Windrush Weather

Category: News

  • Monthly summary November 2011

    November 2011: This month will be remembered for its warmth, lack of rainfall, many overcast days and 6 foggy mornings mid-month. The mean temperature was 9.0°, which is 2.5ºC above the long-term average with a maximum of 15.4º on the 3rd. There were 29 days with a maximum above the mean maximum. The mild conditions also applied to the night-time temperatures with the mean minimum 2.3º above the long-term average. There were just three air frosts when the thermometer dropped to -0.2º, -3.8 and -3.6º on the 23rd, 28th and 29th respectively. The rainfall was only 43.2 mm being 47 % of the long-term average and the third successive month with significantly below average amounts.

    Autumn 2011: The statistics give a similar picture of mild weather with below average rainfall. The mean temperature was 1.8° above the long-term average and the 2nd warmest that I have recorded after 2006. The rainfall total produced a more dramatic variation from the mean, as the total of 131.3 mm was only 54 % of the long-term average, being a shortfall of over 100 mm from my 27-year average.

    Annual Rainfall: The total rainfall of 603mm, for the twelve month period ending in November 2011, was the driest since June 1997 (584mm). The record low is for the period ending in April 1997 with just 513mm.

  • Monthly summary October 2011

    October 2011 has been a memorable month for a variety of reasons. It started with a record maximum for October at this station, of 26.7º on the 1st, yet in the middle of the month a chilly maximum of only 10.4º was recorded on the 20th. At the end of the month the minimum temperatures were equal to the average maximum for October, some 7º above the long-term average. The mean temperature for October was 12.1º which is 1.8º above the long-term average.

    Until the 24th it was a very dry month and heading for a record for October. However, several days with significant rainfall from the 24th gave a total of 41.2mm, which is 47% of the long-term average and the third driest October since 1984. The wettest day was the 26th with 9.8mm. It is interesting to find that the past twelve months have been the driest twelve-month period since November 1997.

    During the latter part of the month, the 27th was a miserable day with zero sunshine and subsequently little solar radiation, giving the lowest values since February 2011.

    This will be the sixth year since my station started in 1984 that we have not experienced an air frost in October, though very close to it with a heavy grass frost on the morning of the 20th (minimum air temperature of 0.1º). Previous to 2000 we always experienced air frosts in October with an average of 7 each year.

  • Monthly summary September 2011

    September 2011 was the warmest for four years and the fourth warmest September I have recorded. The mean temperature of 15.0°C was 1.2°C above the long-term average. The month ended with a mini-heat wave when the thermometer peaked at 26.6°C on the 29th and just lower than this on the following day with 26.4°C. This was brought about by a large high pressure area to the east of us allowing very warm and dry air to flow north from the Mediterranean. This system became a blocking high stopping weather fronts from making progress from the Atlantic. A record was set for this station on the 10th when the minimum temperature was a very warm 16.4°C., which was warmer than three of the day time temperatures in the month. It was also a relatively dry month; the total of 46.9mm was 74% of the long-term average. After a warm start for the first two days we had nine successive days of rainfall, but no great daily totals. The wettest day was the 18th with 8.1mm.

  • Monthly summary August 2011

    August 2011, after a warm start, 28.0°C on the 1st and the hottest day of the month, proved to be very disappointing. With much cloud and several very wet days the mean temperature was 0.5°C below the long-term average (maximum was -1.4°C). A record was set on the 18th when the maximum temperature was a miserable 12.5°C, the coldest August day I have recorded since the station started in 1984. There were only 13 totally dry days and the total rainfall of 79.5mm was 126% of the long-term average. There were two notable very wet days with 16.2mm and 13.6mm on the 18th and 26th respectively.

    The summer of 2011 was also disappointing. The mean temperature was 0.7°C below the long-term average and the total rainfall of 192mm was 108% of the long-term average.

  • Monthly summary July 2011

    July 2011 was the coldest since 1993. Both the mean maximum and mean minimum were 1.2°C below the long-term average. The warmest day was the 4th with a maximum of 24.7°C but this is only 3°C above the mean for the month. There were several cool nights with the lowest dropping to just 3.9°C in the early hours of the 14th. The rainfall totalled 49.5mm, which is 83% of the long-term average. Interestingly the number of wet days, defined as a daily total equal or greater than 1mm, has risen since the 1980’s from an average of 8 per month to 10. The maximum daily total was 14.5mm on the 16th.