Category: Commentary

Thursday was another very sunny and dry day that saw the equivalent loss of 4mm of rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life. The equivalent loss of rainfall this month now amounts to 75.3mm when the rainfall has been 52.7mm.

The northeasterly wind persisted, and was a little stronger with a maximum gust of 20mph, that limited the temperature rise to 19.4C, but this was still 2.3C above the average.

The overnight minimum of 6.8C was exactly average with that occurring at 05.12 early Friday.

Friday arrived with strong sunshine after sunrise with the wind veering a few degrees to come from the east-northeast.

The high pressure has been intensifying over the past two days with a pressure reading of 1032.3mb at 08.00 and continuing to rise. This is the highest barometric pressure since 2nd March.

During the strong sunshine on Wednesday the thermometer rose to 21.2C, making it the second warmest day this month and 4.0C above the 39-year average.

It was another dry day, we have now enjoyed ten continuous days without rainfall thanks to the Azores High. The rainfall May rainfall total to date is 52.7mm. Thanks to the dry days, drying wind and sunshine, the equivalent loss of rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life now exceeds the monthly rainfall with 60mm disappearing into the atmosphere and continues at a rate of over 3mm per day.

The oats night was the mildest for over a week with a low of 8.7C being 1.9C above the average.

Thursday began well with brightness and briefly weak sunshine but at 07.15 the bank of cloud in the east had rolled over our area. The barometric pressure has intensified slightly with a pressure of 1029.6mb at 08.00. The temperature at 08.00 was 11.6C.

The UV level on Tuesday rose to its highest since 24th July and peaked at ‘Very High’. This was surprising in the strong sunshine as we are only a month from the longest day. The breeze from predominantly north, combined with reduced sunshine hours, gave us a slightly cooler day than of late but the maximum of 18.7C, late in the afternoon at 17.47, was still +1.6C.

The low of 4.9C in the early hours of Wednesday at 04.52 was 1.9C below the 39-year average.

Intermittent sunshine through variable cloud greeted Wednesday morning and rapidly raised the temperature to 13.9C at 08.00. The Azores High is still driving our weather with the barometric pressure remaining stable reading 1027.4mb at 08.00. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm, read at 08.00, registered 15.0C, the highest since 9th September.

The Jet Stream earlier this month was positioned south of the UK and this brought the unsettled weather, with cloud and rain, from the Atlantic. The Jet Stream is now to the northwest of the UK and is forecast to stay in that approximate position for several days. This will mean the Azores High will continue to bring settled weather with variable sunshine and warmer air although the breeze from the north or northeast is likely to still be from that direction.

The thermometer on Monday registered a peak of 20.8C, which was 3.7C above the 39-year average and the second warmest day this month, the 18th peaked at 21.4C. Overnight was just below average -0.4C, with a minimum of 6.4C at 05.35.

Tuesday morning revealed a mixture of intermittent sunshine between the variable cloud. However, the thermometer had recovered to 12.6C at 08.00. The breeze is a little lighter today having veered a few degrees from north to north-northeast.

The northeasterly breeze continued on Sunday that moderated the temperature with a peak of 18.9C, although that was 1.8C above the 39-year average. We have now had a week of consecutive dry days with the equivalent loss of rainfall through evaporation, from ground sources and plant life, of 4mm per day on Saturday and almost the same on Sunday. The brisk breeze and hours of sunshine are drying out the soil rapidly.

The jet stream forecast is for the Azores High pressure system to become resident for the next week so the breeze from the northeast and north will persist for several days. This will mean settled weather for several days with sunshine dependent on variable cloud cover but warmer as the week progresses.

The overnight minimum of 7.1C was just above average for late May.

Monday revealed extensive cloud cover that had drifted in overnight. The wind has backed a few degrees to currently come from the north. The humidity level at 08.00 was 80%, much lower than earlier this month.