Medina Valley Centre is not actually a school but a residential centre for outdoor education; this year, 50 schools are visiting. Most students come for a week's field studies for GCSE or 'A' level geography and biology courses; and many children from Years 4 to 6 visit, especially in the summer term, for environmental studies, sailing and orienteering. (The only time of year when it's quiet is December and January when the weather is at its most cold and damp!) For almost 10 years we have had roof top instruments (thermometer, anemometer, wind vane and rain gauge) giving continuous computer readings using 'Weather Reporter'. It is interesting to compare this data with the daily records of temperature and rainfall that we keep using instruments in our grounds.
MetlLink observations will be made by Janet Ager, one of the tutors here, with the help of visiting students at 0900 hours. The instruments we will use are thermometers in a Stevenson's screen and a rain gauge situated in the Centre grounds 75m from the river. For windspeed and direction and pressure we will refer to the Weather Reporter.
The Centre is located at 50 43' N and 1 17' W, 5m above S.L. on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina. The Medina drains the central part of the Isle of Wight, a small, low-lying, rural island. 7km downstream from the Centre the Medina enters the Solent, the stretch of water that separates the Island from mainland England; although this is in some places only 4km wide, there are complicated winds, tides and currents that make it challenging for sailors!
Winter on the Island is mild for the UK due to its southerly location and the influence of the sea. Looking at records (from a site just 2 km away from our Centre) over the 30 years from 1969 the temperatures do not differ much from January to February: the mean maximum temperature was 7.8C for both months and the mean minimum was 2.85C (January) and 2.4C (February). There was a mean total of 15.3 days of air frost during the two months. Rainfall showed more variation: the mean total for January was 102.4mm and 69.1mm for February. However, last year January was exceptionally mild and wet: the mean maximum/minimum temperatures were 10.27/4.86C with only 3 days of air frost; the total rainfall was 127.5mm (almost 30% more than average) and there was a total of 72.0 hours of sunshine in the month (25% higher than average).