Category: Commentary

The thermometer only reached 8.1C on Thursday in a brisk westerly wind and sunshine broken by shower clouds. That peak was just 0.3C above the average and the coolest day in February, equal to the maximum on the 10th.

There were two brief showers of small hail (<5mm) at 11.47 and 12.28 and also observed in short rain showers, that amounted to 1.1mm. That took the monthly rainfall to 70.0mm being 3.1mm above the 38-year average. Sunshine hours totalled 4.7. Clearing skies overnight produced a ground frost with the thermometer sinking to 0.4C at 07.07 on Friday morning. Friday arrived with blue skies and bright sunshine due to a ridge of high pressure. The barometric pressure had risen to 1025.8mm at 08.00

Wednesday during daylight hours was dry but rain arrived at 03.15 on Thursday morning adding another 3.7mm to the monthly total that now stands at 68.9mm, which is exactly 2mm above the 38-year average.

The UV level edged little higher again on Wednesday, up from 1.9 on Tuesday, with a peak reading of 2.0, still in the ‘Low’ category.

Once again the thermometer rose above average on Wednesday, in fact every day in February has produced an above average maximum temperature. The peak was 10.6C being 2.8C above the average.

Overnight the thermometer held around 7C but just after 04.00 on Thursday the wind began to veer from the southwest into the west as the rain band arrived and the temperature dropped over 2C to read 5.0C at 08.00.

Thursday after dawn revealed yet again a totally cloudy sky, thick and low, as the back end of yet another weather front eased eastwards. Thankfully Marlborough has not seen the excessive rainfall experienced in the North and Midlands with the resulting extensive flooding.

Update at 12.30: hail showers at 11.47 and 12.28. Ambient temperature of 4.3C with wind chill making it feel outside more like 3C

Tuesday was another blustery day with the wind veering from west-southwest to north-northwest during the day. However, during the 3.4 hours of stronger sunshine, early morning and late afternoon either side of a cloudy cold front passing through, the stronger sunshine raised the UV level to 1.9 being the strongest since 24th and 25th October, which is at the top of ‘Low”.

It was a warmer day with the thermometer rising to 12.4C being 4.6C above the 38-year average but falling during the night to 2.9C at 02.03 early Wednesday that produced a light ground frost.

Wednesday began with intermittent breaks of sunshine but soon after 08.15 the cloud again began to fill in limiting the sunshine. The thermometer had recovered to 4.5C at 08.00.

We are currently under a brief ridge of high pressure, current pressure of 1024.0mb, extending from the anticyclone centred over Switzerland. The wind is currently coming from the southwest and much lighter than recent days.

With just 0.3mm of rainfall it was almost a dry day but still very windy with a maximum gust of 39mph. The wind overnight had veered into the northwest, a direction not seen since the beginning of the month.

We enjoyed 4.8 hours of sunshine and the UV level peaked at 1.7, still in the ‘Low’ category.

The thermometer rose to 11.0C being 3.2C above average. The minimum was set at 23.02 Monday evening with a low of 4.6C being 3.1C above the average but began to rise steadily until reaching a reading of 10.0C at 08.00 on Tuesday.

Tuesday arrived with once again total cloud cover but the wind having veered into the west-southwest before veering more to the Northwest as the day progresses.

It should be a mainly dry afternoon after the cold front passes through mid-morning bringing a brief spell of rain.

With rain almost all day on Sunday, amounting to 8.9mm, it was another rough day with strong winds again. The thermometer rose to 11.3C, which was 3.5C above the 38-year average in the cloudy conditions that allowed no sunshine to break through or no UV level to register.

The monthly rainfall total ism now 64.5mm, still 2.4mm below the February average. Strong e[winds existed all day with a peak gust of 46mph.

Clearing skies in the early evening allowed the thermometer to drop away to 3.8C at 03.39 on Monday before recovering to 6.6C at 08.00.

Yet again another day dawned with total cloud cover and strong winds, this time from Storm Franklin, centred to the north of Scotland. As this depression migrates southeastward to the Southern North Sea, the wind will back from Northwest to West and possibly Southwest later in the day.

Storm Franklin will be the third named storm in five days – a record according to the Meteorological Office.