Banff DCNN1187- Atrocious siting, inadequate maintenance and untruths.

 57.66093  -2.52066  Met Office CIMO Assessed Class 4 (IT IS NOT) Installed 1/1/1998

In reviewing the surprisingly poor Western Isles Harris:Quidnish weather station, I contrasted its temperature profile with that of the Scottish east coast site of Banff. I thus decided a review of Banff would be appropriate….what a shock that proved to be! That red kite mark above indicates the Stevenson screen alongside the ten parked cars. Quality control? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

It is fairly obvious that if there is no security at all around a weather station then it will not be secure. No perimeter fencing means there is literally nothing to stop anything, or anyone, to compromise the site’s readings. Instalation guidance notes specify “The site should be adequately protected to exclude entry by unauthorised persons”

Are Met Office inspectors unable to assimilate the blatantly obvious? The headline photograph clearly shows cars parking alongside the screen. Historic Google Earth images indicate this is a regular occurrence. And what does the Met Office falsely claim about its sites? {My bold}

“To ensure consistency of measurements in the records, weather stations must meet strict criteria, in alignment with meteorological organisations across the world. This includes specific standards on the levels of grass-cover within the observations area, as well as having enough clear space for the weather station to be free from the influence of non-meteorological factors on the readings.” (Talkshop comment – what “observations area”?)

The above claim is clearly a falsehood. Multiple tens of sites have nothing whatsoever to ensure they are ” free from the influence of non-meteorological factors on the readings.” Banff is demonstrably a classic example among many others already reviewed and many more to come.

A closer look at this site further indicates just how badly sited it really is. Was there a problem moving it 10 metres forward or would that spoil the overflow car parking?

Recalling Harris:Quidnish the above image orientates north/south and again the screen sits just to the front of a south facing wall. The greensward to the front and side being the regular golf club patron’s overflow parking area. Another angle view demonstrates the proximity of this south facing heat sink wall PLUS the car exhausts potentially warming it up from the other side. The distance from hot car engines (extraneous heat sources) to the screen is most readily measured in centimetres NOT metres.

Clearly this site is so absurdly compromised by extraneous heat sources that it would be reasonable to assume it could never have been worse. That would be a WRONG assumption

Below is what this site used to look like until recently.

With “Leaning Tower of Pisa” levels of uprightness, slats long missing on its south elevation and way beyond anything a “lick of paint” could remedy, this is actually A TYPICAL EXAMPLE of the condition many official Met Office weather stations are usually in. In front of a regulation south facing wall with cars parked to the rear, and often alongside and in front, this is the standard the Met Office regularly offers up……..but it is, allegedly, regularly inspected and maintained to the highest possible standards(?). The Met Office is quite demonstrably being somewhat economical with the truth. This weather station is unacceptable.

Yet despite this sort of abysmal standard the Met Office is operating to, the general public are expected to accept their “data” is accurate – it so often is not. The public deserve better than this wholly unacceptable dross.

If this review seems unusually harsh I point out the following – I have so far published about 75 site reviews but researched hundreds more. There are very many much worse sites out there than Banff or Harris:Quidnish. I have over a further 250 reviews to complete – many get much worse than this.

The Met Office remains silent – I will not be.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/11/26/banff-dcnn1187-atrocious-siting-inadequate-maintenance-and-untruths/