Manston – WMO 03797 or WMO 03798, DCNN 5377 or DCNN 5378 or DCNN 9602 or…….? Part 1.

51.34644 1.33552 Met Office Assessed CIMO Class 1. (WMO 03797 DCNN 5378) Installed (somewhere) 1/01/1928 Archive data from 1/1/1961 for site co-ordinates given (Not original site).

Plus second site @ 51.34558 1.33483 CIMO assessment not known (DCNN 5377). Installed 16/12/2019 with archived data from 26/11/2019 to date.

Plus “Trial” site @ 51.35239 1.34774 CIMO Assessment not known (WMO 03798 DCNN 9602) installed 1/3/2000 with archived data from 9/6/2000 to 1/11/2000 possibly still existing.

A once significant international aviation site it is currently closed but in the throes of reopening and with some testing flights and works ongoing.

Tim Channon reviewed the Manston site back in 2012. He estimated CIMO Class 1 which subsequently proved to be the Met Office assessment. His only reservation was a relatively new generator located close by (foreground with Met office station to the left in distance) that may possibly have an effect (shown below).

But then things got complicated……….very complicated

Fellow weather station researcher, Met Office sceptic and environmental journalist Chris Morrison contacted me regarding reports of temperature readings being taken by the Manston runway. I thought that was unlikely as I personally know the Manston site quite well from living not far away. I opted to research and uncovered a real can of worms.

Firstly, the “readings by the runway” were found to be the end of a long line of “Chinese Whispers“. There was a temporary private weather station (known as Manston WEPC 2024) installed on the runway for a specific event. https://wpec.co.uk/

Clearly confusion had been caused by this station’s readings being included on the Met Office WOW site. These readings were solely for local immediate guidance and certainly were not intended for the historic temperature record. However, in revisiting records for this site I came across two other Manston stations that Tim would not have been aware of in his original assessment. One didn’t exist back then and the other was not showing in archived data until recently. So what is all this about particularly as one new site was allocated a World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) number and both new ones given unique District County Network Numbers (DCNN)?

Site History. Archive records indicate the site started in 1928. The co-ordinates given back then are not precise enough to exactly pinpoint its location though it was clearly situated at the opposite end of the runway near the original control tower as Tim had conjectured. Google earth pro suggests the current main site came into being after the 1960 imagery which concurs with the digital archive data starting from 1961. Bear in mind, not only is the single direction runway over 9,000 feet long it is also notably very wide – daredevil light aircraft pilots have claimed to have landed over the width of the runway – probably bravado claims but indicative of its exceptional dimension nonetheless. This is relevant to accurate location of sites.

Over the years the site has been an RAF and a USAF base as well as a civilian airport which, though currently closed, is due to reopen in the near future. It is an emergency landing site once rumoured to have been landing cleared for the Space Shuttle though some now doubt such claims.

The main weather station (1961 variant) is quite remote from the runway hence the CIMO assessment as being unaffected by aircraft movements. It is quite probable this did not accurately enough represent the site for aviation purposes and a separate military weather station continued independent of the Met Office and simply not openly archiving its readings.

Recent Present. A “trial site” was established even further from the runway in 2000 and (perhaps prematurely) given WMO 03798 demarcation. Archive data only indicates 145 days of operation, however it may have continued well beyond that point and even to this day but simply not being openly recorded. It lies within a public restricted area so it is difficult to check and not clearly identifiable on aerial imagery.

In 2019 a new site “Manston No 2” was installed. The co-ordinates given in CEDA archives are not always exactly correct, however, very recent google aerial imagery indicates a potential site very close by the runway. Both original (top left) and No 2 Station (red kite) are visible in the imagery below.

This No 2 site is very compromised by proximity to the runway/taxiway and aircraft movements. It would also accordingly be more suitable for aviation purposes giving more accurate runway temperatures.

None of this should be alarming, there are no issues with aviation sites being used for aviation purposes providing their data/readings do not “drift” into the historic temperature record. Here, though, some questions start to be raised. Firstly the Met Office WOW site also locates stations by map – here is the Manston map.

Note the single blue dot indicates the Manston WEPC 2024 site whilst the orange circled blue dot indicates the Met Office Official site – at this resolution both are on the runway. Higher resolution on the Met Office Station does not relocate the marker to the main site named Manston. Whilst this could seem to be just inaccurate mapping it is worth noting that the Private Weather Site to the west “Minster Weather” locates to almost exactly the correct location.

Traditionally Manston has rarely appeared either as a regional or national “hot spot” for temperature readings being a well exposed open site near the coast, however, recently it has started to record both regional and national highs in the Met Office Daily Extremes. To clarify the overall position I contacted the Met Office to ascertain how many sites were currently operational in the Manston area and, if more than one, which one was being used to contribute to the Daily Extremes figures. Their response was quite bizarre.

“Thank you for taking the time to get in touch. 

Having read through your enquiry, I believe it is best paced wit the CEDA support team. 

Their support email address is support@ceda.ac.uk, and more information can be found at the link below:

https://www.ceda.ac.uk/contact/

I hope you are able to find the information you are looking for.”

Being fobbed off to contact the keepers of archived information rather than answering direct questions about current sites from the responsible body was not an acceptable response. I immediately replied requesting an answer to just one simple question i.e. how many weather stations does the Met Office have in the Manston area?

No answer has as yet been received despite a recent reminder. This now means I have to insist on a response by way of (what should really be unnecessary) Freedom of Information request liable to take 20 working days for a response.

In the interim early comparison of the Manston and Manston 2 readings of the last 4 years indicated significant variance between the 2 sites barely 1,000 feet apart and a possible explanation of the recent elevated readings. The question remains, which sites readings are actually being highlighted on their “Daily Extremes”?

Then 1st October another oddity.

Yet again Manston hit the national high but which one? The original Manston site’s readings are available to view online at the Met Office’s WOW site. These show hourly readings timed in BST.

The maximum (on the hour) reading is only 17.5°C. A rise up to, and subsequent fall from 18.6°C to the hourly readings shown would be over a very short time period and whilst possible is somewhat unlikely given the sites generally even reporting history as evidenced by Weatherobs – note timing is in GMT. This site also confirms a maximum of only 17.5°C on hourly recording.

The very close by Private Weather Station (PWS) – Minster Weather – only recorded a high of 17.2°C

This level of discrepancy seems to be a recent phenomenon as the PWS used to be in almost exact parity with the original Manston site which is unsurprising given their proximity and similarity of location – indeed it would be normal to expect the PWS to run a bit “warmer” in its more sheltered position.

This is clearly going to be an ongoing investigation but may well clear up the interesting situation of the Met office having two sites in close proximity particularly at aviation sites.

To be continued………

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