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Sources: BBC, National Weather Services, Intellicast, Space Science and Engineering Center, the Met Office, Yahoo! Weather
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
TODAY’S EXTREMES
Hottest: Medan International School, Sumatra, Indonesia, 34.0°C
Coldest: James Gibbons School, Edmonton, Canada, -28°C
Windiest: Four schools across UK recorded a mean speed of 44 km/hr. However, the Richard Lander School in Truro, UK noted a highest gust of 61 km/hr.
Wettest: Highbury Preparatory School, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, 41mm
Driest: Pretoria Boys High School, Gauteng, South Africa, 45%
To find out how your observations compare with the average for January, click here.
TODAY’S REVIEW OF METLINK OBSERVATIONS
SOUTH-EAST ASIA
A "sunny and muggy" start to the day in Jakarta, Indonesia with a temperature of 25°C at 7am local time (00:00 GMT) and a relative humidity of 95%. The daily range in temperature was 10°C with a minimum temperature of 23°C and a maximum of 33°C. Partly cloudy skies with 6 oktas of cloud observed.
This was in contrast to Sumatra where the day started "overcast and damp" with the whole sky covered in stratocumulus clouds. Here the temperature at 8am local time (00:00 GMT) was 25°C.
Over in Springdales school in New Delhi, India, the weather was sunny at 8am local time (03:30 GMT) with only one okta of cirrostratus. However, they woke up to mist and fog in the morning. Again, fairly chilly overnight with a minimum temperature of 7.5°C although this was warmer than the previous night. The temperature at time of observation was 18°C with a relative humidity of 78%.
AFRICA AND ASCENSION
It was "still raining and misty this morning" said the children of Highbury Preparatory School, South Africa who had to take observations in medium intensity rainfall. They recorded 41mm in their rainguage. Slight rain was also falling at nearby Pretoria Boys School where it was a humid start to the day with temperatures already reaching 25°C at 10:30 am local time (08:30 GMT).
Further north in Zimbabwe, pupils at the Christian Brothers College in Bulawayo observed 2 oktas of cloud but could see more cloud coming from the south. The minimum temperature overnight was 17.5°C and it had only risen 1°C by 07:30 am local time (05:30 GMT). Similar conditions were reported at Peterhouse School, also in Zimbabwe. Their minimum temperature, however, was a warmer 21.9°C.
Pupils at the Two Boats School on Ascension reported a hot and bright day with a maximum temperature of 32°C.
EUROPE
Very cold and snowy in Finland with up to 25cm of fresh snow falling. The greatest amount fell at Rantakylan Koulu School in Mikkeli who saw a very cold night with a minimum temperature of —20.4°C. However, the temperature rose rapidly this morning with a climb of 16°C so that by 10am local time (08:00 GMT) temperatures had reached —3.2°C. Blizzards were quite widespread with wind speeds of 33 km/hr reported by children from Normaalikoulun Perusaste, Vörå-Oravais-Maxmo Högstadieskola and Vasa övningsskola Schools.
A cold, crisp and sunny start was seen across Norway and Sweden. The minimum temperature at Oslo International School was —15.4°C but had risen to —7.9°C by 12:15 local time (11:15 GMT). It was a little milder in Sweden with temperatures overnight only falling to —3.8°C. Both these locations were seeing pressure rise rapidly.
Carmen Sylva High School in Constanta, Romania provided four reports today. They told us it was "an extremely warm day for this season" and "the sky is clear and the sun shines". Temperatures reached 10.8°C but it was a little breezy with a 15 km/hr north-easterly wind blowing for most of the day.
A cold and sunny start to the day at Realgymnasium Bozen School in Italy with no cloud or wind. Temperatures fell away to -1°C overnight which led to "slippery roads", but temperatures at 10:40 am local time (09:40 GMT) had risen to 2.5°C.
Dense fog and frost was reported by Madrid Vicalvaro Primary School at 8:15 am local time (07:15 GMT). They reported that this had cleared by 2:20 pm local time (15:20 GMT) and temperatures had risen from around freezing to 18°C.
It was a generally wet and windy day across the UK today. "Horrible, miserable and horrid" was how pupils from Lawford Primary School in Essex described it. 40m of rain was reported by the girls at Altrincham Girls Grammar School and a maximum temperature of 7°C. Not too windy here with just 9km/hr at 13:00 GMT while 44km/hr was reported at Chaldon Primary School in Surrey, Richard Lander School in Truro and Edgbaston High School for Girls Lower School at a similar time. Queensferry Primary School in Edinburgh, Lionel School on the Isle of Lewis and Farr High School all recorded minimum temperatures overnight of below freezing. They then went on to report snow during the day.
Ireland saw similar conditions with overcast skies and very heavy rain reported by Ennis Holy Family Senior School at 10:30 GMT.
NORTH AMERICA
Very cold conditions were reported from James Gibbon School in Edmonton, Canada with minimum temperature overnight -28°C and a maximum of only -22°C. Half the sky was covered with cloud producing slight snow flurries. Further south in the US, both pupils at Washington Peninsula Elementary School and Frank Hall Elementary School, Illinois commented that it "felt like Spring is here" with temperatures reaching maximums of 11.7°C and 9°C respectively.
It was however quite breezy with wind
speeds of 24 km/hr at both schools.
TODAY’S ANALYSIS
AUSTRALASIA
Looking at the synoptic chart here for 12:00 GMT, an area of high pressure can be seen anchored in the Tasmanian Sea and extending across New Zealand. A ridge from this is seen pushing into New South Wales. The infra-red satellite image here shows two main areas of cloud. This is mostly low cloud but with some cumulonimbus visible to the north-west associated with the shallow area of low pressure situated over most of Australia at present. Elsewhere, the hot land under clear skies shows up black on the infra-red image compared to the cooler sea, and much cooler cloud tops.
SOUTH-EAST ASIA
Again, clear skies can be seen over India in the 08:00 GMT visible satellite image here centred on the western Indian Ocean. The ITCZ is still very active extending eastwards around the equator from the centre of the image. The newly formed Tropical Storm "Eddy" can be seen just off the southern flank of the ITCZ. A close-up IR image of Eddy here shows a fairly disorganised spiral of deep convective cloud. Eddy is forecast to develop in strength over the next 48 hours.
AFRICA
Tropical Storm Dina is on the verge of becoming extra-tropical and is now weakening rapidly as it moves over cooler seas. It can be seen on the synoptic map here as a low pressure centre situated to the south-east of Madagascar. A heat low can also be seen over southern Africa. At this time of the year, the sun is almost directly overhead in these parts and the intense heating of the land results in a shallow area of low pressure developing called a "heat low". These usually lead to afternoon thunderstorms and misty, muggy mornings. In fact, there are quite a few thunderstorms over southern Africa, even by only 12:00 GMT as seen in the visible satellite image here. A more organised band of storms can be identified within the ITCZ further to the north over Congo and Tanzania.
EUROPE
The synoptic chart here shows a deep circular area of low pressure centred over Finland with central pressure 986mb. Its associated fronts gave rise to the large amounts of snow reported in the observations from Finland. A ridge of high pressure extending into southern Norway and Sweden from the North Sea heralded the dry and bright conditions that were seen there. The main area of high pressure over mainland Europe ensured mostly settled conditions here. Another deep area of low pressure anchored in the north-west Atlantic around 40deg W has been responsible for the miserable conditions over the UK and Ireland. The infra-red image here for 06:00 GMT shows the cloud associated with the weather fronts seen on the synoptic chart. To the west of Ireland the cold front can be seen as the dividing line between the bright white cloud mass and the speckled cumulus in the polar maritime airstream behind. This is a typical picture of a mid-latitude depression at this time of year. The warm and cold fronts can also be seen on this radar image here The cold northerly winds yesterday that brought cold temperatures overnight to the north of the UK created perfect conditions for snow to fall ahead of the warm front. A view of snow can be seen looking over the hills from Edinburgh in Scotland on this webcam here.
NORTH AMERICA
The visible satellite image here shows a striking area of low pressure off the north-east coast of the US with a trailing front stretching all the way back into the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the US however, is under the influence of an area of high pressure with much more settled conditions. Another area of low pressure and associated fronts can be seen on the infra-red image here over the west coast of Canada and the Gulf of Alaska.
