Stormy Weather

[Anna]

Wot no tablet!!!???

Well, it seems the Catholic Newsletter is called The Tablet, there may be a few of them lying around ...

Anna, you should definitely get a barometer. Mine says 995 mb at the moment, and it also has a thermometer and a hygrometer. My barometer, and a Galilean thermometer, were a birthday present from miss mangerton a few years ago

Ah, I did wonder about hygrometers - as you do, in idle moments. So is yours a banjo?

[mercia]

how can an indoor one measure pressure when it's subject to such things as central heating

I'm no scientist but I don't think the temperature indoors affects air pressure

....................... does it ????

[Serial_Apologist]

I'm no scientist but I don't think the temperature indoors affects air pressure

....................... does it ????

Only if someone loses their temper...

[Anna]

But surely, if you are double glazed and hemetically sealed there is no way you can be the same outside as you are inside when it comes to atmospheric pressure and moisture?
Like mercia, I am no scientist
So, a banjo is best, rather than a plain round one?

[Serial_Apologist]

But surely, if you are double glazed and hemetically sealed there is no way you can be the same outside as you are inside when it comes to atmospheric pressure and moisture?
Like mercia, I am no scientist
So, a banjo is best, rather than a plain round one?

No dwelling is really hermetically sealed, Anna; external pressures would have to drop or rise very rapidly not to register instantly on an indoor barometer, and this is pretty rare in this country - cases have been known in America, for instance, for houses to explode during the passage of a tornado! I have actually watched the pointer on an indoor barometer move during the passage of a cold front, with a few helpful taps...

Afraid I can't help on different types of barometer or their availability. I've always associated bedpan-type barometers with ageing aunts and uncles, and had no idea they could still be bought (other than at jumble sales). It depends how much data you want to have to hand. As an amateur forecaster I really should have a rain gauge. However, I've never bothered to document rainfall. My indoor barometer, a ship's barometer, and max/min thermometer on north-facing window ledge, give me readings which are more-or-less corroborated by the "local" reports, such as they are.

[Anna]

OK, I'll think about it over the weekend, but I really want to get one. I quite fancy giving it a tap whilst exiting the front door .... and telling it to behave itself and forecast some good weather for when I return!

[mangerton]

OK, I'll think about it over the weekend, but I really want to get one. I quite fancy giving it a tap whilst exiting the front door .... and telling it to behave itself and forecast some good weather for when I return!

Yes, that's exactly what you do. Mine is circular, brass, c 4" diameter, and behaves impeccably. The banjo shaped barometers (my parents had one) are shaped thus to accommodate a mercury or spirit thermometer.

I listen for "Leuchars" on the R4 weather reports (c12 miles away) and it seems to agree with my barometer quite well.

[greenilex]

I often get a weather headache to warn me of a sudden pressure drop.

Do other people "feel it in their bones"?

[salymap]

I often get a weather headache to warn me of a sudden pressure drop.

Do other people "feel it in their bones"?

I react to the weather without stepping outside these days. A one-sided headache if it is wet or windy out there [like today] and my back pain is worse.

Well, it is November. By the way I talk to my computer mouse which doesn't obey me, so don't need anything like a barometer

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, that's exactly what you do. Mine is circular, brass, c 4" diameter, and behaves impeccably. The banjo shaped barometers (my parents had one) are shaped thus to accommodate a mercury or spirit thermometer.

We had a 'banjo' shaped one in the hall in the family house. I wonder what happened to it when my dad moved to his smaller place... Don't think he has it on the wall... must ask him on the phone, I'd quite like one too..

[Anna]

I think I'd like a circular one rather than a banjo as it would fit in better with the decor. As I'll probably have to buy online are they any manufacturers/brands/websites to look out for? Obviously I don't want to pay the earth but equally I want something reliable, would around £75 be a reasonable budget?

[mercia]

I suppose digital ones might be the most accurate - no tapping required

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-LCD-Compass-Altimeter-Thermometer-Barometer-/280836282566?pt=UK_SportingGoods_HikingEquipment_RL&hash=item41632598c6

[mangerton]

I suppose digital ones might be the most accurate - no tapping required

Possibly, but as I and others have noted, isn't tapping the barometer one of the main reasons to have one? And tappable barometers, in my experience, are quite accurate.

[vinteuil]

Possibly, but as I and others have noted, isn't tapping the barometer one of the main reasons to have one? And tappable barometers, in my experience, are quite accurate.

... tapping is probably the only reason to have one, really. After all, free of charge, one can get local barometric pressure from the BBC weather site (and from elsewhere, I'm sure)...

[Anna]

... tapping is probably the only reason to have one, really. After all, free of charge, one can get local barometric pressure from the BBC weather site (and from elsewhere, I'm sure)...

But vints, it's not the same as having your own personal reading by the front door is it?
Digital ones are probably more accurate but I want an old fashioned clockwork one which says 'Stormy' - 'Change' - 'Settled' So far as to manufacturers I have come across FCC Precision, TFA Dostmann and Woodford all offering reasonable prices and attractive looking - any thoughts mangerton and S_A?

Catholic Fete was good, I've returned with pot of three-fruit marmalade and a delicious apple cake (of which I've just had a slice)