Author: Eric Gilbert

Throughout daylight hours on Saturday an area of thick cloud persisted over the area initially producing drizzle that then became light rain for almost twelve hours. It was an exceptionally cold day with the thermometer rising just a couple of degrees from that at dawn to a maximum of only 5.9C, which was a significant 8.4C below the 37-year average and the coldest since 7th March.

It was the first sunless day since 20th March with the UV peak of 1.4, which is at the lower end of “Low”.

During the early evening the temperature dropped to 2.0C and the precipitation turned to wet snow with a daily total of 6.2mm. This was the wettest day since 26th March and brought the monthly total to 6.6mm when the average is 58.5mm.

The cloud eventually thinned overnight and allowed the temperature to drop to -0.6C at 05.05 on Sunday morning that saw very brief bright intervals between occasional breaks in the cloud, which was thinner and higher than on Saturday.

We enjoyed 6 hours of sunshine on Friday with a maximum temperature of 12.5C. This was the warmest day for a week but still 1.8C below the average. In fact we have yet to have a day in April when the thermometer gets above the 37-year average maximum.

A chilly night followed as the wind late afternoon on Friday, (17.00) began to veer into the north so a colder air flow arrived. The temperature dropped away to a minimum of 3.2C being 0.9C below average.

Saturday dawned dull with a large area of thick cloud producing occasional light drizzle but not measurable thus recorded as a trace. Currently at 08.00 the wind is very light and coming from the north-northeast.

The wind having backed into the southwest predominantly on Thursday meant a warm day with a maximum of 11.7C. However, this was still 2.6C below the 37-year April average but with much lighter winds and 3 hours of sunken it felt much warmer.

A very light shower fell at 20.15 that amounted to just 0.4mm, the first measurable precipitation since 27th March.

The minimum overnight was also below average with a low of 3.7C at 06.33 on Friday, which was 0.4C below average. In fact there has only been one night this month that was above average, namely 1st with 7.6C (+3.5C).

There was some brightness and limited sunshine on Friday morning through broken cloud. However, with a cold front on our doorstep, cloud will increase as the morning progresses and it will get colder again.

There was minimal sunshine of Wednesday, just under an hour, that combined with the brisk wind from the north west, limited the thermometer to a peak of 6.1C. This was a significant 8.2C below the 37-year average and the coldest day since 6th March.

The low humidity continues, partly due to the drier air recently from the north and that we have had 11 consecutive days without rainfall.

There was a brief air frost overnight as the temperature dropped away to -0.3C at 01.35 before recovering to 4.2C at 08.00 on Thursday.

Sadly no sunshine on Thursday morning as there was complete cloud cover. However, the wind is much lighter and significantly has backed into the southwest or west-southwest. As a result of this change in wind direction today should be less cold. The ground has lost a lot of warmth recently with the soil thermometer at a depth of 5cm reading 3.8C at 08.00 today after dropping to 0.7C yesterday at that time.

The Arctic air produced several showers during daylight hours on Tuesday. Initially there were very light snow grains but later in the afternoon there were two heavier showers of small snowflakes that were light in nature and not measurable for equivalent rainfall quantity thus logged as a trace.

The thermometer struggled to reach a peak of 7.9C, again below average (-6.4C). During showers the temperature dropped 3C. Wind chill produced by the strong north westerly wind, gusting to 28mph, was in evidence all day making it feel at least 2C colder outside than indicated on the thermometer. The thermometer at 14.07 dropped to 4.2C in one shower with wind chill making it feel more like 2.5C on exposed skin outside.

A hard frost set in overnight with the thermometer dropping below zero at 22.52 and falling steadily until reaching a minimum of -3.3C at 06.16 on Wednesday.

Wednesday after dawn saw glorious sunshine but short lived as just before 07.30 broken cloud began to drift across the sky blocking out most of the sun but it was bright. The thermometer at 08.00 was still below freezing reading -0.1C. The air is still very dry with humidity at 08.00 just 79%.