Category: Commentary

Usually with barometric pressure at 1020+mb we enjoy much sunshine and warmth however, Friday was similar to previous days with mainly overcast skies, just 4.7 hours of sunshine, but it was dry. The notable feature on Friday was the UV level peaked at 7.4, which was rated Very High, the highest since 29th July.

Saturday arrived again with overcast skies but less wind and backing into the southwest. After a warm night, when the thermometer did not drop below 13.6C, the temperature at 0800 was 16.0C, the warmest start to a day at that time since 23rd July. The barometric pressure peaked at 1022.5mb late on Friday.

A slow moving weather front over southern England meant a cool, damp day on Friday with hours of drizzle and light rain amounting to very little, 0.7mm, just unpleasant. The thermometer did not reach an average maximum with a peak of 20.8C (-0.3C) in the southerly wind gusting to 20mph at times.

Even the overnight minimum was below average (-0.8C) with a low of 10.9C.

Saturday arrived overcast but at least was dry. With the ridge of high pressure slightly higher today. the highest this month, it should be a better day than yesterday but the weather front is still plaguing the area.

The ridge of high pressure was maintained during Wednesday that brought us 8.9 hours of sunshine, a dry day and the UV level into the Very High category again, the highest since 29th July.

Temperatures by day and night were above average with maximum of 22.1C (+1.0C) and minimum of 14.2C (+2.5C), a very mild night.

Thursday after dawn was overcast and dull but slowly the sun burnt through the thin cloud and by 0745 was beginning to shine strongly. As a result the thermometer climbed to 15.8C at 0800, the warmest start to a day at that time since 27th July.

After so many wet days it was a treat to have a dry day and enjoy 9.1 hours of sunshine on Tuesday as the high pressure exerted itself. The UV level, for just half an hour between 1230 and 1300, rose to Very High, the highest this month. Under lighter winds and the strong sunshine the thermometer rose to 23.9C being 2.8C above average and the highest since 26th July.

With much clearer skies overnight the thermometer dropped away to 9.6C, which was 2.1C below average.

Wednesday was initially overcast but just after 0730 the sun began to teak through intermittently.

The barometric pressure at 0800 read 1018.8mb, the highest in two weeks.

Sunshine hours were down again on Monday with 5.1 hours but the limited sun, and UV rated High for an hour, pushed the temperature just above average with a peak of 21.3C (+0.1C).

More rain fell again, especially in the early evening, adding anther 8.1mm to the monthly total that now stands at 43.0mm when the average is 66.9mm.

A clearing sky overnight meant the thermometer fell below average (-0.8C) with a low of 10.9C), which meant fog formed. At dawn on Tuesday a fog bank could be seen to the north of Marlborough with the sun struggling to break through the misty conditions. Just after 0715 brief periods of brightness appeared but no continues sunshine.

A ridge of high pressure has been easing in overnight that should dampen out the shower activity on Tuesday and hopefully give is more sunshine. The barometric pressure at 0800 was 1015.6mb and rising, the highest this month.

A look at the temperature graphs for Spring on this website, as an example, clearly shows what has been happening locally and underlines the commentary in the climate change report that was published yesterday