Yes, but that's just my point - the Sahara is about the only direction we haven't had any weather from recently!
I've had enough of this dust; I want to know what is going on.
Still, at least we can now be certain it isn't the local building sites. If we can now define the affected area as being at least bounded by Woking, Epsom, Reading then it is quite a widespread problem. Can anyone from further away confirm whether or not their area is affected please?
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Nothing like this in Stamford, Lincs. It is possible that a wind could blow over the Sahara, come up over the continent and turn left to UK but it isn't likely that it would have much dust left in it by then. I post as a man with in interest in Meteorology, ex-pilot, but not much knowledge! I will post this as a link to a weather site and see if we get any answers.
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I just assumed it was pollen - plenty of oil seed rape in my locality .
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The surface wind direction may have had nothing to do with the source of the dust. It's been picked up in a low pressure, taken up into the atmosphere, moved at 25,000-50,000 ft, and then deposited by the high pressure system we've had.
Think of a low-pressure as a Hoover; the pressure is lower at the surface than higher up, so fine particles are carried up. A high pressure is just the reverse, which is why we've started most days lately (until today) with a mist/fog, and the haze has stayed all day, as the high pressure forces the muck in the air downwards.
The visibility has been quite low as a result, yet in a low pressure it's common to get visibility of 40 miles, even inland.
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In the past few weeks every car in the Epsom, Surrey, area seems to be collecting vast quantities of a very fine dust quite quickly. Where is this coming from?
this website
www.llansadwrn-wx.co.uk/daily/diary.html
has many intances of "dust-rain" recorded in the last month. e.g. one day's diary states:
" ... There had been no rainfall, but there was a light apparently dry deposition of light yellowish-brown dust (MUNSELL® Color Chart 10YR 6/4). Preliminary trajectory analyses indicated that the dust over Anglesey may have originated from a pool of dust within low-pressure over the Mediterranean and southward in an area from Libya to Egypt. Wet deposits of various coloured dust were reported from a wide area of S England including Kent, Surrey, Berkshire and the Midlands. Orange spots were seen in Ramsgate and reddish-brown dust in the Cotswolds. ..."
many other similar days noted there.
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In Falkirk we have it all the time - likely suspects include
1) Large Power Station (Coal burner) 3 miles
2) Large Oil Refinery 3 miles
Perm any 2 from 2 is likely it is not always bad as the prevailing wind is W or SW so normally others get it.
My cars were covered 2 weeks ago and to add insult to injury a large Seagull added to the problems on the car bonnett.
Not to worry my MiL (92 yrs old) tried to wipe off the bird mess on the bonnet with tissues - 2 hours later after much effort the damage was minimised - scratches are there but less obvious than before.
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Just spoke to someone at work who lives in Kingston on Thames - no dust problem there.
Putting that with the negative report from Stamford, Lincs, suggests that the problem is not affecting the eastern side of the country at all - and Kingston is geographically just five miles north of Epsom, whereas of curse Woking and Reading are certainly to the west of Epsom; looks like we may have the start of a limit of the area?
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D'oh - edit button please!
"Of curse" should, obviously, read "of course".
*embarassed*
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"Of curse woking", obviously, read "of course".
No No you were quite right....
Fourtunately I live just outside its council boundry.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Near Leatherhead the dust has more of a yellow tinge to it.
I had always asumed it was pollen dust.
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Lots of yellowish-red dust all over the cars in Petersfield, too.
P.
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I had noticed a very yellow dust on my car at the weekend (Congleton, Cheshire). I originally assumed it was pollen from driving past several fields of rape on the way to and from work, but having washed it all down, and not driven anywhere, the yellow dust has coveed the car again.
If it is rape pollen, then there must be another field of it somewhere near my house. Don't know of one though.
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Got it here - cannot get any more south than here - draw a line from the Needles to mainland and that is where I am. Haven't noticed much rape around here this year apart from the odd plant on the verges from previous years.
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It all sounds rather like an episode from Quatermass. (For which substitute Dr. Who if you are young.) Anyway I'm feeling very left out as here in Luton we have not had any.
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It all sounds rather like an episode from Quatermass. (For which substitute Dr. Who if you are young.) Anyway I'm feeling very left out as here in Luton we have not had any. We DID have it here in Luton - 2 weeks back.
We're London Road area, guess you live in the posh part of town.
Sorry, delete that. Luton & posh in the same sentence, doesn't mix.
& Quatermass - had the same effect on me, as Binky, in the Dodge Caliber ads, when I was a kid!!
VB
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>> We DID have it here in Luton - 2 weeks back.
And I missed it. Damn. Did we also have giant root vegetables marching down the street on the way to world domination? No? Oh well.
We're London Road area guess you live in the posh part of town.
You mean Harpendon? No, near the fire station. Actually I guess it is the posh area if nice old houses near the park is posh. But then again the London Road area is rather nice. I'm getting to like Luton, apart from the traffic.
Sorry delete that. Luton & posh in the same sentence doesn't mix.
Ah, you've come back to your senses.
& Quatermass - had the same effect on me as Binky in the Dodge Caliber ads when I was a kid!! VB
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I'm getting to like Luton apart from the traffic.
Is it time we had a back room meet in Luton?
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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We're getting lots of it in Claygate (near Esher) Spent sunday waxing both cars, both are covered in a yellowy dust again today :-(
We got it really bad about 3 weeks back.
Chris
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Well, a few more posts since I last looked and a clear pattern is now evident. So we seem to be getting somewhere with this investigation.
Kingston on Thames
Luton
Stamford, Lincs
Are all free of the dust. And all are in a more or less straight line up the country.
Everywhere to the west of that line seems to be affected, and as Epsom is just below Kingston that looks like Epsom is just west of the problem boundary.
Any reports from the far west country please? Or Kent? East Anglia?
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Left my car near Birmingham airport and was covered with reddish dust on my return.
Thought it was the Mohave Desert following me home from Nevada.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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>> >> www.llansadwrn-wx.co.uk/daily/diary.html >>
Would someone have a word with these Welsh people please?
If they are going to use my language (English), instead of their own (Welsh) they should learn not to misuse the apostrophe!
Hey, Ho.
Pompous mode off//
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Would someone have a word with these Welsh people please? ... they should learn not to misuse the apostrophe! ..
well, quote where you have seen the error(s) and i will point it out to them.
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>> >> well, quote where you have seen the error(s) and i will point it out to them.
If you scroll down to 13th/14th April, the entry in green referring to - I think - 'the wild cherry with it's flower' or words to that effect.
Quite scandalous don't you think! ; - )
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If you scroll down to 13th/14th April, the entry ..
if there is only one, then i won't risk it. especially as i get told off by l'escargot and mapmaker for lack of capital letters in my postings.
e e cummings.
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LY. In broad terms winds blow horizontally and are caused by pressure differences; vertical movement, where there is any, is caused by temperature differences. Beyond a bit of surface tubulence caused by high winds raising dust, low presure does not cause vertical movement and has no 'hoovering' effect. If the pressure is a certain value at the surface, low or high, it will decrease with height. The poor viz you correctly describe as being associated with high pressure is often caused by a temperature 'inversion' where the temp at, say, 4000ft, is higher than that at the surface which has cooled overnight under clear skies. This gives radiation fog, the wispy stuff you see in low lying ground and over rivers and lakes. Additionally, as the surface air warms (hot air rises) it actually can't as the air abve it is hotter. Eventually, as the day goes on it can warm sufficiently to break thro the inversion and the poor viz clears. The combination of an inversion and little or no wind and topography can cause vile low level condition of Viz and air quality; LA and Athens are cases in point, theirs is mostly exhaust fumes (motoring link)
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AS: Unless my geography etc was all kibosh, there is in fact a general vertical air movement associated with cylonic and anticyclonic systems. And here is a link to show how it works: www.bom.gov.au/lam/Students_Teachers/pressure.shtml
Re inversions, AS example is correct, but there is also an inversion caused by anticyclonic weather. Bill Giles has this to say: "I wrote, in Weather and High Pressure, that above an anticyclone the air is descending and warming up. This process itself can cause a temperature inversion and are frequently seen in the winter months. When this happens all the pollution from cars, factory chimneys, power stations and domestic fires, get trapped under the inversion and, because of the low light levels from the sun at this time of the year, make for very gloomy weather. It looks as though there is likely to be an absolute downpour any minute, but it never rains. In fact, forecasters call it anticyclonic gloom." www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/az/alphabet27.shtml
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There is certainly some lifting action associated with 'fronts' within pressure systems. I admit that I was generalising to the extent that air circulating round a pressure system will just rotate but lifting actions can occur when hot and cold air meet, as at a frontal system, particularly an occluded frontal system. As you say NT2, air descends and warms up but this is just a reversal of the outcome where rising air cools and then forms clouds. It is chicken and egg - which comes firstt, the temperature change or the vertical motion? I think they are inextricably linked!
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I agree they are linked. Howver, I'd beter not go on any more as this is probably getting tedious for the rest of the forum!
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