Category: Commentary

Yet again, under the influence of the anticyclone, Saturday was a calm day that saw hours when there was no moment of air to awake the anemometers and one maximum gust of 8mph.It was a cool day with the thermometer not exceeding 5.9C being 1.1C below average and the first below average maximum for over a week.

The temperature began to fall slowly late evening from 4.9C to 2.0C at 07.35 on Sunday.

Sunday after first light revealed fog with visibility down 200m. However, the fog was observed to begin thinning after 07.40 as a cloud bank eased away to the north east. By 08.30 the conditions had improved markedly leaving mist that revealed greatly improved visibility.

Friday was the third consecutive day with many hours of sunshine, 5.1 hours in total, but the air movement was fro. the east that restricted the maximum to 9.3C, being 2.3C above the average. However, it was another almost totally calm day, just a maximum brief wind movement of 2mph.

It was the third consecutive dry day with the UV light level at 0.7.

The thermometer initially dropped below zero in the evening and in the early hours to register a minimum of -0.9C. However, between 01.30 and 03.30 the temperature lifted to 1.1C before dropping back again.

Saturday arrived with variable fog that got denser after dawn so that by 08.00 visibility was restricted to 300m, the thermometer at that time registered 0.2C

The centre of the high pressure is now over Germany. As a result the air movement has changed from east on Friday to southwest on Saturday, but still very light.

The 4.8 hours of glorious sunshine from a completely blue sky on Thursday raised the maximum temperature to 9.9C at 13.58 being 2.9C above the 37-year average. It was another day when the anemometer was statuary for most of the day, a movement of 4mph was the strongest.

It was the fourth dry day this month and the UV strength was 0.7C as on Wednesday.

With clear skies overnight it was not surprising that the thermometer fell steadily downwards to reach a minimum of -3.8C at 08.00 on Friday.

Blue sky greeted the dawn on Friday with the sun showing an appearance as soon aa it rose above the horizon. The centre of the anticyclone has moved away from central England, as a result the barometric pressure has been dropping for the past twenty-four hours with a reading of 1038.2mb at 08.00

Wednesday was remarkable for the lack of air movement. For many hours the anemometer was stationary with the maximum movement of just 4mph on one occasion. After a sharp frost the thermometer struggled to reach 8.8C, however, this was 1.8C above the average.

We enjoyed 4.9 hours of sunshine. The evidence that the sun is beginning to get stronger was evident in that the UV level of 0.7 was the highest since 2nd December.

The past night was very cold with a hard air frost that saw the thermometer drop to -3.3 at 07.27 on Thursday.

Thursday dawned with the absence of fog, thankfully, and the sun shining brightly as soon as it rose above the horizon.

Although the barometric pressure continued to rise briskly on Tuesday, it was another gloomy day with drizzle that amounted to just 0.5mm. However, the thermometer did rise above the average (+3.7C) with a maximum of 10.7C.

The sky began to clear late afternoon as the second weather front eased away to the east, that allowed the temperature to drop away producing a sharp air frost that depended further half an hour before sunrise to give a minimum of -1.8C.

Wednesday arrived with just very thin high cloud and the prospect of a few hours of sunshine. The centre of the anticyclone is close by, just off the west coast of the UK, with a reading of 1041.7mb at 08.00. This is the highest since that pressure was recorded on 17th December, however it continues to rise as the centre eases towards central England.