October Weather in Orkney United KingdomDaily high temperatures decrease by 5°F, from 55°F to 50°F, rarely falling below 45°F or exceeding 59°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 4°F, from 47°F to 43°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 52°F. For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Orkney typically range from 52°F to 61°F, while on February 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 36°F to 43°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on October. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Metlakatla, Alaska, United States (4,061 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Orkney (view comparison). CloudsThe month of October in Orkney experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 61% to 65%. The clearest day of the month is October 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 39% of the time. For reference, on February 3, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 70%, while on May 29, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 46%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Orkney, the chance of a wet day over the course of October is increasing, starting the month at 41% and ending it at 47%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 49% on January 4, and its lowest chance is 24% on May 17. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during October in Orkney is gradually increasing, starting the month at 3.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.7 inches or falls below 1.7 inches, and ending the month at 3.4 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.3 inches or falls below 1.9 inches. The highest average 31-day accumulation is 3.5 inches on October 26. SunOver the course of October in Orkney, the length of the day is very rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day decreases by 2 hours, 33 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 5 minutes, 6 seconds, and weekly decrease of 35 minutes, 45 seconds. The shortest day of the month is October 31, with 8 hours, 53 minutes of daylight and the longest day is October 1, with 11 hours, 26 minutes of daylight. The earliest sunrise of the month in Orkney is 7:17 AM on October 1 and the latest sunrise is 59 minutes later at 8:16 AM on October 26. The latest sunset is 6:43 PM on October 1 and the earliest sunset is 2 hours, 22 minutes earlier at 4:21 PM on October 31. Daylight saving time (DST) ends at 1:00 AM on October 27, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour earlier. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 3:58 AM and sets 18 hours, 30 minutes later, at 10:28 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 9:04 AM and sets 6 hours, 11 minutes later, at 3:15 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for October 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Orkney is essentially constant during October, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on July 13, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Orkney is increasing during October, increasing from 18.5 miles per hour to 20.4 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on January 24, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 22.5 miles per hour, while on July 12, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.9 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Orkney throughout October is predominantly from the south, with a peak proportion of 37% on October 11. Water TemperatureOrkney is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Orkney is gradually decreasing during October, falling by 2°F, from 54°F to 52°F, over the course of the month. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Orkney typically lasts for 8.0 months (245 days), from around April 5 to around December 7, rarely starting before February 28 or after May 4, and rarely ending before November 6 or after January 2. The month of October in Orkney is very likely fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season gradually decreasing from 100% to 94% over the course of the month. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Orkney are gradually increasing during October, increasing by 40°F, from 580°F to 620°F, over the course of the month. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Orkney is decreasing during October, falling by 1.2 kWh, from 1.9 kWh to 0.8 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Orkney are 58.985 deg latitude, -2.960 deg longitude, and 7 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Orkney contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 420 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 88 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (869 feet). Within 50 miles also contains very significant variations in elevation (1,572 feet). The area within 2 miles of Orkney is covered by grassland (61%), water (25%), and artificial surfaces (11%), within 10 miles by water (54%) and grassland (29%), and within 50 miles by water (88%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Orkney, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 2 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Orkney. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Orkney according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Orkney is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Orkney and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Orkney and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |