Category: Commentary

After several gloriously sunny days Tuesday was disappointing as the cloud and moisture from the depression over the Atlantic meant a wet start to the day and light rain in mid-afternoon amounting to 1.3mm. There was some weak sunshine in the early evening. As a result of the cloud the thermometer only rose to 14.3C, but this was still marginally above average although 4C down on the Monday peak.

The cloud overnight meant a very mild night with the thermometer not sinking below 9.6C, which was 5.9C above the average and the warmest night since 31st December.

Wednesday brought bright intervals to start the day that, after the mildest night this month that gave us the warmest start to the day ay 08.00 with a temperature of 11.2C.

A ridge of high pressure has been slowly building with the reading at 08.00 of 1013.9mb, up 10mb at this time on Tuesday.

Thanks to the much warmer air flow from the south the thermometer rose to 18.3C being 4.2C above the average and the warmest day since 7th October. The UV level edged higher again to register 4.7, the highest since 17th September. However, the southeasterly wind was very gusty with a peak of 27mph.

The overnight minimum of 5.7C was also above average (+2.0C) due to the increase in cloud. Light rain showers occurred around dawn and again just before 07.30 but only amounting to 0.3mm.

Tuesday arrived with low cloud and the threat of more rain imminent, the wind having subsided.

The thermometer rose to its highest on Sunday in five days with a maximum of 12.7C but it was still 1.4C below the average after a very cold night. The UV level edged higher during the many hours of sunshine to 4.5, which was at the top end of the “Moderate” category.

Overnight the breeze did not fall out completely and backed from the south into the southeast. It was also an above average minimum of 4.2C (+0.5C).

Monday saw broken and thin high cloud after dawn but by 08.00 the sunshine had become stronger and more continuous.

The rainfall this month totals 14.6mm but the loss of equivalent rainfall from evaporation from ground sources and plant life now exceeds the rainfall with 16.5mm lost to the atmosphere.

The barometric pressure has dropped to 1009.8mb at 08.00 due to a depression lurking in the eastern Atlantic and about to affect our weather with more cloud and showers.

With a maximum of only 11.9C on Saturday, being 2.2C below average followed by a hard frost with a minimum of -2.9C being 6.6C below average, it did not feel very Springlike in terms of warmth. At least we did have several hours of welcome sunshine on Saturday.

During the sunny periods the UV level rose to 4.4 being at the top end of the ‘Moderate’ range and the highest since 17th September.

Sunday brought sunshine from the start although very thin, high cloud was observed. The sunshine lifted the temperature to only 2.0C at 08.00 after the very cold night. The barometric pressure has risen further with a current pressure of 1020.1mb, however, with Atlantic depressions looming to the west this will soon begin to fall again.

The thermometer on Friday again struggled to reach 11.6C, the same as on Thursday and 2.5C below the average. Overnight the temperature dropped below freezing with a minimum of -0.8C at 06.36 Saturday.

Saturday arrived with sunshine that soon dispersed the frost reaching 3.1C at 08.00. The humidity of 83%, the second lowest this month, indicates the presence of drier air on the northwest to north-northwest air stream

The barometric pressure has been rising with a reading of 1015.8mm at 08.00, which is a rise of 17mb since this tine on Friday as a ridge of high pressure crosses the country.