Manston Update – The plot thickens.

THE ABOVE IMAGE (WITH THE RED AND BLUE ANNOTATIONS) WAS SUPPLIED BY THE MET OFFICE.

I started reviewing Manston several weeks ago following contact from a fellow Met Office sceptic as I detailed in my part 1 review.

https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/10/05/manston-wmo-03797-or-wmo-03798-dcnn-5377-or-dcnn-5378-or-dcnn-9602-or-part-1/

I had not received any further information from the Met Office when I was surprised to be contacted by a Talkshop reader who had gained my email address from a comment I had made on Notalotofpeopleknowthat. He wished to remain anonymous but was willing to share information he had received in response to inquiries he had made of the Met Office from reading my article. I am deeply indebted to him for his efforts.

He had tried to confirm what stations existed at Manston and what their purposes were. The response raised as many questions as it answered.

” Dear Mr XXXXXXX, thank you for your enquiry. I hope the information below answers your questions.

The original weather station on this site closed in 2003, due to a change in land use. The current operational site (‘Manston’ 03797) was moved to more open ground and is classified a CIMO2. Manston and Manston Rad share the same weather station enclosure, the two names are used to denote different instrumentation located within this enclosure. However, there is only one Stevenson Screen at the site recording air temperatures and humidity.

The airport is closed and land use change is anticipated and longevity of the observing site is considered ‘at risk’. In 2019 a proposed road building project put the Manston weather station at risk and a movable tripod type weather station was installed, known as Manston No2. This was placed in the potential position of a new enclosure, if a new road was built. However, at this time Manston No2 does not conform to our climate observing standards for temperature (or wind). It is therefore unclassified, and is not used for climate monitoring purposes by the Met Office.

The data on WOW is for 03797 only. WOW does not show Manston No2, and it does not have a WMO ID number. The pin on WOW is set to the aerodrome reference point for air traffic control purposes, as this was/is convention for aerodromes providing weather data. However, the airport has now closed its flying operations.

The blue circle in the photo below shows the ‘Manston No2’ position (since 2019 to present day) with the Manston primary enclosure seen marked by the red square to the NE in the same photo.

Kind regards,

Weather Desk”

Whilst the above explanation may seem straightforward it rather seems to contradict evidence. The Met Office list of CIMO ratings shows Manston as Class 1 but they now seem to assess it as only Class 2 i.e. “and is classified a CIMO2” This seemed an odd reclassification as there did not appear to be any actual material changes to the area…or perhaps there were.

The classification of the site as “at Risk” back in 2019 also seems remarkably premature given the road building project was only a potential proposal and was actually dependent upon re-opening of the airport. No road works took place and none are currently planned. This is reminiscent of the reasons given for Gravesend’s closure well ahead of subsequently non- existent development.

However, more to the point is this admission:

” The original weather station on this site closed in 2003, due to a change in land use. The current operational site (‘Manston’ 03797) was moved to more open ground …..”

What this states is that the historic record for Manston only runs for the last 21 years as its unique WMO renumbering indicates a significant change in its “measured climatology”. {n.b. my bold}.

“Over time certain instruments, or the whole enclosure, may be relocated some distance away from the original site. Where the distance moved is small, the observations obtained from the new site may have exactly the same climatological characteristics as previously and it makes sense to regard them as coming from the same source or station distinguished by certain identifiers. Where the distance moved is large, or, where the exposure at the new site is sufficiently different that a detectable impact on the measured climatology is judged likely, it is appropriate that observations from the new site are labelled by a different set of identifiers.”

This runs entirely contrary to this Met Office website which is clearly indicating a continuous record for Manston from 1934. There is no indication given to the proven multiple relocations resulting in significant changes in measured climatology.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/historic-station-data

Station data can be examined here. Nowhere does it indicate any of the known changes in location and elevation identified in the header as a very approximate “Location 632300E 166100N, Lat 51.346 Lon 1.337, 49m amsl”

Furthermore this site also appears as a “Climate Averages” station on this webpage.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages

How can “averages” be compiled from data from two unique and separate sites – then again at least this Kent site still exists rather than others recording averages that are long gone.

Another point is why is the Met Archiving the data from the new non- assessed site – other non assessed sites do not show in the archives such as the recent Plymouth:Kinterbury Point – (this latter station will the subject of another post – even though not a “Climate station” it did start appearing in climate records until intervention)

This investigation should have ended with these admissions from the Met Office but……it doesn’t. An ongoing investigation into another identified site nearer the runway is still not yet resolved. In the meantime access to the whole area is about to change. Prior to the re-opening of the airport, parts of the runway are about to be used as a Drag racing strip (great fun) so I will be visiting the site soon to get a better look – more to come

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/11/29/manston-update-the-plot-thickens/