Måseskär (en: ''The Gull Skerry'') is a rocky island and a lighthouse station located in the sea of
Skagerrak on the west coast of Sweden.
History
Since the year 1829, a daymark had been constructed on the island, but it proved not to be enough since many ships were lost in the area. It was demolished during the lighthouse construction. The tower was built after sketches from Swedish lighthouse pioneer
Nils Gustaf von Heidenstam
Nils ''Gustav'' von Heidenstam (1822 – 2 June 1887) was a Swedish engineer born in Blekinge. He was the chief engineer of the Swedish Royal Coast Guard.
Life
He was the son of Werther Werner von Heidenstam (16 October 1763 – 1852) and father ...
. Originally the flame ran on
colza oil-lamps and showed red light. In 1884 a
kerosene lamp was installed instead, and in 1887 the large lens was changed to a third order fresnel lens with white light. The old lens was divided and placed in two other lighthouses. Electricity came to the island in 1950, but the station was staffed until 1997. It was then one of the last staffed light stations in Sweden along with
Söderarm
Söderarm is the name of a deactivated Swedish lighthouse station and its surrounding small archipelago in the west part of the Sea of Åland.
The light station is located on the island of Thorskär. This area, together with the tiny island of T ...
and
Holmögadd. In 1978 the old lighthouse was replaced, deactivated and planned for scrapping due to its bad rusty condition. But a rescue group convinced the
Swedish Maritime Administration to donate the scrap funding and the lighthouse to them for repairs and historic preservation. They created the Måseskär foundation and works to preserve all light station buildings on the island. The modern lighthouse is still under control of the Swedish Maritime Administration. The old lighthouse is intact and fully operable. Since the year 2000 there is a tradition among the foundation to turn on the light at 00.00 January 1 for a couple of minutes. The island is included as a wind observation station in the shipping news of the
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
Climate
The weather station operated at Måseskär indicates an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
that is heavily moderated by Swedish standards. Many typical features of an oceanic climate is there, such as
seasonal lag, low
diurnal temperature variation rendering cool days and warm nights, and a lower than normal seasonal temperature variation. Although Måseskär has never recorded a temperature above it is a hotspot for tropical nights (minima above due to said maritime influence that keeps the sea warm during summer nights. Remarkably high autumn daily means are also common due to the lag effect. For example, the daily means of September and October are on average warmer than the highs of May and April respectively. Summer nights are also some of the warmest in Sweden. During the coldest month (February) frosts are regular, but rarely severe. Months with daytime averaging below freezing are rare but not impossible, only occurring when inland temperatures are very cold.
Rainfall is comparatively low for a
Kattegat station, totalling per year between 1961 and 1990.
See also
*
List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Sweden
References
*
External links
Sjofartsverket
The Swedish Lighthouse Society*
Islands of Västra Götaland County
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