Category: Commentary

Thursday was another dull, murky, damp and dismal day. The light was very poor with little solar energy percolating through the thick cloud and naturally minimal UV.

It was a cool, moist day with the high only 7.8C, which was more than 6C below the April average. Overnight, the thermometer fell little due to the thick cloud, to a minimum of 5.8C, which was 2C above the average.

Friday has dawned where Thursday left off – dull, murky with thick cloud covering the Marlborough Downs giving misty conditions and restricted visibility. Over the last few hours the wind has dropped out completely giving still conditions.

Friday update at 14.30: a little warmth and brightness for half an hour lifted the temperature to 11.4C, the warmest for almost a week BUT still 3C below average. Also the humidity has fallen significantly lower than the past four days. Change in the weather due to change in wind direction, now from the west.

Wednesday was another murky day with low cloud all day limiting UV to typical levels for March, not April. Although no rain was recorded, the air was moist for most of the day with low cloud covering the Marlborough Downs and giving very misty conditions.

The thermometer dropped a degree during daylight hours, being mostly around 7C, which was 7C below the average and dropped a further degree overnight to give a minimum of 6.2C, which was 2C above the average. Both maximum and minimum were 2C below the Tuesday figures.

Thursday has dawned with fog, visibility was down to 200mm initially, but by 08.00 had lifted to 1,500m. The humidity has increased so that at 08.00 the reading was 99%, a level not seen since the beginning of January and not often recorded.

Thursday update at 10.30: visibility down to 500m. Cold with current temperature of only 6.6C when average is 14C and wind chill makes it feel like 5C.

Thursday update at 17.30: maximum temperature of only 7.8C (average is 14C) with low cloud and mist all day. Visibility around 900m during daylight hours.

Tuesday gave us another murky day with showers late evening and much more rain overnight, starting after 2pm.

There was a little brightness in the afternoon that allowed the thermometer to rose to 10.8C, but that was still over 3C below the April average.

The past twenty-four hours have produced another 7.4mm of rain that brings the total for April to 46.8mm, which is 80% of the 34-year average after just 10 days in the month.

Due to the thick cloud that stopped warmth radiating into the atmosphere overnight, it was a very mild night with a minimum of 8.4C, which was almost 5C above the average.

Wednesday has started where Tuesday left off with the remnants of the latest weather front slowly moving away to the west with a hang back of thick cloud and the rain becoming lighter.

Wednesday update at 12.15: temperature now of only 7.1C, which is 7C below average but, wind chill from the northeasterly makes it feel like 5C – that’s typical January weather. Murky, damp air producing misty conditions.

Wednesday update at 18.30: warmest part of the day was at 08.00 with a maximum of just 8.6C. The day has been dominated by the very low cloud level giving misty, moist and murky conditions with very low light levels.

Monday was a murky, dark and miserable day very depressing. The low cloud persisted all day with the cloud base lowering late afternoon to bring the visibility down from 1,000m to 200m at times.

Such conditions meant no sunshine and the UV level the lowest for over a month.

The persistent rain and drizzle produced 7.6mm of precipitation bringing the total for April to 39.4mm, being only 19mm below the April average with three weeks of the month still ahead.

Not surprisingly, the temperature was also depressed giving a maximum for most of the day of 9.1C, rising slightly to 9.9C early evening, which was 4C below the April average.

The thick blanket of cloud meant very little loss of temperature overnight such that at 08.00 this morning the thermometer read 9.2C. The mild night meant a temperature that was 4.5C above the 34-year April average.

Tuesday started where Monday left off with thick cloud and drizzle at the time readings were taken at 08.00. The wind is still very light with little movement of air.

The ‘flabby’ depression produced a wide line of cloud and intermittent rain on Sunday that was almost stationery. The thick cloud and misty conditions persisted throughout the day and night. The light rain and drizzle produced 1.7mm of precipitation.

Due to the persistent low cloud no sunshine occurred, the first day this month, also the UV level was the lowest this month. The winds were very light throughout the day and night with a maximum gust of only 11mph.

Monday has dawned with the weather front still producing spells of light rain with the low could producing misty conditions.

Both the maximum and minimum temperatures were down on Saturday with 11.1C respectively, which was 3C down on the average and 7.6C, being 4C above average.

Monday update at 15.15: almost continuous rain or drizzle all day with little wind. Depression sat over the area and moving very little so no improvement soon.

Monday update at 17.15: cloud base drops much lower covering the Marlborough Downs with visibility down to 500m. Thermometer only reached 9.1C today being 5C below average.