As another weather system approached the county from the Atlantic it threw further cloud across the area producing sporadic drizzle and more rain overnight totalling 2.8mm. This brought the monthly total to 153.1mm, making it the second wettest October since this station opened in 1984.
As the day progressed the temperature eased upwards but just after midnight the wind veered into the southeast as much warner air arrived with a steady increase in temperature from around 6C to 12C on Friday morning.
October 2019 Review
The month began under the threat of Hurricane Lorenzo that formed in Mid-Atlantic approaching from the west. This was the strongest hurricane to have been recorded so far east in the Atlantic. It produced waves as high as an eight-storey building around the Azores.
Fortunately for this country Lorenzo had been downgraded to a storm by the time it crossed our shores. However, Lorenzo did bring winds gusting to 31 mph, combined with considerable rainfall amounting to 8.4mm on the October 1st.
This set the pattern for the remainder of the month as the powerful jet stream, running in excess of 150mph, produced a conveyer belt of depressions arriving from the Atlantic.
There was an exceptionally wet and windy period around the second week in the month. Several days produced rainfall in double digits, 15.1mm, 28.7mm and 15.4mm on the 11th, 13th and 14th respectively.
The monthly rainfall average of 83.6mm was overtaken by the 13th and continued to be added to throughout most of the month, producing a monthly total of 153.1mm, which was 183% of the 35-year average or 69.5mm above.
Interestingly this was similar to the wet September that gave us 181% of the 35-year average. During the first 10 months of 2019 we have received 749mm of precipitation when the 35-year average is 665mm.
We were not alone in the deluge of rainfall. Having visited Spain and Portugal in mid October it was no warmer than the UK and almost as wet. Southern France, towards the end of the month, received 198mm in six hours.
On the 26th a long straggling weather front, tailing back 3,000 miles into the south Atlantic, produced another 13.5mm of rainfall in Marlborough and wind gusts up to 36mph as it approached. However, we again got off lightly as areas to the west were inundated with torrential rain such as Libanus close to the Brecon Beacons that received 107mm in the twenty-four hours. On many occasions I have noticed that such exceptional rainfall occurs to the west or east of this central England area.
There were just 8 dry days in October. It is not surprising that this was well below the average of 14 with so many depressions crossing the country.
Due to the many cloudy, gloomy days the temperatures were depressed producing a mean of 9.66C, which was 0.8C below the 35-year average. The two contrasting years were in 1992 with a mean of 6.95 and the wonderful autumnal October of 2001 with a mean of 12.77C.
The month started with a few warm days – the thermometer reached 19.1C on the 1st. It ended with the coldest day when a maximum of only 8.9C was recorded on the 28th, which was 5.8C below the average.
There just two days when an air frost occurred with the coldest morning on the 28th with a minimum of -1.8C.