Author: Eric Gilbert

Sunday was another blustery day under the influence of Storm Dennis that saw winds frequently above 30mph and a peak of 38mph. The morning was very wet until just after 13.00 when the clouds began to thin. However violent squalls still occurred at 19.34 and 21.40 increasing the daily rainfall total to 12.2mm.

We have been very fortunate that the worst of the deluges occurred to the west, south and north of Marlborough. The monthly rainfall total for February currently stands at 87.4mm, which is 135% of the 35-year average.

Monday saw muted sunshine after dawn as cloud eased away to the east.

Temperatures by day and night were again above average with a maximum of 8.8C (+1.2C), down 4C on the Saturday high and a minimum 3.3C (+2.0C) being 5.3C below the Saturday minimum. The thermometer had recovered to 4.2C at 08.00 and the barometric pressure risen to 1005.7mb. So far this month we have only had two days with below average maxima.

Update on Monday at 18.45: thankfully almost a dry day, just 0.2mm, and two hours of sunshine. Although breezy a maximum gust of 30mph was much less severe than of late.

Saturday brought us the effects of Storm Dennis with many hours of steady rain and drizzle also the occasional heavy burst as early Sunday morning. The rainfall over the last twenty-four hours amounted to 21.5mm. This was the wettest day since 14th January (21.6mm) and the monthly total to 75.2mm, which is 116% of the 35-year February average.

We did not experience the intense rainfall or deluges that other areas to the west and north on higher ground experienced. It is interesting to note that each of the last seven months have recorded above average rainfall.

The wind was very strong all day with frequent gusts in excess of 30 mph with a maximum of 46mph at 14.27.

The temperature slowly rose during Saturday and into Sunday reaching a maximum of 12.7C at 05.40, which was 5.2C above the 35-year average. We have only experienced two days with maxima below average during February.

Just after 05.30 on Sunday the barometric pressure began to rise as the latest weather front eased away to the east and the thermometer began to drop reading 8.7C at 08.00. This minimum was 7.3C above the February average.

Update at 18.15: another 10mm of rainfall since 08.00 so Marlborough very fortunately missed the long periods of intense rainfall to the north and west. A peak wind gust of 30mph was recorded at 14.52.

A cold front bearing rain ahead of Storm Dennis arrived at 16.40 on Friday, that by Saturday 08.00 had given us another 11.8mm of rainfall. This brought the monthly total to 53.7mm being 83% of the 35-year February average. The indication that the storm was approaching was seen as the barometric pressure began to fall at 09.23.

The southerly winds were strong again on Friday peaking at 27mph.

The UV level rose to a reading of 1.5, the highest since 28th October, during the sunshine breaks that totalled 2.2 hours.

Saturday arrived with brisk winds and driving light rain. We have experienced a very mild night with the thermometer currently reading 10.8C, which is a significant 9.5C above the February average minimum. The barometric pressure at 08.00 read 1007.5mb, well above the extreme low at the centre of Storm Dennis, now between Scotland and Iceland, having fallen dramatically to 925mb.

Update at 18.30: strongest gust of wind to date of 46mph at 10.49. Another 11mm of precipitation in the past twelve hours. Very mild conditions continue with current ambient temperature of 11.7C, which is 4.2C above average maximum.

Most of the daylight hours on Thursday were dry, just a modest shower amounting to 1.1mm. The westerly wind gusting to 27mph, meant tat the clouds moved along swiftly allowing 2.3 hours of sunshine.

The maximum temperature of 8.7C was 1.2C above the 35-year average, in fact we have only had two days in February when maxima were below average.

Clearer skies overnight meant a cool night with the temperature dropping to 1.9C at 07.42 on Friday morning that saw hazy sunshine after dawn.

A short lived ridge of high pressure meant a dry day on Wednesday with 5.5 hours of sunshine, the sunniest day since 18th November. This did allow the thermometer to creep above the average maximum with a peak of 8.1C (+0.6C) at 12.41 but increasing cloud around noon meant the afternoon gave us short periods of sun.

During the night the next weather front crossed the area with winds gusting to 36mph. Rain arrived just after midnight with an intense squall between 03.45 and 04.15 with rain falling, briefly, at the rate of 70mm/hour, amounting to 12.1mm. This made it the wettest day in February and brought the monthly total to 40.8mm, which is 63% of the 35-year average.

Thursday saw the continuation of thick cloud and more showers with the occasional break allowing a little brightness to show through. After a minimum of 4.4C (+3.1C), the thermometer read 5.3C at 08.00.