Category: Commentary

Sunday gave us a very welcome sunny morning but cloud began to build after midday and totally obscured the sun late afternoon. The limited sunshine hours, combined with the brisk, cool wind from the west gusting ti 14mph, resulted in the thermometer only reaching a maximum of 9.9C just before midday at 11.55 being 0.4C below my 40-year average.

A cold front produced sporadic rain after 19.15 Sunday evening but more persistent and heavier rain arrived just after 23.30 amounted to 6.9mm, which took the monthly total to 8.5mm when the 40-year average is 91.7mm. This was the wettest day since 18th October.

The cold front meant that the thermometer fell away in the early hours of Monday to reach a low of 5.2C at 08.00, which was 1.2C above the average.

Monday revealed radiation fog forming in the River Og valley just before 07.30 as the temperature continued to fall. The fog had all but dissipated by 08.30 although the thermometer had dipped further to reach 5.0C at 08.25 before starting to recover.

A mini low has recently formed to the west of the UK and will travel over southern England as the day progresses and bring more continuous rain later this afternoon.

Saturday was the last of the mild days and nights for a few days that saw the thermometer rise to 10.8C at 12.38 before the cold front passed our way and was 0.5C above the long-term average. The cloud cover persisted all day and night limiting the loss of overnight warmth into the atmosphere, as a result the minimum of 6.3C logged 07.55 early Sunday was 2.3C above the long-term average.

It was another dry day with just 1.6mm the total rainfall for the first half of November when the 40-year average is 91.7mm.

Sunday after dawn revealed another morning with total cloud cover but mild and calm, the breeze having veered into the west that will persist for most of the day.

The high pressure has fallen away further so we are beginning to come under the influence of a low pressure system over Scandinavia that will soon bring much cooler weather from the north for a few days. The barometric pressure reading at 08.00 was 1017.5mb down almost 20mb since its peak six days ago.

The temperatures were below average on Friday, even before the cold front arrived today. The thermometer reached a maximum of 7.9C at 13.27 being 2.4C below average while overnight it fell way to a minimum of 1.8C early Saturday at 04.53, which was 2.2C below average.

Friday arrived with total cloud cover and a trace of radiation fog in the River Og valley due to the low overnight temperatures as the moisture in the air condensed. The temperature had recovered slightly to read 4.4C at 08.00.

The cold front will pass over our area today heralding a change in our weather for the next few days although for most of the day the air will come on a southwesterly breeze veering into the northwest later in the day. The recent anticyclone has lost another 14mb since Monday with a. reding of 1021,2mb at 08.00.

After the misty conditions cleared late morning on Thursday there were bright intervals that lifted the thermometer to 11.9C at 14.20 being 1.6C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since last Sunday. During the evening the clear skies meant much warmth ebbed away into the atmosphere with the thermometer sinking to a low of 0.9C at 03.32 early Friday producing a short lived ground frost. At that time cloud began to drift across and the temperature recovered to 3.2C by 08.00.

Friday revealed a cloudy sky and calm conditions under the prevailing high pressure that is very slowly losing pressure with a reading of 1029.9mb at 08.00, down 8mb since its peak on Monday.

The high pressure will influence our weather for another couple of days but by Sunday the first signs of a change in our weather will be seen as we come under the influence of low pressure to the north. Shorty afterwards a much colder air stream will arrive, likely from the northwest, producing possible air frosts.

It has been a mainly dry month so far with the equivalent loss of rain through evaporation exceeding the rainfall total with 4mm and 1.6mm respectively.

Both the maximum of 10.5C and the minimum of 5.3C in the last twenty-four hours were above average with +0.2C and +1.3C respectively.

Brief, light drizzle drifted across in the early morning of Thursday with misty conditions.