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Here you can see the mean temperature difference between 2 m above ground at Strasbourg weather station and 142 m above ground at Strasbourg Cathedral's spire over the course of one day:
(sorry, the caption is in german and this is not my figure)
Well a rough guide is a 0.6-1.0C decrease for every 100 metres. So 500 metres would be between 3-5C cooler than sea-level, 1000 metres 6-10C cooler. In that case I'd say 300-400m would be where one would begin to notice any real difference.
Altitude is very important in my country. Not least because even at low altitude, a large part of the year has temperature not very far from freezing. So driving conditions over the mountains might be very different from near sea level.
Here's one example from just now today at 14:00:
Lærdal at 2m asl (innermost Sognefjord): 6.9C
Sogndal airport 500m asl: 1.7C Sognefjellshytta (lodge) at 1,413m asl: -6.5C
Fannaråki (mountain) at 2,062m asl: -10.2C
Distance from the fjord is also of importance.
Many weather maps and other maps doesn't have good enough resolution to be very usefull for Norway, because of the topography and because of the mountains and mountain plains covering a large part of the country.
Does anybody even live at that altitude lets be honest? I mean even here nobody lives above 300m.
I think you would have to go quite high in elevation to notice any difference. And sometimes it's the opposite because warmer air rises, so it's an inversion. I did experience an inversion recently. On October 26th of this year, I was at Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos. The point in the park I started at is off an east-west road where hiking trails start on either side heading north and south. The one going south decreases in elevation and the one heading north increases in elevation. I started out on the one going south, which leads to a nice waterfall. I had brought several extra layers of sweaters in my backpack and had to use them at this point, as it was quite chilly. Got to the waterfall, went back up, crossed the road, and went on the trail headed north. At this point I had to take off all the layers, as I was quite warm in them. I have a park map which also shows elevation isolines, and the highest point I was at on the northbound trail was about 1900' (580m). An hour later after heading south again, crossing the road again, and heading down towards the waterfall, I was at about 1400' (425m) again by the waterfall. So the difference in elevations I experienced was roughly 500 feet or 150m. I needed to put my layers back on as I was chilly once more. Looking on the map, right around the waterfall is a valley where the elevation drops off significantly, so I can definitely see how inversions can occur this way.
Not really. In winter here it can be 2 feet of snow at 200m and pouring with rain at sea level.
Well a rough guide is a 0.6-1.0C decrease for every 100 metres. So 500 metres would be between 3-5C cooler than sea-level, 1000 metres 6-10C cooler. In that case I'd say 300-400m would be where one would begin to notice any real difference.
Where I live it is usually a 3c difference for 330m (highest point of road behind my house) Like it can be wet here and 3c and then snow lying at 330m. Often the snow lies at 330m long before here. Like its probably snowing up there right now and its raining and 4.3c here.
Climate and weather information are of course important for communications over the mountains (roads, trains), as well as all those people hiking or skiing in the mountan areas or going to their second homes (hytte).
Where I live it is usually a 3c difference for 330m (highest point of road behind my house) Like it can be wet here and 3c and then snow lying at 330m. Often the snow lies at 330m long before here. Like its probably snowing up there right now and its raining and 4.3c here.
So there can be quite a large difference.
I think Oceanic climates tend to have a lower lapse rate than Continental climates, so I would be surprised if your figure was that high.
Around here, two locations at about 850m/2700ft have average annual temps at 4C lower than sea level, and one location at 650m/2000ft is 3C lower.
There is no simple gradient following the seasons though. Summer maximums in two locations are close to sea level averages, with minimums coming in much lower lower. I think geography is the main factor at work.
Inversions make it hard to make easy comparisons. I've seen extreme inversions around here before, with valley floors being up to 15C/30F colder than slopes 800m/2600ft higher.
I live at 100m/300ft, and record maximums in line with the official recording site (at 8m/25ft), but with minimums about 1C warmer.
I think Oceanic climates tend to have a lower lapse rate than Continental climates, so I would be surprised if your figure was that high.
Read through the thread I linked, which has numerous comparisons. The UK sites I found have somewhat steeper winter lapse rates than the Northeast US, and similar summer ones.
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