Author: Eric Gilbert

Under the influence of the brisk northerly wind on Saturday, gusting to 22mph at its peak, the thermometer was reluctant to even reach 15.6C maximum being 5.4C below the 36-year average. It is still August and there was a wind chill factor that meant it felt a degree cover than as shown on the thermometer.

There was a little light rain around 19.40 amounting to just 0.4mm otherwise a dry day.

The past night was cool, very cool, with the wind still coming from the north that meant the thermometer dropped to 8.1C at 06.46 on Sunday. This was the coolest night since 4th August and 3.5C below the average. Again there was a wind chill factor so it felt more like 6.8C at 07.00.

Sunday saw the sun shining continuously shortly after dawn when it had risen above a low cloud bank on the eastern horizon. The temperature at 08.00 had lifted a little to reach just 9.7C making it the coldest start to the day at this time since 6th June.

We are currently under a transient ridge of high pressure that has seen the barometer rising for the past 36 hours with a current reading at 08.00 of 1017.1mb, close to the highest this month.

Friday gave us a bright start but sharp showers soon began to develop late morning. The daily rainfall amounted to 7.9mm bringing the August total to 74.6mm, which is 8mm above the 36-year average. The wind was often quite brisk, particularly as the rain squalls passed through with a maximum gust of 21mph.

Temperatures by day and night were depressed as the wind in the afternoon veered into the northwest and later north bring much cooler air. The maximum of 16.7C was 4.3C below the August average and occurred late morning at 11.29 and then began to fall back. With the northerly brisk breeze continuing overnight it was not surprising to find that the thermometer dropped well below average with a minimum of 9.2C (-2.4C) in the early hours of Saturday at 03.45.

Saturday arrived with a predominantly cloudy sky and the cool northerly persisting that meant it was the coldest start to a day at 08.00 since 6th June with the thermometer reading only 10.1C. The distinctly autumnal feel to the weather is due to a depression to the east circulating anticlockwise and an anticyclone in the eastern Atlantic circulating clockwise, as they do, bringing the very cool air down across the country from much further north.

After a bright start on Thursday the rain arrived again with a daily total of 14.1mm that brought the month total to 66.7mm, which is exactly the 36-year average for August.

The wind was initially from the southeast but variable in the gusts to 31mph and in the evening made an abrupt change to the north.

Both maximum and minimum were below average, not unexpected with all the cloud and rain, with just 15.0C (-6.0C) at 08.54 on Thursday morning and 10.9C (-0.7C) at 06.42 on Friday. This unusually low daytime temperature made it the coolest day since 18th June when that day had exceptional rainfall. Very unusually the warmth slowly fell away during the daytime and did not rise as is normal during the summer.

At sunrise on Friday radiation fog had formed in the River Og valley. Shortly afterwards a fog bank was observed drifting over the Marlborough Downs from the Thames Valley to the north that began to dissipate by 07.30.

Wednesday, after a cloudy start, gave us 8.7 hours of intermittent sunshine. However, the wind although much less strong than on Tuesday with a peak gust of 22mph, came from the west, a cooler direction. The maximum temperature of 20.2C was 0.8C below the 36-year average. It was a dry day with the UV level reaching ‘High”.

A cool night followed with a minimum of 10.2C at 06.40 on Thursday. This was 1.4C below the average and, after recent rainfall, allowed radiation mist to form temporarily in the River Og valley that quickly dispersed shortly after dawn.

Thursday started dull with a cloud bank over the eastern horizon but by 07.30 the sun was appearing over the cloud edge and by 08.00 shining brightly. However, the cooler night and the sun getting up much later at this time of year, meant the coolest start to the day at 08.00 since 11th June with a temperature of 12.1C.

Storm Francis arrived with a vengeance on Tuesday. After the early morning deluge with 17.1mm reported yesterday before 08.00, another 3.3mm fell during the daytime bringing the monthly rainfall total to 52.6mm. However, we have lost the equivalent rainfall of 68mm due to evaporation from the soil and plant life so far this month.

The other noticeable feature was the strength of the wind as forecast. The strongest gust of wind recorded was 48mph at 15.28. This was the strongest gust of wind recorded during the month of August since the station started in 1984.

The wind slowly subsided in the early hours of Wednesday with a maximum gust of just 15mph.

Wednesday morning was in stark contrast to Tuesday with sunshine shortly after dawn with minimal cloud and dry. A transient ridge of high pressure is providing the improved conditions with the barometric pressure having risen 11mb since the Tuesday minimum, with a current reading of 1010.5mb. Storm Francis is now visiting Denmark.