Category: Commentary

With more light snow flurries and a stronger north-easterly wind the thermometer struggled to reach a maximum of 1.3C yesterday, falling back to 1.1C late afternoon. There was a rise to 1.8C before midnight but then the temperature dropped away to reach 1.2C at 08.00 today. The peak wind chill was just before midday yesterday when it felt like -3.6C.
This morning has dawned with thick cloud and very light snow flurries and a wind chill of -2.5C as the wind gusted to 22mph between 05.00 and 06.00.

The thermometer climbed a little higher yesterday, to a maximum of 6.0C at 14.26. It was another day of very light winds, maximum of 10mph and hours without any movement of the air. The sun was a little hazy at times but sill logged 5.26 hours of strong sunshine. Not surprisingly, with a clear sky, the thermometer then began a steady decline until a minimum of -3.8C was reached at 00.30 this morning when there was an about turn and the temperature gradually recovered to a low of -0.7C at 08.00
There have been 130 hours of sub-zero temperatures this month with the last two days recording 18 and 16 hours respectively below freezing. Freezing fog developed late evening with visibility down to around 200m. By dawn this freezing fog had developed into moving banks that varied in visibility from 200m to 1000m.

Although the world in 2016 was at its warmest, according to the Meteorological Office, it was the fourteenth warmest in Marlborough since this station started in 1994. Last year was 0.3C above the 32-year mean but the previous two years were warmer with the record warm year set in 2006, which was 1.1C above my 32-year mean.

Yesterday saw the end to the dreary, overcast and damp days with blue skies, if hazy at times, and 5.74 hours of strong sunshine. The thermometer struggled to a maximum of 5.7C just after 2pm and then began the steady fall to a low of -4.9C at sunrise. The anticyclone meat another day with very little movement of the air, the maximum recorded was just 5mph just before 1.30pm, with many hours when the anemometer did not move. Not only did the Continental Air bring clear skies but also much drier air than of late with 0.47mm of moisture evaporating into the atmosphere when we are very short of rainfall.

Yesterday was a dry day with one hour of strong sunshine in the morning but increasing cloud after midday obscured the sun. The warmest point was reached at 1pm with a maximum of 6.1C, just below the mean for January. The rain arrived just before 1am and has amounted to 3.3mm by 08.00, which brings the total for January to 29.8mm (average is 92.6mm). Winds have been light wth the strongest gust of 19mph yesterday but have dropped out this morning.
Half way through the month the rainfall total is 32% of the 32-year average. After the two very dry months of October and December the Rivers Kennet and Og running through Marlborough are understandably running low. We need much rainfall in the next couple of months to replenish the aquifers.

The Polar Maritime air mass from northern Canada duly arrived yesterday. The thermometer reached a maximum of 5.7C in the morning but the wind veered abruptly from the west into the north just after 3pm. Ax a consequence the temperature started to fall with wet snow falling at 3.30pm and continuing for a couple of hours. The total precipitation was 10.2mm. The wind also increased during the late afternoon with a maximum gust of 36mph at 16.46. The sky then cleared and allowed the temperature to drop slowly to just below freezing.
This morning there was a snow shower before dawn and the minimum registered was -0.4C at 06.47. The morning is starting with a clear sky and the thermometer having moved just above freezing reading 0.2C at 08.00