Friday 9th October
After a bright and sunny morning on Thursday cloud drifted across around 13.00 for an hour or so before that cleared and the sun reappeared resulting in a maximum of 14.9C at 15.38, which was exactly average for October.
Increasing cloud overnight was due to a warm front crossing the area that resulted, unusually at night, in the thermometer making an about turn after a minimum of 9.6C at 22.48 and then rising 6C by dawn.
Friday arrived with the residual cloud from the warm front and a temperature of 15.7C at 08.00, which was already 0.9C above the average maximum for October and made it the warmest start to a new day since the end of September. Another weather front has started to cross the country, this time a cold front, with the air stream originating around Iceland, that will bring rain later this morning and into the afternoon, that could be heavy for a short time. Under the cloud and rain it will be a cool day.
The forecast pressure charts show an absence of weather fronts over the weekend as the barometric pressure begins to build. Under the temporary high pressure we are likely to enjoy a fine weekend with sunny periods although occasional shower clouds might arrive during Saturday afternoon thanks to a trough of low pressure that is forecast to briefly form over Northern England. Any shower activity will be minimal but accompanied by the breeze increasing in strength.
We are well into the hurricane season but until now there has been an unusual absence of disturbances forming off the west coast of Africa that as they head westwards can develop into hurricanes. That changed from yesterday, as the named storm of Isaias has developed into a hurricane that will result in a life-threatening storm surge and damaging hurricane force-winds over the Florida Panhandle. There is the suggestion that the unusually strong El Niño over the Pacific is moderating the development of storms in the Atlantic.
Isaias came one day shy of tying a 121-year-old record for the latest-forming initial hurricane of the Atlantic season.
