Author: Eric Gilbert

The 10.64 hours of strong sunshine on monday was down over an hour from that recorded on sunday but the residual warmth in the ground meant that the thermometer steadily rose to a maximum of 27.8C at 15.41. This was the hottest day since 6th July and 7.1C above the long-term August average.

It was a very mild night as the thermometer did not drop below 14.2C. With sunshine shortly after dawn this had risen to 16.0C at 08.00 – a very warm start to the day.

The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm was 18.1C at 08.00, the warmest at this time of day this month and since 19th July.

Sunday produced a splendid summer’s day with 11.83 hours of strong sunshine, the second highest total this month. As a result, the temperature steadily rose to the highest this month also since 18th July, with a maximum of 26.3C, some 5.6C above the 33-year August average. We have now enjoyed 122 hours of strong sunshine this month.

The other notable feature was the little wind throughout the day. A maximum of 11 mph was recorded but for much to the day there was barely any movement of air and total calm overnight.

The clearer skies meant that the thermometer dropped steadily to a minimum of 10.9C, just below the 33-year August average.

Although the first three weeks of this month were often wet, the evaporation from ground sources and plant life totalling 63mm, now exceeds the monthly rainfall of 58.2mm.

This morning dawned with hazy sunshine and not a breath of wind – totally still conditions.

Maximum down slightly on Friday with 23.1C, which was 2.4C above average
Minimum up again at 13.6C, which was 2.1C above average
Very light winds with maximum of 10 mph. Much of day and night were still conditions.
Fourth consecutive dry day
Lowest humidity at 08.00 since 10th August with reading of 89%
Soil temperature at a depth of 5cm up again with reading of 17.1C at 08.00
Barometric pressure up again at 1018.3mb

Friday was a glorious late summer’s day wth 9.89 hours of strong sunshine and very light winds, mainly from the west but backing into the south west late afternoon.

The strong sunshine and very light winds, with a maximum gust of 12 mph, gave a very pleasant day. The maximum of 23.4C made it the warmest day this month and since 18th July, almost 3C above the August average.

A large lump of slow moving cloud deprived us of early evening sunshine.

Overnight the temperature slowly fell away to a minimum of 12.1C in the middle of the night at 02.46. From this time the thermometer slowly started to rise as more cloud drifted in.

The cloud thinned just before 7am to give intermittent, weak sunshine. Nevertheless, the temperature at 08.00 had recovered to 15.5C.

Thursday was the brightest day of the week so far with 2.64 hours of string sunshine that produced a maximum of 20.1C, just below the August average. With a light breeze from the west it was a pleasant end of summer day.

With clearing skies the thermometer plummeted to a minimum of 7.4C at 06.54, which was 4.1C below the August average.

At dawn there was initially fog in the Kennet and Og valleys that grew into a larger fog bank.

The influence of strong sunshine shortly after dawn meant that the fog cleared by 07.15 and the thermometer recovered to 10.8C at 08.00, the second coolest start to the day this month, with the promise of more sunshine to come.