IT'S Baltic and "the views of our mountains in the frost and snow are magnificent". I reckon these are the two most oft repeated local phrases of the month of February.

FIRST February rain - on Sunday. Then February snow - and how - on Tuesday night. So much of the white stuff, in fact, we could have exported some of it to Vancouver.

ALMOST spring-like so far this week. Having been advised by the Met Office that we're due for more snow it was interesting to read this morning's CEEFAX headline.

DUNCAN was having a wee browse through "The Times" internet archive at the weekend. He was looking for sporting snippets.

WHAT can I say about the weather? A bit more settled this past week. But the pundits are telling us to expect it to turn colder next month.

I'M not going to mention the weather, beyond remarking on the "frost fissures" which have appeared on most of our tarmac pavements.

HAPPY Old New Year, starting from January 12th.

HAPPY New Year! But it's back to Old Clothes and Porridge (Porage) now. Although for many it's usually muesli.

WELL, we're certainly having our share of the wintry weather.

WEATHER mixed. And mixed messages from Highland Council as well.

THAT'S the December date into double figures already. And the weather pattern keeps chopping and changing.

CHILL December brings the sleet, blazing fire and Christmas treat...

STORMY weather! A bit like everywhere else, in fact!

VERY cold as I write this at Wednesday lunchtime, having had the four seasons so far in November.

THIS time last year I was writing about a couple of locals who mowed their lawns at the start of November.

"DULL November brings the blast. Then the leaves go whirling past."

OUR Lochaber weather is being even more unpredictable than usual. On Sunday the forecast reckoned Dry Monday, Wet Tuesday, Dry Wednesday, Wet Thursday...

WEATHER mixed for the second week of the schools' mid-term holiday.

IT'S the schools' mid-term holiday, so we can expect a bit of rain.

WHAT can I say about the Lochaber weather? Nothing good, I'm afraid. However it would appear that "autumn has sprung".

THE sun has come out, as I write this today (Wednesday), for the arrival in Loch Linnhe, of MS Quest.

I DON'T know much about the autumnal equinox but the weather has certainly suffered this week, in comparison to last.

WEATHER much more acceptable of late. Thankfully, because I always tell people from the south that the best months to visit Lochaber are September – and May.

AYE, the title of the book was right. August WAS "a Wicked Month". Weatherwise, that is, with a foot of rain in some parts of Lochaber.

LOCHABER'S August Showers!

WELL, that's the schools in for the 2009-2010 session. The youngsters (and the staff, of course) had mixed weather this staycation summer, but, no doubt, are rarin' to go.

FIT like? How're you doin'? And, to be politically correct, Cia Mar Tha Thu?

"AUGUST brings the sheaves of corn. Then the harvest home is borne."

ARE the Lochaber midges losing their teeth? Reports from all around the area – including the Small Isles and Knoydart – suggest that our midges are emigrating to Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire.

THIS week's weather has been reminiscent of April – as in sunshine and showers. And, it's hard to believe – but the last day of next week is the first day of August!

BUT we're still faring much better than many other parts of the UK.

Thursday, July 2 – at lunchtime.

HOT July brings cooling showers; Apricots and Gillyflowers.

SUMMER'S here. Well, it is, as I write this on Wednesday afternoon. Tropical heatwave just about. By Lochaber standards, anyhow.

WEATHER mixed. And the morning meteorologists on BBC Radio for the Islands, Moray and the Highlands (formerly BBC Highland), do their best to make it even more unpredictable.

FLAMING June? And what about May? The official Rainnet figures show that, during Six Days Trials Week, an average of 0.8 inches of rain fell every day – constituting 60 per cent of the precipitation for the entire month!

SUNSHINE and smiles. That was doubly satisfying over the weekend and into this week, in view of the BBC TV forecaster telling us: "There will still be some rain in the North Western Quadrant." I know our local area has been called a few things – but "North Western Quadrant"?

IT was "Baltic" for all of us walking along the Prom, Prom, Prom on the Loch Linnhe side of the bypass, on Tuesday. Yet, at the weekend, the midges were so bad they were interfering with my gardening!

WELL, what do YOU make of the elements? Up until today (Wednesday) it has been something of an amalgam of the Trials Week and last week. But not quite so endlessly wet, and certainly not so sunny.

WELL, what did YOU make of the weather in Trials Week? All Six Days were accompanied by bucketing rain, the like of which the organisers – and the entrants and the locals – had never known. And this annual occasion is, of course, the pipe-opener to Lochaber’s tourism season.

TYPICAL Trials Week Weather. I don't know about face washing in the May dew, but the Lochaber rain must surely be doing some good for the local complexions by now.

NIGEL and Sandra Chisholm were first to tell me they'd heard the cuckoo on Friday afternoon, April 24, calling from the edge of the Cow Hill.

ALLTSHELLACH 17, Alicante 12. That's the degrees centigrade. Over the weekend.

THAT’S our schools back in and, of course, the weather in Lochaber continues to be fine! So there are definite signs of spring around and about. And quite a few people visiting Lochaber for a holiday break.

APRIL showers! Not half. And notwithstanding a Royal visit.

I HAVE a couple of Rainnet weather round-up figures for March.

GEY Dreich! Especially after the balmier days of last week. Wednesday, of course, sees the start of April. And you'll all remember the old couplet:

YOU'LL be noticing that everyone seems to have a sunny disposition this weather. And the forecast appears to be set fair for the rest of the week.

WEATHERWISE we're doing all right in comparison to a lot of places.

THE snow lies on the ground as I write this. Transiently, I trust. Meanwhile, Andrew Bootman of Rainnet, has emailed me Lochaber's February rainfall figures from Suffolk! And here they are:

WEATHER acceptable as we march on to Sunday – March the First!

A QUICK mid-February thaw, and now some milder Lochaber weather. Not too much precipitation, either. Which was good for all those on the mid-term/half-term holiday, and who made the place a bit busier than of late.

WITH the February weather in Lochaber continuing frosty and snowy, it may seem strange to you to be reading about the local rain. But, well, we did have plenty of precipitation in January. So here are the figures provided by the various Rainnet members dotted around our local area:

THE first Monday of February was styled as "the day most likely for people to take sick leave". Aye, and they had plenty of snow in England too, to ensure that 20 per cent of the working population didn't put in an appearance. And as I write this on Wednesday afternoon London has sent up a wee bit of their snow to Lochaber.

SPRING is springing already. It must be – because, well before the end of January, the snowdrops are appearing in St Andrew's Churchyard.

IT always snows on Sunday. And so it came to pass. And on Monday, too.

THE weather mixture continues as before, though minus the hard frost. But let us catch up on the rainfall figures for December while the going's good:

WEATHER? You name it – we've had it all this year already.

WE can now look back on it with The Best of Roamer – 2008.

I'D like to write a happy, merry and non-critical column in this festive week. I'd like to – but I'm not sure I'm going to succeed.

AYE, we're in the "Dreich Midwinter", right enough, although things did brighten up on Tuesday afternoon for a while.

AND the weather pattern so far this month has been interesting to say the least, with no great credit accruing to the forecasters.

SNOW, snow, slow shift snow! It's been around since Friday afternoon, and has had a very mixed reception by young and old.

VARIEGATED weather. But we're not doing too badly. And, as our front page forecasts, there's a continuing area of high pressure on the supermarket front. On Corpach Moss aka Camaghael.

GEY dreich. But not so cold. Which is just as well, as we're having to put British Gas at a peep – because we can't accept their offer to "take care" of our boiler. Aye, British Gas – "Your Energy Experts" – need to take lessons in Scottish geography.

WHAT can I say about the Lochaber weather that hasn't been aired – vociferously – already?

FINE spell of weather, eh? Well, for example, did YOU get a touch of the Sun on Sunday?

ALL kinds of weather this month. Plenty of Lochaber rain and wind. And snowy white snow, long before the Jingle Bells.

TYPICAL school holiday weather.

THE usual meteorological mix in Lochaber – rain, sunshine, earthquakes!

WEATHER changeable. But never more so than at the weekend. On Saturday the rain was persisting down – heavily – and the temperature was eight degrees.

INTO October already. Where does the time go?

A VERY welcome Indian Summer heralded the Autumn Equinox this week. And gave us a bit of a sunny respite from the "credit crunch".

THE usual mix of weather, but none of it dampening a full week of celebratory enthusiasm by the players and officials Fort William Shinty Club – and their supporters.

I THOUGHT Tuesday’s headline, “Flora confused by fluctuating weather”, summed things up for the first week of September. I reckon most of us would have agreed with Flora.

WEATHER variable for September – already!

GEY dreich for the end of August. Hopefully the September sun will come smiling through and prolong the tourist season.

THAT'S the schools back in already! At least this summer holiday, the youngsters had some kinna half-decent weather for a change.

MIXED bag of weather for the start of the grouse season.

WELL into August already. And so far it hasn't been the proverbial "Wicked Month" – weatherwise. But changes on the horizon tonight, apparently.

SUMMERTIME – and not before time. Just look at the masthead on the Lochaber News. August 2 already!

WEATHER mixture as before. However, as I write this – this afternoon (Wed) – the BBC is promising us wall to wall sunshine.

WEATHER mixed again as we await the hoped-for influx of southern tourists at the start of THEIR schools' summer holidays.

WHAT can we write about, apart from unsettled weather? Some restless natives, perhaps. Maybe a brace of edgy elected members. A few anxious An Gearasdanites? A couple of characters – local?

AYE, Monday and Tuesday brought typical Lochaber weather for the start of the school summer holidays. It's brightened a wee bit since.

"FLAMING" June it has proved to be – in at least one interpretation of the term. Hopefully we'll have seen the last of the rain before the school holidays. But I wouldn't bank on it.

NOW that we've had a drop of rain in June, I'm harking back to May for some weather info.

MIXED spell of weather in Lochaber since last I wrote. But nothing too extreme. In fact quite bracing and relaxing in its way.

IT'S official! May in Lochaber was the driest in living memory – and, indeed, says Andrew Bootman, the month with the least rain of any of the 200 months since the local weather observers of Rainnet began compiling their statistics in 1992!

INTO the middle of another week and the bubble has burst a wee bit in Lochaber.

AYE, during this month a lot of holidaying Lochaber locals have been discovering that, though the rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plain, it can persist down on the resorts and cities as well.

SUNSHINE all the way. Fort William hotter than Fort Worth. Or Fort Knox.

SUNSHINE all the way! I knew on Monday we were in for a heatwave.

BANG on 10am it came down yesterday (Wed). To many, it was an industrial icon. To others, a blot on the Lochaber landscape.

CRACKING spell of weather we've been having. Leavened, of course, with those time-honoured Lochaber words: "As long as it's not our summer...".

A LETTER to The Independent earlier this week read: "Given the late spring this year, may I be the first to report that I have neither seen a swallow, nor heard a cuckoo."

I'VE lost count of the number of times, over the years, that I have written the phrase: "It always snows on Sunday".

HERE we are in April already. And variegated weather patterns in the first two days.

THERE were quite a few folk in Lochaber rolling snowballs instead of Easter eggs at the weekend.

SINCE the Ides we've been doing pretty well, weatherwise.

I'VE said it before many times – it always seems to snow on Sundays. And so it came to pass again, even if there was comparatively little of it left at the end of the day.

AYE, March came in like a Lion – and flung everything at us. Including Snowy White Snow, albeit no Jingle Bells.

THAT'S the rain on, I see ... But I hope it's a dry day when Fred and Feya van Voss have next month's Lochaber Life delivered to their Blarachaoruinn homestead.

“BACK to the usual!” That was the Wednesday morning comment in Lochaber after the February rain bubble finally burst.

FINE spell of weather in Lochaber. As the older persons say: "Long may it continue."

THAT’S us well into February, then, with the weather a bit more settled than of late. Which is just as well after all the rain we've experienced so far in 2008.

IT'S February tomorrow (Friday) – and snow's forecast. And I'm minded of our primary school rhyme, although I don't know why because the weather has been predominantly wet so far this year.

WEATHER variable. However, lots of places in England appear to be usurping our rainfall claims.

WEATHER? In the past week we've had just about everything thrown at us.

TRADITIONALLY, I start off the Roamer with the weather. It is with great sadness, however, that I have to advise of the passing, on Tuesday of this week, of Ron Thomson, the man who, for years, provided this column with his monthly compilation of the Fort's rainfall figures, sunshine and temperatures.

"THAT was the year that was." And here we are in the leap year already – but not too late to complete a round-up of The Best of Roamer 2007.

SEASON'S Greetings. I had hoped to provide mostly light reading in the Roamer column between Christmas and New Year.

Global Warming? Who prefers the Lochaber Rain to the current Lochaber Frost?

WEATHER? Variable! On Wednesday morning, for example, it was "too bright, too early".

VERY windy, very wet – and unseasonably mild. That seems to have been our meteorological mix so far this week.

DECEMBER on Saturday, already. And the weather? According to the weekend papers we’re heading for “another mild and damp winter”.

THE weather's a bit more settled this week. Which is just as well for all those far-travelled Lochaber folks returning from holidays in foreign lands, having got used to more exotic climes.

MORE inclement elements than clement elements this week so far.

YOU may be slightly surprised to learn that, as per Ron Thomson's monthly weather round-up, we had less than half the amount of rain in October 2007, than in October 2006!

GEY dreich weather. What with rain, wind, cold – and snow on the tops.

OUR Lochaber weather continues to be clement – as the time approaches for the clocks to go back.

"FAILTE agus Slainte" have been the order of the week. And, all the while, the Mod Week weather has improved.

VARIEGATED weather patterns as the Mod approaches. But then, as was voiced by the convener of the 1981 Mod, Lochaber does have a rainfall reputation to live up to.

SO you thought we didn't have the best of weather in September 2007 – apart from the last few days?

SUNSHINE at last as we approach – October! Already.

GEY Dreich! Ben Nevis had two inches added to its stature at the weekend, as a result of a snap snowfall.

LET'S come back down to earth after the Feeding of the Forty Thousand in Lochaber last week.

HELLO. In the midst of the mist and rain, let's get in Ron's August weather report before moving on to (figuratively) the Torlundy cycle pathway, and then coming back down to earth with the Fort William dig.

THE Lochaber weather plays second fiddle this week to the Lochaber traffic gridlock.

IN previous years I've tended to rely on Edna O'Brien's book title, "August is a Wicked Month", to describe our local weather.

MIXED bag of meteorology since my last report! Apparently tomorrow (Thursday) as I write this, or today (Thursday) as most of you read it, is supposed to be pretty wild – in keeping with the start of the “grouse” season.

“THE sun is shining in the sky – and the birds are singing in the trees”.

I’M writing this on August 1. Lammastide. In some parts of Scotland that’s “Lughnasad”.

SO far this year, in Ben Nevis Book Corner at least, we’ve had fewer weather queries from visitors, like: “Does it always rain in Fort William?” “Does it never stop raining in Fort William?”

NEVER mind the weather. Well, it certainly has been a bit varied.

WEATHER? Well, we’re heading for St Swithin’s Day on Sunday, and it certainly hasn’t been summery so far in July.

IT’S that time again, the start of a new month.

WE'VE no bovver wiv the wevver. Certainly, it has been quite unpredictable since Thursday, The Longest Day. But we didn’t get the Glastonbury Summer Solstice mudbaths. Nor the downpours of the St John’s Eve Rothiemurchus and Midsummer Ingliston events. Still less the torrential Yorkshire rain. However, the daytime temperature did drop 10 degrees in the space of a week.

A BIT kinna dreich today – by our June standards. But, as most locals agree, we don’t have extremes of weather. Unlike our twinned town of Dudley in the West Midlands where the metropolitan boroughers experienced a TORNADO on Friday.

SO many people said at the beginning of May – “I hope that wasn’t our summer!”

IT’S wall to wall sunshine as I write. That’s because the view out of my office window consists of walls and – just now – sunshine.

NE’ER cast a cloot… Aye, the weather mixture’s measuring up to that auld saw – with May just aboot oot.

THERE’S no doubt about it, the Lochaber weather continues to provide a daily talking point.

THE mixture as before. Sunshine and a few showers. But not all that warm.

BEFORE I get bogged down with election comment, I was interested to see that the inclement weather, normally reserved for the first day of the Six Days Trials, arrived right on cue.

WALL to wall sunshine. Temperatures in the middle seventies – like one or two of our local worthies.

WHILE Dingwallian, Gail McGrane, has been airing the meteorological moves on radio and TV all week. We're still awaiting the sound of the Cow Hill cuckoo rising above the dawn chorus.

THE elements finally relented in April, and gave us a wee drop rain.

JUST a few of those April Showers! However, we were doing very well, weatherwise, this month, right up until Easter Sunday, when the mists and the smirr arrived.

ALTHOUGH we all basked in the sun for the last few days of March, the Fort still managed to experience three times as much rain during the month compared to that period of last year.

THE Lochaber weather. "Beautiful just," as Lillian Peckwitt would have said.

WEATHERWISE, touch wood, Lochaber appears to be having the best of it – yet again.

“GALE” McGrain, at the BBC weatherdesk, summed it up more than adequately at 8am on Tuesday.

ALREADY March is proving as unpredictable as ever – rains, gales and sunshine. And that’s even before we need to beware the Ides.

IT’S been all change on the weather front for the last few days of February, with Tuesday and Wednesday giving us a blowy and wet, wet, wet reminder of what we had to endure throughout virtually all of January!

SPRING has sprung. Where it usually does – in the St Andrew’s Churchyard in Fort William.

THERE has been a right mixture of the elements this past week. And I've been looking at weatherman Ron Thomson's five-year statistics. They make interesting reading.

THA fuar, fuar! Taters in the mould. Brass monkey weather.

FEBRUARY already. Continuing mild, hopefully, but always with “precipitation in sight”. In next week’s column we’ll have the weather statistics for 2007 so far, and these should make for some interesting reading.

AS this edition of the Lochaber News is coming out on Burns Day, you might as well prepare for the verse.

I LOOKED out of the window on Tuesday morning and exclaimed: “It’s dry outside”!

AYE that’s us back to old clothes and muesli. And banana. As they say these days, instead of “old clothes and porridge”.

AYE, folks, it’s nearly past that time again. I’ve been browsing through 52 consecutive copies of the Lochaber News to come up with a cross section of items which could constitute The Best of Roamer 2006.

SOME of the sights, and sounds, and non-sounds of the festive season?

THE weather’s a lot more settled just now. But, earlier on in December, Fort William “rained” supreme.

TWELVE days of Christmas? More like 12 days of persistent precipitation!

THAT’S real rain we’ve been having this month. In fact, it had been persisting down to the effect that the precipitation has averaged out at about two inches a day!

WEATHER predictable. With showers in between the heavy rain.

WELL, there’s nothing original I can say about the weather! Lots of sea level snow on Friday; plenty rain before and after – but a change for the better today.

I’M not sure whether to mention weather this week. It’s been gey dreich since my previous pronouncements.

WE’RE fast making in-roads into November already. And some very acceptable weather patterns are emerging.

REMEMBER, Remember. The first of November. Because it was a fine start to the month, with a nice dry day.

SO that’s October fast receding. A mild month, albeit a bit colder on Tuesday. Ah, but will there be snow on the Ben before this time next week?

WELL, the schools' mid-term holiday weather has certainly been mild enough. Changeable, autumnal at times, but OK for getting out and about.

AUTUMN in Lochaber. The weather is providing an October feel-good factor - and long may it continue.

IT'S hard to believe it's October already - as so many people have observed this week. But at least the weather has been quite settled so far!

A METEOROLOGICAL mix - this weather. Balmy breezes at the weekend. Followed by goldfish being decanted 50 feet out of a garden pond and into a puddle muddle after a Ballachulish landslide.

HURRICANE Gordon. That's certainly the fastest I've ever seen him moving Otherwise, I won't mention "the weather" except in passing, as ours has been a major meteorological mix over the past week. Suffice it to say that, despite the emphasis on cold, wet and wind, the midges were menacing in Glen Nevis last Friday evening.

BETTER spell of weather.

"DREICH", says I, last week.

DREICH!

STILL no real sign of the promised August heatwave. But, yet again, our Lochaber weather has been pretty good by comparison.

“DREICH” is the word for it as I write this. Outdoors, I mean!

NEVER mind the weather. We'll just have to make the most of what we're having, as August begins to disappear over the horizon at an alarming rate!

AUGUST already. Yesterday morning in Fort William High Street, I was interested to note the progress of one elderly gentleman "with attitude".

THIS is like the July we remember from our school holidays, all those few decades ago.

SUMMER in Lochaber. And with these blue skies and heat - our area is hard to beat.

A REAL meteorological mixture this week. Perhaps "changeable" may be the most appropriate word.

WELL, what can I say about this wonderful wevver that hasn't seen the light before?

THIS wevver is a bit more like it. I say "wevver" in the light of the University of Glasgow study which reveals this week that that city's young fans of EastEnders are "unwittingly" adopting a Cockney twang.

MIDSUMMER! And what can I say about the variegated weather?