Author: Eric Gilbert

The brisk wind from thE north east took the edge off the temperature being 2C down on the Wednesday peak with a maximum of 22.4C but still 5.3C above the average.

The dry spell continues, 25 in May in total, as the anticyclone continues to dominate our weather.

The overnight minimum was also 2C below the previous night’s low with a minimum of 8.7C, being 1.7C above average.

The high pressure is easing away towards Scandinavia with the pressure easing down with a current treading of 1027.8mb allowing the wind to veer a few degrees today coming from south of east on Friday. However, the sun was up bright and early, as on many previous days, lifting the temperature to 14.0C at 08.00.

The rainfall total for May still stands at 8.2mm. It is not the driest May that I have recorded since the station started in 1984 as in May 1990 I recorded just 6.7mm of rainfall. The media have highlighted the dry Spring. The rainfall in Marlborough for Spring 2020, that’s the complete months of March to May, currently totals 84.8mm whereas the driest Spring since 1984 in Marlborough occurred in 2011 with 65mm. The evaporation from the ground and plant life is now equivalent to 104mm of rainfall.

The thermometer rose to 24.9C on Wednesday, exactly the same as on Tuesday, being 7.8C above average. Overnight the thermometer slowly fell away to reach a minimum at 05.05 Thursday of 10.7C, which was 3.7C above average.

Thursday saw hazy sunshine to start the day through thin high cloud.

As the anticyclone migrated from being to the northwest of the UK to now be centered over the North Sea the wind has veered into the northeast.

Tuesday gave us another sunny day with 10.2 hours of strong sunshine that boosted the temperature to 24.9C at 16.30.

We have now experienced 23 days without measurable rainfall in May with just 8.2mm recorded. The equivalent rainfall lost to the atmosphere from evaporation from the ground and plant life has reached 100mm.

The past night was very mild with the thermometer not falling below 11.0C, which was 4C above average.

Wednesday saw hazy sunshine to start the day but by 08.00 the sun was shining strongly but through thin high cloud, this lifted the thermometer to 16.1C at 08.00 giving us the warmest start to the day since 27th August. The ground is now retaining much warmth overnight so that by 08.00 on Wednesday the soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 19.7C.

The thermometer continued to rise under the influence of the high pressure and during 12.4 hours of strong sunshine. The thermomter peaked at 24.1C, which was 7C above the 36-year average. Overnight the thermometer fell just below average with a minimum of 6.2C being 0.8C below average.

Tuesday arrived with hazy sunshine initially that quickly gained strength and lifted the thermometer to 15.4C at 08.00 making it the warmest start to the day at that time since 27th August. Although overnight was cool the heat is being absorbed into the ground and quickly recovers after dawn. The temperature at a death of 5cm read 18.3C at 08.00.

The centre of the anticyclone has repositioned from the English Channel to the tip of south west Ireland. However, it is still very close so the wind will continue to be light, maximum gust on Monday was 14mph from the west. The current barometric pressure reading of 1035.6mb is the highest since the end of March.

The barometric pressure continued to build on Sunday as the centre of the anticyclone moved nearer to the UK that gave us another dry, sunny day with higher temperatures. The thermometer rose steadily to reach a peak of 20.6C being 3.5C above average during the 11.7 hours of sunshine. The UV rose to the High category for most of the day but briefly edged into the Very High category midday.

The ground and plant life has now evaporated into the atmosphere the equivalent rainfall of 86mm during May.

It was a cool night under clear skies when the thermometer fell well below the average with a minimum of 5.2 (-1.8C) at 05.33 on Monday morning. Initially fog formed in the early hours but quickly lifted into mist after dawn as the sun got work and then cleared by 07.00.

The centre of the anticyclone is now close to Southern England being just south of the Isle of Wight. This has resulted in the highest barometric pressure in two months with a current reading at 08.00 on Monday of 1034.7mb. Not only will this bring fine, dry weather but the very strong, gusty winds have subsided to fall away to a very gentle breeze.