METCHAT:

It’s been a while since we had a chit-chat in the Islander. So I thought I’d restart the tradition this week. In the Met Office hot seats at the moment are Karl, Graeme, Dennis and Jay (the boss). Some of you may have known Ian, who returned to the UK a few weeks ago. I’d like to take this moment to say a quick hello to my ‘school chums’ Brian and Jim, who constantly poke fun at me. They seem to think I’m on work experience - as they reckon I’m young enough and small enough to still be at school. Yeah very funny lads. I’m not taking it personally or anything, but I am now seeking counseling from the school nurse. The playground can be a cruel cruel place. I wonder who are the ‘kiddies’ who like putting their noses in the occasional mousetrap?

This is my second tour to the island, and I can safely say the novelty still hasn’t worn off yet. Whilst the island has changed, I still find everybody to be as friendly as ever. I still have 3 months left, and I’ve still got plenty of letterboxes to ‘bag’. The Met Office folk both present and past have a tradition of bagging letterboxes. Do keep an eye out for the numerous messages in the logbooks from the Met folk. I keep saying to people that the reason I came back to Asi was because I still had several stamps to collect. I came back this second time and found that a few unofficial boxes have now appeared in the new revised walks booklet, so my list of ‘to do’s’ has grown! Never mind eh?

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Final thought - My primary concern when forecasting the weather is the safety of aircraft and the public. The thought of the possible consequences of getting a forecast wrong can make the average forecaster a little pessimistic at times. I believe its fair to say we do the best we can, with the limited information we have in this remote part of the world. Meteorology is never going to be a perfect science, even for Ascension.