Class 4 rating (inaccuracy by siting of an additional 2°C) by precise calculation and measurement but surely common sense should prevail. The “H-pole” mounted electricity transformer, multiple lamp posts and double fencing to the north and western boundaries only adds to the unnatural nature of the site. Overnight vehicle parking further enclosing the screen will only affect temperatures upwardly. It should be also noted that the immediate surroundings are subject to potential development (overlooking the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm counting amongst other local attractions) and I do wonder wheter relocation is being considered. After All the Met Office allegedly planned relocation/closure of the likes of Manston and Gravesend in advance of ultimately non-forthcoming development.
The Met Office claims to employ multiple checks and balances to correct any serious discrepancies in temperature readings, though my review of Faversham calls such claims into serious question. However, in the case of stations such as Crosby, it seems almost inevitable that the readings are so continually artificially elevated that “discrepancy” becomes the invisible norm.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
January 4, 2025 at 04:32AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 