Category: Commentary

Sunday brought 15.03 hours of strong sunshine, the sunniest day since 8th Jul, that boosted the temperature to a maximum of 29.3C. This was the hottest day for two weeks and 8.6C above average.

There followed a slightly cooler night than of late when the thermometer fell to a minimum of 10.9C, being 0.5C below average, at 06.00 exactly. The sun, showing strongly from just after dawn, triggered the sun recorded at 06.37.

By 08.00 the thermometer had recovered to 18.1C under the influence of almost continuous sunshine.

Another night when the wind dropped out for some considerable time that again meant the anemometer was tied up by gossamer threads and had to be released.

The barometric pressure has been dropping over the last twenty-four hours, down 8mb, signifying a change in our weather that will be evident later in the week.

Update at 13.20: temperature now 26.5C

at 14.30: temperature now 27.5C

at 15.30: temperature now 28.2C

at 17.09: temperature was daily maximum of 28.8C being 8C above average.

Although we enjoyed an increase in sunshine on Saturday, a total of 10.54 hours, the temperature was down 2C from the Friday peak with a maximum of 26.9C, still 6C above the 34-year average.

Saturday was another dry day. The average rainfall for August is greater than that for July with 66.4mm and already this month another 12mm of moisture has evaporated into the atmosphere.

Saturday into Sunday was a cooler night than the previous night with the thermometer dropping to 11.5C, which was almost exactly the 34-year average for August.

Sunday arrived with the sun up bright and early triggering the sunshine recorder (greater than 100w/sq.m) at 06.43 that quickly raised the thermometer to 18.6C at 08.00. With a clear sky there is promise of another sunny and hot day under the highest barometric pressure for a month with a reading of 1024.4mb at 08.00.

Another morning when overnight spider’s gossamer threads floating in the air tied up my highest anemometer, 4 metres above ridge height, necessitating clearing with a long pole. From previous experience I have found it takes an unexpectedly strong gust of wind to allow the rotating cups to break free.

Update at 12.40: already temperature up to 26.9C. It is going to be hot!

13.30: temperature of 27.4C

15.00: temperature of 28.3C

16.05: temperature of 28.7C

16.30: temperature of 29.1C – hottest since 26th July

17.02: maximum temperature of 29.3C, which was 8.6C above average.

20.00: thermometer currently reading 25.7C so another warm night.

22.00: current temperature of 21.3C, which is still 1C above daytime average maximum.

Friday saw the thermometer soar again reaching a maximum of 28.6C, being almost 8C above the 34-year average, late afternoon at 16.05.

Due to variable cloud, the sunshine was much reduced over previous days with a total of 7.9 hours but during those sunny periods the UV level edged higher again at 8.3, which was Very High.

There followed a very warm night when the thermometer did not fall below 16.0C. This was the warmest night since 19th July 2017 that registered a minimum of 16.7C. However, the warmest night on record was set on 20th June 2016 with a minimum of 20.4C.

Saturday initially arrived with some sunshine but was soon obliterated by a low cloud bank. Just before 08.00 the cloud began to break and the sun to become stronger. At dawn there was fog in the Og valley that very quickly dispersed.

Update at 16.04: temperature stable at around 26.6C for most of afternoon, currently peaking at 26.8C.

Update at 17.00: maximum temperature of 26.9C at 16.32, which was almost 2C down on Friday’s maximimum but still 6C above the August average.

Note: Over the past week or so the wind has completely dropped out for long periods during the early hours of the morning. On several of those occasions I have discovered that my highest anemometer (4 metres above ridge height) has been tied up by spider’s gossamer threads that stopped it from rotating. Fortunately, some time ago I obtained a 7 metre fibre glass pole that just reaches the anemometer, to remove the offending gossamer threads, by standing very carefully on a nearby bank.

Thursday saw the thermometer soar to 27.6C, being 6.9C above the 34-year August average, as we enjoyed 11.71 hours of strong sunshine. The UV level again in the Very High category.

In the afternoon the wind veered into the northwest.

At dawn this morning fog formed in the valleys then became much more widespread limiting visibility to 200m, but varying as the fog band moved around.

It was a mild night as the thermometer did not fall below 12.9C, being 1.5C above the August average. By 08.00 the temperature had risen to 17.4C with the promise of much more sunshine and a hot day to follow.

Update at 14.32: maximum temperature of 28.1C.

Late burst of sun pushes maximum to 28.6C at 16.05

July Summary
What a month! With 249 hours of strong sunshine, which was more than double the average for the past few years, and little rain it could rightly be called a summer month.

There was only 1 day without sunshine, the 29th, when on many days the total rose into double figures, the highest being 15.84 hours on the 8th closely followed by 15.72 hours on the 7th.

The result of so much strong sunshine, when the instrument detects that the strength is greater than 100watts/sq. metre, was to boost the temperature so that there were only two days when the maximum was below average. The coolest day produced a maximum of only 19.1C on the 29th being 3.1C below the average.

The peak days were 30.4C and 30.1C on the 26th and 8th respectively when the average was 22.25C. Although the mean temperature for July was 2.8C above the 34-year average it was principally down to hot days as many nights were quite cool. The analysis shows that the mean maximum was 4.6C above average whereas the mean minimum was only 0.9C above average. The coolest night gave a reading of 9.0C when the average was 11.7C.

July 2018 was the second hottest since my records began in 1984, which was 0.3C lower than the record set in 2006.

The second major feature of July was the lack of rainfall. It was the fifth driest July since my records began in 1984 with just 25.1mm of rainfall when the average was 60.9mm.
The contrasting years were 10.1mm in 1999 and 127.2mm in 2007.

The month produced 24 dry days, with the wettest bringing a welcome 11.5mm on the 28th.

Not only was it a very dry month, the equivalent rainfall lost to the atmosphere through evaporation from ground sources and plant life was 123mm.

Analysing the rainfall for June and July I find that the combined rainfall for both months was 85mm below the 34-year average. This only tells half the story, as the combined loss through evaporation was 233mm.

There were 3 days when fog formed overnight that quickly dispersed as the sun got to work. Thunder was heard on 1 day.

Wednesday saw the thermometer rise to a maximum of 23.9C as we enjoyed 12.1 hours of sunshine.

Another dry day finished with a mild night as the thermometer did not fall below 13.1C.

Thursday arrived with more sunshine that lifted the temperature to 17.8C at 08.00.

Update at 16.15: temperature soars again with a maximum of 27.6C at 16.04.

July Summary

What a month! With 249 hours of strong sunshine, which was more than double the average for the past few years, and little rain it could rightly be called a summer month.

There was only 1 day without sunshine, the 29th, when on many days the total rose into double figures, the highest being 15.84 hours on the 8th closely followed by 15.72 hours on the 7th.

The result of so much strong sunshine, when the instrument detects that the strength is greater than 100watts/sq. metre, was to boost the temperature so that there were only two days when the maximum was below average. The coolest day produced a maximum of only 19.1C on the 29th being 3.1C below the average.

The peak days were 30.4C and 30.1C on the 26th and 8th respectively when the average was 22.25C. Although the mean temperature for July was 2.8C above the 34-year average it was principally down to hot days as many nights were quite cool. The analysis shows that the mean maximum was 4.6C above average whereas the mean minimum was only 0.9C above average. The coolest night gave a reading of 9.0C when the average was 11.7C.

July 2018 was the second hottest since my records began in 1984, which was 0.3C lower than the record set in 2006.

The second major feature of July was the lack of rainfall. It was the fifth driest July since my records began in 1984 with just 25.1mm of rainfall when the average was 60.9mm.
The contrasting years were 10.1mm in 1999 and 127.2mm in 2007.

The month produced 24 dry days, with the wettest bringing a welcome 11.5mm on the 28th.

Not only was it a very dry month, the equivalent rainfall lost to the atmosphere through evaporation from ground sources and plant life was 123mm.

Analysing the rainfall for June and July I find that the combined rainfall for both months was 85mm below the 34-year average. This only tells half the story, as the combined loss through evaporation was 233mm.

There were 3 days when fog formed overnight that quickly dispersed as the sun got to work. Thunder was heard on 1 day.