Author: Eric Gilbert

The breeze has been very light for the past few days and Thursday was no exception as a maximum gust of 10mph was recorded at head height. However, the breeze on Thursday was from the north or north-northwest being a much cooler air stream. Therefore, it was not surprising to find the maximum of 19.6C was well down on previous days and 1.5C below the 38-year average.

It was also a mostly cloudy day that brought very limited sunshine by the afternoon and the UV peak of 3.8, being in the Moderate category, was the lowest since 20th June.

Clearer skies overnight and the cooler air stream meant a very cool night with the thermometer dropping steadily away to a minimum 8.7C. This low was 3.0C below the average and the coldest night since the 6th August (5.8C).

Friday brought early morning sunshine that lifted the temperature to 12.8C by 08.00. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 14.8C at that time being the coolest since 3rd July.

The thermometer did not climb quite as high on Wednesday as Tuesday but a maximum of 26.5C was still 5.4C above the 38-year average.

Another dry day with the UV level peaking at High.

Yet another very mild night due to the southerly air stream and complete cloud cover. The thermometer did not drop below 15.1C, which was 3.4C above the average.

Thursday dawned dull and cloudy with a much lower cloud base due to an extensive rain band moving Northeast, just to the east of Marlborough, bringing its extensive cloud but no rain to this area, it was very near, just 10 miles to the east. The humidity at 0800 was 93%.

Just after midnight the wind direction began to veer a little, from the north-northwest or north and light.

The periods of strong sunshine on Tuesday lifted the thermometer to 27.1C making it the warmest day for a week and 6C above the average.

It was another dry day without any measurable precipitation although there was a very light shower of drizzle mid-morning. It was the twentieth dry this month with the UV level just into the Very High category with a peak value of 7.2. The humid air continued from a mostly southwesterly breeze gusting 19mph at its peak,

It has been a very mild night with the thermometer not sinking below 17.6C which was a significant 5.9C above the average for late August.

Wednesday saw a few limited bright intervals before 08.00 but a mostly cloudy sky with the thermometer having risen to 18.7C at that time.

The effect of the change in wind direction to southwest brought a dramatic change to our weather on Monday. The very moist Atlantic air, having travelled over thousands of miles of sea, raised the humidity level and brought the first rain for a week. The very light drizzle occurred very briefly during mid-morning but set in for several intermittent hours mid-afternoon producing 1.8mm of precipitation. This brought the monthly rainfall to 18.0mm when the 38-year average is 66.9mm.

The persistent low cloud meant minimal brightness and a much cooler day with a maximum of 19.9C being 1.2C below the average. Conversely, the cloud meant a very mild night with the minimum not dropping below the temperature at 08.00 on Monday morning of 15.2C being 3.5C above the average. It was the coolest day since 2nd July (18.2C).

Tuesday arrived initially with total cloud cover but just before 08.00 breaks in the cloud allowed brief sunny intervals that raised the temperature to 17.8C at 08.00. The humidity at 08.00 read 91%.

Although the maximum of 23.8C was above average on Sunday (+2.7C) thanks to variable sunshine the overnight minimum of 9.6C was 2.1C below due to clear skies.

Sunday was another dry day, the 19th this month, in fact we have enjoyed 152 dry days in 2022 so far. However, rain is forecast for Monday morning, will it arrive and how much will the local area receive, I wonder?

Monday brought bright sunshine after dawn but by 07.30 advancing cloud could be seen to the west and by 08.00 the sun had become totally obscured.