Category: News

December
This proved to be a record-breaking month. It was the wettest month since my records began in 1984 with 157mm (173% or +66mm), which was 2mm more than the previous record set in December 2012. The highest daily rainfall for December, and also for any other month, occurred on the 23rd with a total of 46.4mm. It was a mild month as the mean temperature was 2.1C above the long-term average. Finally, a record gust of wind for December, of 52mph, was noted on the 23rd.

Year 2013
Due to four very cold months at the beginning of the year it is no surprise that the mean temperature for the year was 0.3C below the long-term average. Also linked to this period, not surprisingly, was a high incidence of air frosts numbering 74 in total, when the average is 61, and the second highest I have recorded. Very similar to 2012 was the very wet month of December, after a dry summer (77%), which resulted in an annual total rainfall of 881mm that is 105% or +38mm of the long-term average.

NOTE.
If you have tried to contact me through the website and not received a reply, I apologise. Unknown to me, a gremlin had corrupted the link at sometime in the past. Adjustments have now been made and the link restored.

NOVEMBER
During the first couple of weeks we experienced a succession of weather fronts crossing the country, on mainly westerly winds, that brought many wet and breezy days. The latter half of November produced predominantly northerly winds, saw temperatures drop and minimal rainfall.
The mean temperature (5.6C) was 1C below the 30-year mean and the coldest since 2010. The warmest November was in 1994 (+3.4C) and in contrast 1985 was the coldest (-2.8C). The warmest day was on the 6th with a maximum of 13.8C and the coldest with an air frost of -4.1C during the early hours of the 26th.
The total rainfall was 65.9mm being 73% of the 30-year mean.The extremes of total rainfall for November show an interesting contrast. The wettest occurred in 2003 (203.5mm) and the driest was 1990 (27.8mm). Although the total rainfall was below the mean there were 12 wet days, classed as equal to or greater than 1mm, with the wettest day on the 3rd when a total of 16.5mm was recorded.
It was the sunniest November over the last five years (111%) which resulted in solar energy at 110% of the mean.

AUTUMN
The mean temperature was 0.2c above the 30-year mean, principally due to a very warm October. The warmest autumn occurred in 2006 (+2.0c) in contrast to the very cold autumn of 1993 (-2.2c).
The total rainfall was 259mm, which is 107% of the 30-year mean. This total was 142mm less than the wettest autumn of 2006.
The diurnal temperatures (range between daily maximum & minimum) for each of the three autumn months make an interesting study. September and October show very little difference over the 30-year period. Although the November minimum diurnal figures saw little change over the thirty years the maximum diurnal range has increased by around 2C .

October could be simply described as mild, dull and wet. The month began well with maxima much above the average and a high of 19.1C on the 4th. It was the sixth warmest since my records began in 1984 with a mean 1.7C above the long-term average. There were no air frosts during the month, the seventh such occurrence since 1984 and all since the year 2000. The record for air frosts in October was maximum of 8 set in 1997.
It was the sixth wettest in the last 30 years with a total of 135.1mm, which is 155% of the long-term average or +48mm. There were 22 wet days (<=1mm), which is a record for October. I recorded the lowest sunshine total for four years with the 13th so overcast that it did not register. It follows that solar energy was much reduced being 85% of the average over recent years. We were fortunate that the much publicised storm during the morning of the 27th did not produce exceptional wind gusts. A maximum gust of 47mph was noted at 0542. This was not a record as a gust of 57mph was recorded on 18th January 2007. The strongest gust for October was 56mph that occurred on the 27th in 2002.

September proved to be a month of contrasts. The first few days were very warm and dry with a maximum of 27.1C on the 4th, the fourth highest I have recorded. However, as the month progressed temperatures fell away many degrees below the average with a low maximum of only 12.9C on the 17th. During the latter part of the month the Scandinavian high pressure brought a welcome lift in temperatures, sunshine and minimal rainfall. The mean temperature was very close to the long-term average being just 0.02C above.
A very dry start to the month was broken in the middle by substantial totals of 19.2mm and 15.4mm on the 13th and 17th respectively. This figure contrasts with the extremes of 11.1mm in 2009 and previously in 2006 of 131.9mm.
There was a disappointing amount of sunshine, the total being the lowest for five years, 96% compared to the last few years. Not surprisingly, the figure for solar power was well down at 87% compared to the average for recent years.

Friday 13th September was the wettest day for six months. After nearly eight hours of rainfall the total for the 24 hour period was 25.1mm. This total was just exceeded by a fall of 25.2mm on 15th March 2013.