56.29902 -3.20276 Met Office CIMO Class 5 Archived Temperature readings from 1/1/1997
Auchtermuchty:Rossie weather station is one of just three in the entire county of Fife, Scotland. The Met Office assesses both Leuchars (somewhat unfairly) and Baintown as Class 5 as they also assess this “Rossie” site. The entire county does not have a reliable temperature reporting station better than “Class 5 (additional estimated uncertainty added by siting up to 5 °C) and, according to the Met Office – not me – meeting no regulatory requirements other than “Site not meeting the requirements of class 4.” and then it gets worse.
Aerial imagery can often be misleading regarding topography. Whilst the immediate site may look level this is solely due to artificial intervention. The Ordnance survey sheet indicates slopes in the region of 10% surrounding the site. Wind turbines tend to be located in consistently windier spots.
Although the screen is not visible in ground level imagery the view leading to it very clearly demonstrates the earthwork amendments to the slopes.
Switching to a 2D view locates the screen by the low hedge alongside the vegetable plot of ever changing use, wind shielded by trees to create a wholly unnatural micro climate. This is as low a CIMO class as it can get.
To indicate just how variable this local climate can be, consider this image below from yet a different time and different horticultural surroundings of bare heat absorbent earth lying between tarmac areas and the house.
So why on earth is there a weather station here at all? I seriously doubt the Met Office would accept a weather station in my south facing sun-trap back garden in front of a conservatory so how exactly do they “select” their chosen sites? Well the James Hutton Institute ( a Scottish Agricultural Research Institute) subsumed the “Scottish Plant Breeding Station” which here monitored localised conditions for potato variety selection – remember “Golden Wonder” crisps named after a Scottish potato variety? This is where they apparently monitored local weather conditions, another review of Durris weather station (“by the spuds”) will further detail this type horticultural site that has been seemingly “press ganged” into climate reporting.
It is fairly straightforward to see this is (yet again) far from the likely best available site and in fact is in a (yet again) unnatural and artificially designed micro climate – that McDonalds effect, time and time again.
It is fairly obvious that this site should be excluded from any national historic climate record.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
July 3, 2025 at 02:50PM
Iowa Climate Science Education 