Friday 28th August
The unsettled weather on Thursday gave us sunshine and showers with a heavy burst of thundery rain mid-morning at 10.45 that added 7.0mm to the monthly total. The strong afternoon sunshine pushed the temperature to a maximum of 25.0C at 16.12 being 3.4C above average. It was not a cold night as the variable cloud meant the minimum of 13.5C was 1.7C above average.
Friday arrived with low cloud after after dawn over the tops of the Marlborough Downs and no sunshine until around 07.00 when the sun attempted to break through weekly occasionally. It was not until just after 08.00 that longer bursts of sunshine broke through the gaps in the cloud resulting in a temperature of 14.9C at 08.00. The rain radar at 08.30 showed a scattered area of shower activity arriving over North Devon and South Wales this morning, drifting eastwards towards southern England.
Today will bring us sunshine and showers, the latter probably starting around midday, due to a weather front crossing our area. The forecast pressure charts also indicate that a weather trough, containing more disturbed air, will form over southern England that will likely increase the likelihood of shower activity this afternoon and with it an increase in the wind speed coming from a west-southwesterly direction.
The forecast pressure charts indicate that a depression will arrive from the Atlantic during Saturday that is likely going to produce much cloud and probably several hours of variable, possibly heavy rainfall. Another low pressure system in the eastern Atlantic will follow along on Sunday that will continue the unsettled conditions with showers and limited sunshine. Both these systems will have associated weather fronts that could produce a significant rainfall total, the heaviest and most sustained on Saturday, being of a more showery nature on Sunday. Temperatures over the weekend will be around average for late August. A weekend that will not be ideal for holiday makers but will be welcomed by gardeners.
The monthly rainfall total is now 18.0mm set against my 43-year average of 64.7mm.
Why is it called a blood moon?
Friday’s event is technically a deep partial lunar eclipse. Nowhere in the world will see the Moon become completely covered by the Earth’s umbra, but approximately 93% will enter the darkest part of the shadow at maximum.
The term “blood moon” refers to the reddish or copper colour that the eclipsed portion of the Moon may take on. Sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere is scattered and bent towards the Moon. Shorter blue wavelengths are scattered more strongly, while more of the red light reaches the lunar surface.