Category: Commentary

Saturday saw just a brief glimpse of strong sunshine, only 3 minutes, due to the extensive high cloud cover. However, it was very bright and allowed the thermometer to rise to 26.1C, down a shade on Friday but still almost 4C above the 34-year average for July,

The continuing cloud cover meant that there was not much radiation of warmth back into the atmosphere overnight so the thermometer did not fall as low as some previous nights with a minimum of 14.6C.

Sunday dawned with broken and cloud and by the time readings were taken at 08.00, there were glimpses of the sun, that allowed the thermometer to rise to 18.6C at that time.

Rainfall: 1st June to 19th July – Marlborough: 9.9mm
– UK: 50.8mm
– England: 21.4mm

Update at 16.05: maximum temperature of 29.3C reached at 15.55, which was the hottest day since 9th July. Not surprisingly UV was Very High at 8.5 and humidity low at 41%.

July:

Rainfall: 1st June to 19th July – Marlborough: 4.6mm when average is 60.9mm
– UK: 50.8mm
– England: 21.4mm
Evaporation: 88mm
Mean maximum temperature: 5C above average

Friday was a much cloudier day with only 39 minutes of strong sunshine although much brightness, which pushed the temperature to a maximum of 26.8C being 4.5C above average, at 16.52.

Cloud arriving in the afternoon preceded a weather front that brought a brief shower amounting to only 0.3mm

A mild night followed with an above minimum of 12.7C.

Saturday arrived with a cloudy morning and misty conditions due to the extra moisture in the atmosphere from the very brief shower Friday evening.

With so little variation in barometric pressure during July, so far, the result has been many days with little wind. The maximum gust on Thursday was just 9mph all day with many hours when the anemometer was becalmed. At the beginning of the month there were two days with maximum gusts of 23 and 22 mph but since that time maximum gusts were in the low teens.

Thursday saw the thermometer begin to rise again, over the two previous days, with a peak of 25.9C at 14.11. But the day was predominantly cloudy with just 1.37 hours of strong sunshine although there were 13.0 hours of global sunshine.

A milder night followed with a minimum of 12.9C, the warmest night for ten days and 1.2C above the July average.

Friday arrived with broken cloud and brief glimpses of sunshine in the breaks, allowing the thermometer to rise to 16.9C at 08.00

Wednesday saw much less sunshine, only 2.82 hours, with the UV level only just in the Very High category. However, the sun is still strong and raised the temperature to a maximum of 24.4C, up 1C on Tuesday and 2.3C above average.

Every day this month has seen maxima above average but only nine minima above.

Overnight with mainly clear skies the thermometer fell to a minimum of 10.3C, being 1.4C below average, just after 4am. Recently the minima have been around 05.30 after the sun got up.

Thursday started with intermittent sunshine and broken cloud that lifted the temperature to 16.7C at 08.00.

The barometric pressure has been rising slowly over the past three days as a ridge of high pressure edges in from mid-atlantic.

Update at 20.30: less than two hours of sunshine but temperature rises again, today reaching 25.9C at 14.11.

Tuesday was the second coolest day this month with a maximum 23.3C, which was down almost 4C on Monday, but still 1C above average due to the westerly breezes and greater cloud cover.

Another dry day.

Rainfall 4.6mm but evaporation 78mm of equivalent rainfall

A milder night followed due to cloud cover with a minimum of 12.1C at 06.10, since recovering to 15.2C at 08.00.

Wednesday arrived with a mostly cloudy sky and only brief glimpses of sunshine.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm was reading 19.3C at 08.00, the coolest at this time of day for this month.