Category: Commentary

Monday was another day best forgotten as regards the weather being dark, gloomy and dull all day. The brisk wind from the northwest, a cool direction, meant the peak temperature of 9.0C that occurred early in the afternoon at 13.04, was 1.6C below my 40-year average maximum.

Overnight revealed a distinct change in our weather for the next few days as an anticyclone over Iberia and a depression to the west of Ireland have started to channel up milder air from west of North Africa and around Madeira that at 08.00 had an air temperature of 15C. The diurnal image of temperatures, the difference between day and night, was minimal, just 2.9C.

The minimum of 6.1C was 3.6C above my 40-year average and occurred at 04.20 early Tuesday. It was just before midnight that the wind direction changed from northwest to southwest. Just after 04.20 the evidence of the major change was evident as the thermometer began to rise again to reach 9.1C at 08.00. The air circulating clockwise around the anticyclone and anticlockwise around the depression brought the milder air that will see maxima well above average for a few days.

Tuesday dawned with steady, modest rain that had triggered the automatic rain gauge at 02.30 and that amounted to 8.3mm by 08.00. The additional precipitation took the monthly rainfall total to 31.1mm when the 40-year average is 61.4mm.

Sunday gave us another dull day with intermittent light rain, briefly heavy at 17.30, amounting to 2.1mm. That additional precipitation took the monthly rainfall total to 22.8mm when the 40-year average is 61.4mm. The lack of sunshine meant the maximum of 10.7C was only average although the thick cloud meant a minimum of 5.9C was 3.4C above my 40-year average.

Monday struggled into life, dark and dull, with thick cloud that had a low cloud base. The wind has backed overnight from the east, where it has been for four days, into northwest for most of the day. The depression is still around the Netherlands containing the very moist air. currently. A warm front is straggling over our area intensifying the thick cloud and very moist air.

The maximum of 12.1C on Saturday was the second highest this month being 1.5C above my 40-year average. The wind persisted from the east with a peak gust of 20mph but began to fall lighter in the afternoon and almost calm overnight. The minimum of 6.7C was 4.2C above my average.

There was a little rain for a couple of hours after midnight amounting 1.7mm, The UV level registered 2.3 at its highest being at the top end of ‘Low’ and the highest since 20th October.

Sunday dawned dull with light rain and drizzle thanks to two warm that have crossed our area since midnight. The thermometer had recovered to 7.1C at 08.00 but the barometric pressure remains low as the centre of the depression is migrating from around the Bay of Biscay to the Netherlands so still very close to the UK and dominating our weather.

The numerous hours of sunshine on Friday meant pleasant day but the easterly wind was strong, maximum gust of 31mph, and depressed the temperatures so that the maximum of 10.3C was just below my 40-year maximum average. Once again the cloud overnight meant a mild night with the thermometer not sinking below 4.6C, occurring at 00.50 early Saturday, that was 2C above my 40-year average.

Just before 05.00 on Saturday a succession of very, narrow bands of light rain fell that lasted until 07.00. These were brought by a warm weather front associated with the depression now centred over the Bay of Biscay. More rain is likely later in the day. This has resulted in the barometric pressure dropping to 994.6mb at 08.00.

The wind picked up in strength later on Thursday that produced a word chill, especially as it was from a chilly easterly direction. The peak gust occurred at 07.34 on Friday. The maximum of 9.9C occurred at 14.40, which was back below my 40-year average (-0.7C) even though there was little weak sunshine late afternoon. The wind persisted in strength overnight, and from the east, so a minimum of 3.6C was not unexpected that combined with the wind strength and direction meant that wind chill made it feel more like 1C. outside.

Friday revealed a totally cloudy sky, although after 08.00 there were indications that it might be thinning. The recent high pressure has relocated and dropped away so the pressure at 08.00 showed a drop of 13mb since that tine on Thursday. We are also coming under the early influence of a depression in mid-Atlantic.