Cairn Gorm Automatic Weather Station

An automatic weather station designed and built in this department has been operating on the summit of Cairn Gorm (1245 m, 57°N, 3°W) since 1977, recording wind speed, direction and temperature in the UK's most severe climate. To combat the effects of heavy icing the instruments are housed in a heated cylinder, only being exposed to sample the weather for 3 minutes every half hour, 48 observations per day. The station has built up over the years a unique data set of value in understanding how the lower atmosphere interacts with mountainous terrain. Observations are transmitted in real time by VHF telemetry for use at Glenmore Lodge.  Data is also transmitted at regular intervals via GSM modem for display on this site.

Analysis of archive temperature data allows us to describe a 'typical year'.  The graph below give the mean temperature for each week in the year.  The upper and lower measured extremes (Maximum/Minimum) and the 'average extremes' (Mean Max/Min) are also given.  Please note that this data uses archive documents/files and although limited error checking has been applied to the data it is possible that errors have remained undetected.

Monthly Statistics

July 2007
Maximum Temperature	13.3 C
Minimum Temperature	0.7 C  (28 July)
Mean Temperature	6.4 C
Maximum Gust speed	70 mph (30 July)
Average Windspeed	21.6 mph

August 2007
Maximum Temperature	15.3 C
Minimum Temperature	0.8 C  (19 Aug)
Mean Temperature	6.5 C
Maximum Gust speed	80 mph (31 Aug)
Average Windspeed	26.1 mph

September 2007
Maximum Temperature	12.1 C
Minimum Temperature	-3 C  (17 Sept)
Mean Temperature	4.6 C
Maximum Gust speed	94 mph (15 Sept)
Average Windspeed	31.3 mph

October 2007
Maximum Temperature	12.9 C  (11 Oct)
Minimum Temperature	-3.1 C  (28 Oct)
Mean Temperature	5.0 C
Maximum Gust speed	92 mph (29 Oct)
Average Windspeed	25.8 mph

November 2007
Maximum Temperature	10.4 C  (2 Nov)
Minimum Temperature	-7.6 C  (22 Nov)
Mean Temperature	0.0 C
Maximum Gust speed	113 mph (8 Nov)*
Average Windspeed	34 mph

* 4 days with gust >100mph (6,7,8,24 Nov)

December 2007
Maximum Temperature	8.2 C (18 Dec)
Minimum Temperature	-6.9 C (16 Dec)
Mean Temperature	-0.2 C
Maximum Gust speed	130 mph (27 Dec)*
Average Windspeed	34 mph

* 4 days with gust >100mph (5,6,7,27 Dec)

January 2008
Maximum Temperature	5.3 C (22 Jan)
Minimum Temperature	-7.4 C (3,4 Jan)
Mean Temperature	-2.1 C
Maximum Gust speed	162 mph (18 Jan)*
Average Windspeed	39 mph

* 5 days with gust >100mph (9, 18, 24, 25, 26 Jan)

Febuary 2008
Maximum Temperature	11.0 C (12 Feb)
Minimum Temperature	-10.6 C (2 Feb)
Mean Temperature	0.2 C*
Maximum Gust speed	162 mph (21 Feb)**
Average Windspeed	39 mph

* Significant temperature inversion 11-16 Feb, with temperatures 5~11C     **8 days with gust >100mph (3, 7, 8, 21, 22, 23, 26, 29 Feb)