Category: News

The continuous and heavy rain on the 2nd totalled 15.4mm. This followed the sharp air frost, monday into tuesday morning, when the thermometer fell to -2.8C.

February
Records tumbled in a month that produced many extremes of weather and produced similarities with the year 1990.
A record for the wettest day was broken on the 6th with a total of 28.9mm. It was also the wettest February I have recorded with a total of 151.6mm, which is 242% of the 30-year average and broke the previous record of 151.0mm set in 1990.
We also experienced a record number of 21 wet days (=>1mm) breaking the record of 18 set in the year 2000.
A record was set for the lowest barometric pressure on the 14th with a reading of 971mb. Associated with the frequent depressions was a record gust of wind that occurred on the 12th, measuring 55mph.
The mean temperature was 5.7C, which is 1.6C above the 30-year average. The warmest day occurred on the 20th with a maximum of 11.4C.
Another outstanding feature, due to the succession of depressions crossing the country, was the lack of any air frost, another record that equalled the year 1990.
An analysis of the occurrence of air frosts since 1985 provides interesting statistics. Taking 5-year groupings since 1985 (1985-1989) and so on until 2005-2009, I find that the average for these indicates a distinct trend.
The last air frost in spring has moved consistently backwards from, on average, 14th May to 20th April. A similar trend has occurred, using the same 5-year groupings, for the first air frost in autumn. The average date for the first air frost has moved onwards from an average in the 1985 group of 29th September to as late as 26th October for the 2005-2009 set.
Although the hours of bright sunlight were only just above the average for recent years the total for solar energy was 14% higher.

Winter
The past winter was mild with a mean temperature of 5.5C. some 1.4C. above the 30-year average. It was the warmest since 2006 although the record for the mildest winter was set in 1988 with a mean of 6.2C.
It is not surprising that there were fewer air frosts, just 13 in total when the average is 34 for the three months. This is not quite a record as the lowest number of air frosts was set in 1989 with only 8 occurrences.
The total rainfall of 527.7mm was a record. This is 218% of the 30-year average, which is an excess of 286mm.

February 2014 set a new record for the minimum number of dry days in a month with just one, which was the 2nd. The previous record of only two dry days in month was set in April 1998 and November 2009.
The total rainfall for February, with a few hours to go, is over 150mm which is almost 250% of the 30-year average.
The 28th was the coldest day for the complete month with the thermometer only reaching 4.7C.

There have been four days this past week with maximum temperatures some four degrees above the mean for February. On the 22nd there were 7.3 hours of bright sunshine, the greatest number since late September. Although the intense rainfall has receded there still has only been one totally dry day in February. Will the mild weather continue into March or will it bite back with late frosts as in March 2013 when we experienced 18 days with an air frost and a low of -6.6C on the 31st?

As reported in the media it has been the wettest winter since official records began in 1910. In Marlborough the total has reached 500.2mm, which surpasses the previous record of 434mm in 1989. Two years later, in 1991, we experienced three very dry winter months which produced the lowest ever rainfall of 94mm.