Category: Commentary

Although the fog was thick on Thursday morning, with visibility down to 100m, it thinned and sunshine broke through mid-morning, giving us 5.4 hours.

The lowest temperature in the past twenty-four hours was at dawn with a reading of 1.7C that rose to a maximum of 8.6C, being 0.8C above average.

The clear skies during the evening allowed the thermometer to drop to 2.8C at 18.30, then slowly rose to 5.8C at 08.00 on Friday morning.

The cloud bank eased away to the east on Friday morning with broken sky then in evidence with the possibility of some sunshine although mist began to form on the Og valley.

Boxing Day saw a continuation of the the virtually static weather under the intense high pressure. There was little wind to break up the clouds, which brought mild but moist air and blocking out any possibility of sunshine.

The maximum was again above average ((+!.0C) with a peak of 8.8C but clearing skies overnight meant the thermometer fell away to a minimum of 1.7C at 08.00. The lower temperature meant the moist air condensed so that at dawn fog had formed, classed as thick, reducing visibility to under 100m.

Christmas Day did not bring any sunshine but continuation of the very mild, moist air on a very light southerly breeze. This meant the thermometer rose very slowly to around 8C and stayed there for most of the day and night.

There were a couple of very light showers in the evening amounting to 0.8mm.

Wednesday arrived with a cloudy sky, still cloudy and fog drifting in.

Monday saw a a little sunshine break through around noon, amounting to 3.30 hours, as high pressure continued to build with the highest pressure since 22nd October at 1034.2mb. The result was a very still day, the calmest since 20th October, wont a maximum gust of only 11mph.

It was a dry day but the lack of wind under the intense high pressure resulted in fog forming locally around 22.00.

The maximum of 6.6C was 1.2C below average.

By Christmas morning the fog had dispersed as cloud built again resulting in the minimum of 0.8C at 00.55 lifting to 4.1C at 08.00.

Update on Christmas Day at 15.35: very light southerly air flow lifts temperature to a maximum of 8.1C being 0.3C above average. Mild, moist air with very low cloud base giving misty conditions and limited visibility over Marlborough Downs.

Sunday was another in the sequence of gloomy, damp, sunless but mild days.

Maximum of 11.7C was almost 4C above average and the minimum of 4.8C was almost 3C above average.

Rainfall was 5.2mm bringing the monthly total to 112.1mm, which is 25% above average.

Update on Monday at 16.10: sun returns (3 hours) but first below maximum day (-1.2C) for a week with a peak of just 6.6C due to easterly breeze. A dry day.