Author: Eric Gilbert

The rain set in just after midday yesterday and was very heavy late afternoon. With more showers before dawn the total recorded was 12.6mm. Mild southerly air has maintained the temperatures with 18.7C yesterday and a minimum of 13.9C overnight.

Yesterday was such a contrast to thursday with just brief glimpses of sunshine and intermittent drizzle in the afternoon that totalled 0.6mm. However, maximum and minimum temperatures were both a degree above the mean for September. The temperature dropped rapidly just after 5am this morning causing fog to form with visibility down to 400m, slowly dispersing just before 8am.

For convenience when dealing with statistics the season of autumn begins on 1st September for meteorologists. Yesterday produced 7.43 hours of strong sunshine and the thermometer soared to 22.0C, well above the mean for September. Cloud cover overnight meant that it was a warm night with a minimum of 13.1C but a light drizzle fell just before 08.00.

Tuesday was another splendid summer’s day with blue skies for much of the day and 12.75 hours of strong sunshine, the third sunniest day in August. Inevitably, the clear skies overnight produced a considerable drop in temperature, as the heat radiated into the atmosphere, from a maximum of 24.7C to 9.5C at 05.50 this morning. The sun shone brightly very briefly after dawn this morning but cloud promptly moved in from the west obliterating the sunshine.

With pressure again high the sun shone strongly for 9.15 hours yesterday with a maximum of 22.8C, which is 2C above the mean. It has been a warmer than average month with well above average strong sunshine (149 hours to date) and solar energy, more details when the month is complete. With a clear sky overnight the thermometer dropped to 9.1C, a chilly 2C below the mean for August. This morning the sun shone strongly from dawn quickly dispersing the valley mist that had formed.