Author: Eric Gilbert

Friday was the sunniest day since the 25th with 5.6 hours of strong sunshine, especially late afternoon, that lifted the maximum to 21.2C, the warmest day since the 22nd being 0.5C above the 34-year August average.

A chilly night was to follow with a minimum of 7.9C.

Saturday day arrived with thick fog limiting visibility to 100m. As the sun grew in strength after dawn this slowly thinned so that by 08.00, when readings were taken, had lifted to give misty conditions with visibility raised to 1,500m.

Update at 18.15: southerly breeze brings warmer Continental air lifting maximum to 23.1C at 14.34 being 4.5C above the September average.

August Summary

The start of the month saw the continuation of the hot weather with a peak of 29.3C on the 5th and two days at 28.6C, on the 3rd and 6th respectively. Towards the end of August, we began to feel as if autumn was approaching as several chilly nights arrived, the coldest of which saw the thermometer fall to a minimum of 5.8C.

August gave us a summer month with 168 hours of strong sunshine, which was 60 hours above the average over the previous four years when this instrument was installed. There were 11 days when the UV level rose into the Very High category, the remaining days all registered as High except the damp, overcast day on the 26th when the UV was Low.

The equivalent rainfall lost to evaporation from ground sources and plant life was 81mm, which was 8mm greater than the 9-year average and exceeded rainfall by over 18mm.

The sunniest day occurred on the 5th with a total of 15.03 hours of strong sunshine, which triggers the sunshine recorder when the strength is greater than 100w/sq.m.

Unlike the two previous months rainfall was close to the average with a total of 62.5mm, just 4mm below the 34-year average. This total principally fell on three very wet days with 18.8mm, 13.0mm and 11.5mm on the 26th, 10th and 15th respectively. There were 16 totally dry days.

With so much sunshine it is not unexpected to find that the mean temperature was 0.8C above the average being the warmest August since 2004. The days were well above average (+1.1C) whereas the nights were much closer to the 34-year average (+0.4C).

As individuals we do have to adjust to our changing weather and August was no exception. The diurnal temperature for two particular days show that on the 5th there was a temperature variation of 19.7C whereas the 12th saw as little as 3.7C between day and night.

Summer 2018 Summary

The summer of 2018 was the 2nd warmest I have recorded since the station was set up in 1984. The record summer was in 2006.

Due to the very dry months of June and July, before the wet days of August occurred, the rainfall for the three months was just 93mm being 51% of the 34-year average.

The equivalent rainfall lost through evaporation over the summer totalled 318mm, which was 55mm greater than the 8-year average.

Sunshine for the three months totalled 652 hours, which was 74% above the average for the previous four years when the instrument was installed.

Although Thursday brought us an increase in sunshine hours to 4.3 hours the temperature was below average due to light winds then from the northeast.

The maximum by day was 19.1C due to a late afternoon burst of sunshine at 17.26 being 1.6C below average. The minimum overnight, due to clearing skies, gave a minimum of 7.7C at 03.54, being 3.5C below average.

Friday dawned with weak, intermittent sunshine due to variable cloud that by 08.00, when readings were taken, had become stronger and more consistent raising the temperature to 11.8C.

Update at 17.50: late burst of sunshine raises temperature to a maximum of 21.2C at 17.03. This was the first day of above average temperature (+0.5C) in seven days and the sunniest day since the 25th.

With a little more sunshine, 3.2 hours, Wednesday was a little brighter and a little warmer than previous days with a maximum 20.7C at 16.47 thanks to late afternoon sunshine. This made it the warmest day for five days but still below average, just 0.1C.

With mainly clear skies a cold night followed allowing the thermometer to fall to a minimum of just 5.8C at 06.20, which was 5.7C below the 34-year August average.

Thursday arrived with thin high cloud and weak sunshine with the thermometer slowly rising to 8.8C at 08.00 making it the coldest morning at this time since 9th May.

The diurnal range over the past twenty-four hours was considerable at almost 16C.

Update at 15.00: wind still light but now coming from the northeast, which pegged back temperatures to a maximum of 18.7C at 12.35 after brief strong sunshine.

Update at 17.40: burst of late after sunshine lifts temperature again to maximum of 19.1C at 17.26, being 1.6C below average. Very light breeze, still from northeast. Another dry day.

With overnight rain amounting to 1.6mm, this brings the August total to 62.3mm, still 4mm short of the 34-year average, which if no more rain falls this month will make it the fourth consecutive below average month.

There is little rain in the forecast for the last three days of August with the evaporation now equivalent to 72mm of rainfall.

Tuesday saw a little sunshine in the afternoon of 2.85 hours, an hour longer than on Monday, that with very light winds, maximum gust of 11mph, from the south and south east, meant a slightly warmer day with a maximum of 20.3C (-0.4C) at 17.02.

The cloudy night gave a minimum of 11.9C, just above average, that produced a rain shower of 1.6mm.

Wednesday started damp from the overnight rain and thick cloud and very still conditions.

Update at 18.25: temperature eases up again to peak of 20.6C at 16.47, almost average for August, as sunshine increase to over 3 hours in the afternoon. Another dry day with light winds from the northwest.

Monday brought relief from the many hours of rain on Sunday being a dry day. However, the cool westerly wind, brisk at times, pegged back the temperatures.

The thermometer slowly rose to a maximum of 18.6C at 14.54 but with little sun, just 1.7 hours, it was the fourth consecutive below average day (-2.1C).

In the brief sunny intervals the UV level just rose into the High category.

Overnight cloud meant a mild night, the warmest for five days, with a minimum of 13.3C, being almost 2C above average.

Tuesday arrived with overcast skies with no sun to brighten the day although the cool westerly wind has dropped out with little movement of air.

The total rainfall for August is now 60.9mm and evaporation in excess of this with the equivalent loss of rainfall equal to 72mm.

Update at 18.00: late sunshine lifts temperature to a maximum of 20.3C at 17.02, making this the sixth consecutive day with below average temperature (-0.4C). A dry day with light winds, maximum gust of 11mph.