Category: Commentary

Another below average maximum on Tuesday, the fourteenth this month, with a peak of 15.9C, which was 1.2C below average. This was followed by a cold night when the thermometer dropped to 4.6C at 05.02 Wednesday morning, the coldest night in a fortnight. These lower temperatures were thanks to a cold front having traversed the country and the wind veering into the north west.

Wednesday saw cloud from dawn ahead of another weather front approaching from the west, the thermometer having recite to 8.3C at 08.00, the coldest morning at that time since 10th May.

Monday saw the thermometer climb above average again with a maximum of 17.7C at 12.27, before cloud began to thicken, which was 0.6C above average.

The first spots of rain were recorded at 21.30 with heavier bursts from 21.55 to 22.35 amounting to 3.4mm. This brought the monthly total to 58.7mm, which is just 2.4mm below the 35-year average.

A mild night followed with another above average night when the thermometer did not fall below 7.8C (+0.7C).

Tuesday saw broken cloud after dawn with light winds and the thermometer having risen to 10.7C at 08.00

After a bright start during the morning on Sunday the cloud built up as a cold front traversed the area producing the occasional shower of light drizzle, starting at 12.16, that amounted to 0.2mm.

The reduced sunshine and thick cloud meant a cooler day with the temperature down 5C on Saturday with a maximum of 17.2C, almost exactly average for May.

A cooler night was also to follow with the thermometer falling away to a minimum of 7.4C at 04.21.

Monday started with thick cloud but by 08.00 the occasional bright interval occurred.

There have been references in the media about the lack of rainfall for farmers ad growers, especially in the east. The year 2018 gave us 783mm of rainfall, which was a significant 52mm below average. The first four months of 2019 gave a deficit of 52mm against the 35-year rainfall average with May currently 6mm below the average. In addition, May with 5 day to run has seen the equivalent of 73mm of rainfall evaporate into the atmosphere.

Saturday brought us 9.1 hours of strong sunshine during which period the UV level rose to 9.1. This reading was at the top end of the ‘very high’ category and not recorded since 10th July 2018.

As a consequence of the sunshine and light westerly breeze the thermometer rose higher again with a maximum of 22.3C being 5.2C above average.

The wind backed into the southwest overnight, bringing thicker cloud and higher humidity, that provided a blanket to minimise warmth escaping into the atmosphere. Therefore it was not surprising to find that the thermometer did not fall below 12.1C, which was 5C above average.

Thick cloud obscured any sunshine on Sunday morning. The temperature at 08.00 was 13.5C making it the warmest morning at this time of day since 17th October.

With the wind veering into the northwest on Friday and less sunshine (7.7 hours) it was not surprising to find that the maximum temperature was down on the previous day with a peak of 20.3C, still 3.2C above the average, and a dry day again.

Very little wind with a peak of 12 mph and the UV again into the ‘very high’ category.

A mild night was to follow with the thermometer not falling below 11.8C, which made it the warmest night this month and 4.7C above average.

Saturday saw broken sunshine after dawn but just before 07.00 a fog bank rolled in obscuring the sun and limiting visibility to 900m. However, by 08.00 this had almost completely evaporated and the thermometer edged up to 12.1C.