Ascension : Met Office Report
Submitted by The Islander (Met Office) 27.11.2008 (Article Archived on 11.12.2008)

Statistics for the week ending Monday 24th Nov 2008

Statistics for the week ending Monday 24th Nov 2008

	Max (Celsius)	Min (Celsius)	Rainfall (mm)
AIRHEAD	28.2	21.0	2.7
TRAVELLERS	28.5	20.0	14.5
RESIDENCY	23.0	16.5	33.3
GEORGETOWN	28.7	21.5	0.8
ST. HELENA	19.0	14.1	8.8
FALKLANDS	22.4	5.0	0.1
UK (Brize Norton)	12.7	-0.7	13.6

ASCENSION: A fine week with generally sunny afternoons though a belt of persistent showers affected the Island on Saturday and gave the Residency a fairly wet day when the majority of the 33.3 mm fell.

ST. HELENA: A fairly cloudy week with showers of light rain recorded every day apart from Sunday, which turned out unusually sunny.

UK: After a mild start the end of the week turned cold with northerly winds and some parts of the UK seeing a covering of snow and an overnight frost.

FALKLANDS: Mild northerly winds for most of the week giving some sunny days that would have felt quite pleasant if it weren’t for the wind that blows constantly.
On Sunday morning I saw a sight that is not seen that frequently on an equatorial Island - this was a full Rainbow. The reason that we do not see them that often is all to do with the physics behind the phenomena.  A rainbow is formed when the sun’s rays are refracted and reflected around the inside of a raindrop and back towards the sun. i.e. standing with your back to the sun a rainbow will be seen in a shower of rain ahead of you. At sea level the sun must be at an angle to the horizon of 40 to 42 Degrees. Here on Ascension this currently only occurs between 9.30 and 10am in the morning and 3.30pm and 4pm in the afternoon. (Note on Green Mountain the period will be slightly later in the morning and early in the afternoon)

Issued by Wyn D Poynt at  24Z
Met Office Ascension
Contact Met Office Tel 00247 3317
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