The graph shows the weather over the last day or two at Edinburgh airport. The data are downloaded every 30 minutes from weather.noaa.gov and are plotted using R. In addition to the observed cloud heights, we show the height calculated from the "rule of thumb" that height in km = 0.2 + 0.125(Temperature - Dew Point). Suggestions for improvements to Hugh Pumphrey (H.C.Pumphrey@ed.ac.uk). This is not a replacement for the University Weather Station (but it is handy when said weather station breaks down, which, let's face it, has been most of the last year or two).
The mysterious labels on the surface pressure graph (the top panel) are the bits of the original METAR report that are not numerical. They tell you things like whether it rained or if the station generated the report automatically. You can read up on what they all mean on Wikipedia or here. A definitive description is in this WMO handbook.
I have added similar plots for some other sites, picking those
that report higher clouds. (EGPH, like most UK civilian airports, only
reports clouds that are below 1.5km.) You can see the structure of
passing fronts much more clearly on these:
Edinburgh (EGPH)
Shannon (EINN)
Cork (EICK)
Knock (aka Connaught or Ireland West) (EIKN)
RAF Kinloss (EGQK)
RAF Lossiemouth (EGQS)
RAF Leuchars (EGQL)
Navy Culdrose, Cornwall (EGDR)
RAF Valley (EGOV)
I include the Irish civilian airports because (unlike the UK military
stations) they report every 30 minutes. Many of the military stations
have a Lidar; you used to be able to see the lidar data on
the
Met Office LIDARNET page but the meanies have taken it away and
have informed me that they have no intention of re-instating it. If
you are at Edinburgh you might find some Lidar data
here.
I also have a few which may not report high clouds but which are
sited in the same place as a lidar:
Belfast Aldergrove (EGAA)
Stornoway (EGPO)
Exeter (EGTE)
