Category: Commentary

Saturday saw the continuation of the warm air on a southerly air stream as the thermometer rose to 17.4C being 3C above average. It was another dry day, the tenth this month, with UV as expected at this time of year rated as ‘Low’.

Dry and warm overnight under cloud cover with a minimum of 10.3C, which was 3.2C above average.

Sunday arrived with total cloud cover and calm conditions with the anemometer stationery.

The barometric pressure has been slowly ebbing away with the reading at 0800 on Sunday of 10168mb being 16mb below the peak a week ago.

Although the peak of 14.3C Friday was average the previous twelve days have been above average, some well above average (+5C).

A rain shower passed one the area in the early hours of Saturday, starting just after 0500 amounting to 1.1mm that brought the monthly total to 40.5mm after seven continuously dry days.

Saturday brought misty conditions to start the day with much cloud cover although weak sunshine was evident shortly after 0800.

The thermometer rose to 18.1C on Sunday, which was 3.6C above average during the 5.9 hours of welcome sunshine. The UV level was 2.6 being classed as Low, not surprising for this time of the year. The breeze was light during daylight hours, peaking at 14mph and from the north.

The clear sky overnight led to a very cold night with a minimum of 4.6C. This was 2.5C below average and the coldest night since 30th May (4.2C).

Monday arrived with thin, wispy cloud and the prospect of more sunshine. The anticyclone has edged closer with a reading of 1032.4mb at 0800, the highest pressure for a month.

The ground temperature at a depth of 5cm has dropped from the high earlier this month of 14.1C to 8.3C due to the cold night.

During the 5.6 hours of sunshine on Saturday, after the fog had cleared mid-morning, the thermometer rose to 17.3C, this was another above average temperature (+2.8C). It was also a dry day with the UV at its peak of ‘Low”.

A significant feature of the east few days under the anticyclone is the lack of wind. The past two days have seen a peak gust of just 8mph and for much of the time still conditions prevailed.

Initially the thermometer dropped away in the evening to a minimum of 8.5C but increasing cloud saw that rise to 12.8C at dawn on Sunday under cloudy skies and misty conditions.

The barometric pressure is still high with a reading at 0800 on Sunday of 1030.3mb.

Although the temperatures on Friday were much lower than on the previous two days with a peak 16.0C, it was still 1.5C above the average. The very light breeze with a peak gust of just 8mph, backed from the south to the north east late afternoon.

The sky must have cleared overnight as the thermometer dropped to 6.6C at 0710 on Saturday morning causing thick fog to form limiting visibility to 100m. Fog classed as dense limits visibility to 50m.

The barometric pressure is still high with a reading of 1029.2mb at 0800 so the breeze will continue to be very light on Saturday. The anemometers are currently stationary.