Category: Commentary

Wednesday was the last of the very warm days when the thermometer rose to 21.6C, which was 2.7C above the 38-year average. It was another dry with the UV level at 4.1 being at the top end of Moderate. The breeze came predominantly from the west and was very light with the strongest movement of air of 8mph, couldn’t call it a gust.

The last night was very cool with the thermometer showing a minimum of 5.1C at 06.21 on Thursday.

Thursday after first light saw a roving band of fog drift down from the north followed by thin bands of fog. Just after 07.30 fog formed in the River Og Valley that readily dispersed as the sun got to work. By 08.00 the sun was shining, if weekly.

The high pressure is waning with a drop pf 5mb since yesterday with a reading of 1021.5mb at 08.00. The breeze is forecast to back into the southwest today.

Tuesday was an unusual day in that there was complete calm for many hours with a maximum gust of just 1mph. This calm, dry and bright weather was due to the large area of high pressure covering the UK and in fact continues on Wednesday as the barometric pressure at 08.00 of 1026.9mb is exactly the same as that on Tuesday at the same time.

The thermometer steadily rose to 19.3C on Tuesday being 0.4C above the average due to a change in the wind direction and thus air flow origination. Gone was the northerly flow of cooler from the north of recent days being replaced slowly by a drift of warmer air from the west.

The overnight minimum of 10.6C was 1.3C above average.

Wednesday arrived with cloudy conditions with a occasional brightness.

The wind from the northwest persisted all day but very light with a peak gust of only 7mph. This was the calmest since 10th July also 7mph peak. The calm conditions were due to the high pressure expanding over the UK but still centred off the southern tip of Ireland.

The temperatures were below average by day and night due to the cool air stream with the thermometer peaking at 17.6C, which was 1.3C below average and in the early ours of Monday (06.37) a low of 5.7C, being 3.6C below the 38-year average.

Tuesday brought sunshine after dawn that lifted the temperature to 8.3C by 08.00. The barometric pressure is at its highest all month also since 10th August with a pressure of 1026.9mb at 08.00.

The sunshine during Sunday afternoon lifted the temperature to 18.0C being 0.9C below the average. However,it was another dry day with the peak UV level at 4.2 being at the top end of Moderate. The brisk breeze that continued from the North meant it felt cool out of the sun. Another cool night followed with the thermometer sinking to 6.9C at 06.09 on Monday, which was 2.4C below the average due to the cool air stream.

Monday arrived dull with total cloud cover and no brightness. The barometric pressure continues high and in fact at 08.00 read 1025.1mb, the highest this month.

The monthly rainfall total is 42.1mm being 63% o the 38-year average while daily evaporation continues with the loss of equivalent rainfall of over 2mm a day.

Saturday gave us the sunniest day this month, after Friday, that saw the thermometer ease upwards a degree to peak at 17.4C. This high was 1.5C below the 38-year average due to the continuing northerly breeze.

The barometric pressure rose to its highest this month on Saturday with a reading of 1024.7mb.

Clear skies overnight gave us another cool night, not quite so cold as the previous night, as there was no grass frost in evidence due to a minimum of 4.3C at 07.16 on Sunday.

Sunday saw the arrival of the sun delayed by an hour or so after dawn due to a cloud bank in the eastern sky. However, just after 7.45 the sun began to rise above the cloud cover and lifted the thermometer to 5.2C. Pressure remains high although more cloud is likely.