An unusual talk was given to the Iden and District Natural History Society last Friday March 11. David Powell is the Hastings Borough meteorologist and he has been officially recording the weather for more than 20 years now.
“Did you know there are 100 types of cloud, six types of drizzle and six types of rain?” he asked by way of introduction. He heads a team of five volunteers in Hastings as an outpost of the Meterological Office in London, responsible for observation and recording twice each day at 9am and 4pm, come rain or shine.
The data is collated and reported on a weekly or monthly basis, the result of meticulous measurements from a variety of instruments dotted around Hastings. There is an anemometer on the roof of the Hastings Museum for measuring wind-speed for example.
There is also a glass globe which magnifies the sun’s rays and scorches a piece of paper placed behind. A rainfall gauge is located in a garden behind the White Rock Theatre and a Stevenson screen houses instruments for measuring humidity and barometric pressure.
Thermometers located 12 and 36 inches below ground give subsoil temperature readings. Until the pier burned down, sea-water temperatures were taken from a line thermometer dangled 40 feet over the side.
However, experienced human observation also plays a vital role. Visibility is categorised by letters A – M, with fog being classified as not being able to see the end of the White Rock garden. Clouds and different types of snow are identified visually and recorded.
Sunshine has been recorded since 1883 and rainfall since 1875. On the seafront, halfway between the pier and Warrior Square, stands a Tardis-like kiosk where weekly, monthly and annual charts are available for public inspection.
Apart from helping build long-term models as for climate change, the information has immediate and practical uses. The Environment Agency at Pevensey Bay factors in local information for flood warning purposes.
The speaker showed a fascinating print-out of surge conditions in the English Channel on December 5, 2013, which spilled over into the Strand Quay area in Rye and caused some damage in Rye Harbour.
Surprisingly perhaps, department stores like Debenhams and BHS phone up and adjust their displays according to the weather report. Private companies like the Weather Network also use the information for their forecasting service.
Several members of that evening’s audience, being keen gardeners and naturalists, take daily readings themselves of their local conditions. Even the wildlife in field and garden adapts behaviour as best it can to our unpredictable English weather.
Photo: Geography dept. Lord Wandsworth College