Author: Eric Gilbert

The UV level on Saturday was again rated Very High with a dry day and the peak temperature of 21.8C, just above average. The solar energy was the highest this year, but it is almost mid-summer.

The clear skies overnight meant a below average minimum (-1.3C) with a low pf 8.8C

We are nearly half way through June with minimal rainfall of just 12.0mm when the average is 54.2mm, I wonder if this is also going to be a relatively dry month. Only one month in 2022 has brought above average rainfall and that was February (+11mm).

The loss of equivalent rainfall due to evaporation from ground sources and plant life for the the last two days is 3.53mm and 3.84mm relatively. The total loss for the month is 29mm against the recorded rainfall of 12.0mm.

Sunday arrived with bright sunshine and the temperature had recovered to 15.6C at 08.00 under the influence of the anticyclone in mid-Atlantic with the pressure at 08.00 reading 1024.5mb, the highest this month.

In the strong sunshine on Friday the thermometer soared to 22.4C, which was 2.2C above average. The UV level peaked at 8.7, which was at the top end of Very High and the highest since 3rd July 2022 when 8.8 was recorded.

A very brief, light shower was observed at 20.15 but the rainfall was not measurable.

The past night saw a minimum of 10.2C, average for June.

Variable sunshine greeted Saturday that lifted the thermometer to 15.5C at 08.00 under the influence of a ridge of high pressure with a reading at 08.00 of 1021.8mb, the highest this month.

Although the maximum of 18.0C was below average (-2.2C) on Thursday the overnight minimum of 12.4C, a mild night, was 2.3C above. The modest breeze came from the southwest with a peak gust of 14mph at head-height. The reduced sunshine from Wednesday also contributed to the lower daytime temperature as also the UV level of 6.0, down to High from Very High on the two previous days.

The sun greeted the new day on Friday that saw the thermometer rise to 17.4C by 08.00, the warmest start to a day at that time since 23rd July(17.6C). The barometric pressure has recovered the last five days to read 1018.7mb at 08.00, the highest at that time since 4th July.

Wednesday saw the wind veering into the west in the early hours, a slightly cooler direction than south on Tuesday. It was also much stronger with a peak gust f 24mph. As a result the peak temperature was down 2C on Tuesday with a maximum of 20.8C being 0.6C above the average.

It was a dry day with the UV a little lower than on Tuesday with a peak of 7.3, still rated as Very High.

The minimum of 10.2C was 3C down on Wednesday morning and almost exactly average for June.

Thursday brought variable sunshine first thing ahead of increasing cloud slowly easing in from the west with the wind having backed a few degrees into the southwest.

The prolonged sunshine on Tuesday saw the temperature soar to 23.1C being the warmest day this year, equally to 17th May, and 2.9C above the 38-year average.

The UV level of 8.2 was the highest since 8th July 2021 and firmly in the Very High category.

It was also a very warm night with the thermometer not falling below 13.1C making it the warmest night since 15th September (13.4C) and 3.0C above the average.

Although the day was dry, two brief showers occurred overnight triggering the automatic rain gauge at 01.00 and 03.15 but producing only 0.5mm of rainfall.

Wednesday produced sunny spells before 08.00 lifting the temperature to 16.0C.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm at 08.00 registered 17.0C making it the warmest the soil has been at that depth since 11th September (17.8C).