Category: Commentary

Monday saw us still under the influence of the warm and most air from the Atlantic that, with late sunshine amounting to 1.2 hours, raised the maximum to 23.2C. This was 2.6C above the 34-year average and almost identical to the Sunday maximum.

There were occasional very brief bouts of drizzle that were not measurable, which is referred to as a ‘trace’ in the records.

The thick cloud overnight acted as a duvet in that it restricted the radiation of warmth from the ground into the atmosphere resulting in a minimum of 16.0C, which was 4.5C above the average, at 02.45 early this morning that rose fractionally to 16.8C at 08.00 when readings were taken.

Tuesday arrived with the thick cloud that at 08.00 brought thicker cloud and another brief interlude of drizzle.

Update at 14.50: slack pressure gradient has meant many brief periods today when the anemometer was becalmed and a maximum gust of 9mph. Humidity is again very high, currently at 74%.

Update at 16.40: peak temperature of 22.5C, being 1.5C above average, reached at 16.22 thanks to late afternoon sunshine.

Sunday saw the continuing effects of ex-tropical storm Ernesto with warm, very moist air, which raised the temperature to a maximum 23.4C at 14.03. This was 2.7C above the 34-year August average.

For many days in June and July the humidity, in the hot, dry weather, dropped to between 40% and 45% during the daytime when on Sunday it did not fall below 73%.

During Sunday night into Monday morning the thermometer did not drop below 16.1C (at 03.36), which was 4.6C above average and the warmest night since 17th July 2017.

Monday arrived with low cloud that settled over the Marlborough Downs obscuring the forests and high ground. By 07.00 it began to thin and by the time readings were taken at 08.00 it had totally cleared although there was total cloud cover.

Update at 16.35: maximum temperature of 23.3C, being 1.3C above average. No rain but a few minutes of drizzle that was not measurable, which is recorded as a ‘trace’.

Update at 22.00: current temperature is 19.3C, just 1.3C below average August maximum.

Saturday started gloomy with thick low cloud and stayed that way all day. There was an hour or two in the morning with drizzle, thanks to ex tropic storm Ernesto, that was a nuisance but only produced 0.2mm of precipitation.

There very brief glimpses of the sun during the afternoon but limited to just 17 minutes in total.

An interesting aside is to note that the maxima of the last three days are almost identical with 20.3C, 20.3C and 20.4C.

The remnants of ex tropical storm Ernesto was the cause of the overcast and damp day on Saturday and also continuing to affect us on Sunday, which arrived again with overcast skies, low cloud and light drizzle.

Due to the cloud and wind, which got quite strong during Saturday afternoon gusting to 21mph, the temperature maximum was below average (-0.3) but conversely, a mild night followed with a 15.9C minimum, which was 4.4C above average.

Update at 17.15: effects of ex-tropical storm Ernesto felt all day with the temperature rising 2.7C above average with a maximum of 23.4C at 14.03 combined with high humidity of 73% compared to 40% often last month.

Friday was day of broken sunshine, another to 6.51 hours, and a dry day with a maximum of 20.3C, almost average.

Cloud drifted in overnight reducing warmth radiating from the ground into space, so a mild night with a minimum of 15.2C, which was almost 4C above average.

Saturday around dawn saw a brief shower of drizzle, amounting to 0.1mm, that quickly passed but leaving the sky completely covered with thick cloud.

Rain from the second cold front on Thursday morning, that quickly followed the first cold front overnight, arrived just after 08.30 and produced another 6.0mm of rainfall. The total rain from both cold fronts totalled 17.5mm.

By 12.00 the rain had stopped and the cloud started to thin with sun breaking through consistently early afternoon giving us 6.42 hours.

The late sunshine boosted the temperature to 20.3C at 16.31.

A cool night followed with the thermometer falling to 9.9C that produced fog in the River Og valley that had dispersed by 07.00 as the sun got to work raising the temperature to 14.1C at 08.00.

Update at 18.30: another 6 hours of sunshine today brings the total for August to 117 hours, almost the average for the whole of August over the past four years (120 hours). No further rain today.