57.13338 -3.66877 Met Office CIMO Assessed – have a guess! Installed 1/1/1980
To fulfill the Surface Stations Project completely I feel it is necessary to review all those weather stations included in the list of Met Office Synoptic and Climate Reporting stations list that have been assessed by the Met Office for CIMO climate reporting purposes. A key element of the CIMO was the area representation of sites with Class 1 covering a wide area and Class 5 nowhere other than its immediate surroundings. Importantly there was no requirement for all sites to be assessed (many are not) when they were solely for site specific purposes. Logic would state that the Cairngorm Chairlift would have a weather site but would anyone seriously expect such an artificial and unique location being CIMO assessed and its readings included in the national historic temperature record? Well it is.
This is how natural and unspoilt this location actually is.
Obviously to assist in making one’s assessment, the nature of the topography should be known – the screen sits at 663 metres amsl the other end of the chairlift is at 1,245 metres amsl.
Bear in mind that this is a manual reporting site and frequently weather conditions are somewhat inclement making the taking of readings often difficult as frequently noted in the archives – example below:
So what is your best guess at the Met Office Assessment? For additional guidance 29% of sites are Class 5, 49% are Class 4, just 8% make class 3 (30 out of 384 sites) with under 50 UK sites managing the reliable and accurate Classes 1 & 2.
My first assessment was this should never be assessed at all – period. It serves its local intended purposes no doubt very well but nothing else. If pushed it can only ever be Class 5 with up to a plus or minus 5 degree celsius additional error margin due to siting.
The Met Office claims this site is Class 3. If they really think this is one of their best sites then the term “Unfit for purpose” immediately springs to mind.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
May 22, 2025 at 03:30AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 