A temperature inversion

The bio on my twitter header mentions both cheese and clouds. With some authenticity, I can trace this back to 1977, when we stayed in Beaufort in the Alps with family friends. Two memories stick: firstly visiting the Beaufort fromagerie, and the taste of that delicious Alpine cheese, and secondly, looking down into the valley from their chalet and thinking there was a fire, to be told, no, it was cloud below us.

Ever since then, I’ve had a real fascination with inversions, and the atmospheric effects of low cloud when seen from on high. Earlier today I forced myself up the hill, and was fortunate to see Kendal and surrounding valleys wreathed in low lying mist, katabatic flows merging and moving. The temperature was noticeably warmer on the fell summit, and as I ran back down into Mealbank, the coldness of the damp air stuck chilled to my sweaty face.  The ‘inversion’ of these conditions is the increase in temperature as you ascend, whereas normally, air temperature decreases with altitude. 

Dampness trapped in valleys resulted in the sight of misty islands, layers of fog, and finally, I noticed the steam from Croppers Paper Mill being initially pushed south by the River Kent winds, but once it reached a certain height, being blown back north and east.  There is a real magical feel to the landscape bathed in mist, a real privilege to witness and be amongst.