January 2005
Global warming is what we are all
supposed to worry about. But I am really reluctant to draw any
conclusions from my amateur figures. January is a good case in point.
January 2003 gave us an average monthly temperature of 5.3°C,
2004 produced 6.7°C and 2005 7.0°C. But the last three
Novembers' figures are 10.4°C, 9.5°C and 9.1°C. So are we
warming or not? I don't know, and certainly my figures prove nothing
either way. However, a warm January may mean an early Spring, and the
plants have been telling us so this year. Nearly half the month, 12
days, had maximum temperatures of 10°C or more, where one should
expect about 7°C.
Global warming is also said to bring
wetter winters, but January 2005 gave us only 80% of the average for
the month. There was 20mm on the 9th, and six other days produced
10mm or more. But the last 10 days or so were almost completely dry,
though misty and gloomy. The month's total was 127mm.
February
has begun like January: mild and misty. Even the grass has started to
grow.
February 2005
If ever there was a month of two
halves, this was it. The average 24-hour temperature for the first
fortnight was 7.7°C and for the second 2.9°C. There were 5
daytime maximum temperatures of 10C or more in the first fortnight
and in the second none at all. The highest daytime temperature was
12.9°C on the 11th, and the lowest nighttime figure was -1.9°C
on the 27th. The overall monthly average was 5.1°C, compared with
the 5.7°C average for the last few Februaries.
Rainfall
too divided neatly between the two halves of the month. There were
43mm in the first fortnight and 2mm in the second. The most was the
25mm that fell on the 5th. This 45mm is the smallest February
rainfall I have recorded, though Peter Cooper had a 9mm in 1998. The
45mm is less than half the February average, and the total since the
start of the year, at 172mm, is less than 70% of the average of
252mm.
March has started dry with only 10mm in the first week.
And with the temperatures hovering around freezing at night, there is
no Spring in sight. It is all very confusing for the birds and
plants, and of course for us too.
March 2005
The second
half of February was very dry, and the first half of March continued
the trend, producing only 11mm. So from 14 February to 15 March there
was only 13mm. But the second half of March somewhat made up for it
by giving us 65mm, nearly all on just four days. In the month there
were 20 days with no rain at all, though the skies were grey, and the
mist and heavy dew soaked the ground. The rainfall for the first
three months of the year was 248mm, or just under three quarters of
the average.
The monthly average temperature was 8.4°C,
exactly on the March average for the last few years. The maximum
daytime temperature ranged from 3.4°C (on the 3rd) to 15.9°C
(19th, 23rd and 24th). The minimum nighttime temperature dropped to
-0.9°C (3rd), but reached a mild 10.5°C on the 23rd. So the
higher temperatures went with the rain, while the cold first half of
the month was dry.
April has started mild and dryish, but
blizzards are forecast, though fortunately only for further north.
Let's hope it's winter's last fling.
April 2005
Another
month of below average rainfall. There were 94mm which is 93% of the
average.. More than half the monthly total fell on just three days:
the 17th (26mm), 24th (14mm) and 30th (13mm). Fourteen days gave us
no rain at all. The total rainfall for the year so far is 342mm,
against an average at this time of year of 440mm. So we have had only
77% of the average.
Temperatures were well up at the beginning
and end of the month, with a chilly dip in the middle. The coldest
day was the 8th when the temperature struggled to 8.9°C and
dropped to 2.0°C during the night. But the last day of the month
brought us a very respectable 19.4°C and a warm 12.5°C that
night. The overall average for the month was 10.4°C, within 0.2°C
of the April average for the last few years.
May has started
warm and dry with the thermometer in the high teens, but tempered by
a cold northwest wind.
May 2005
There were 22 days in the
month with no measurable rain, and 56mm of the 70mm in the month fell
on only three days. The average rainfall for May is just over 75mm,
so yet another month of below average rain this year. Indeed, 2005
has produced only 412mm against an average for the first five months
of 515.8mm. But, so far, no hosepipe ban here, unlike southeast
England.
And the temperatures held up well. There was only one
day (14th) where the average daily temperature fell below 10°C,
and this, with the low cloud and damp miserable conditions, made for
ideal growing weather for crops and garden plants alike. The warmest
day was the 27th, with 25.6°C, and 13°C at night. The overall
monthly average was 13°C compared with the average for May over
the last few years of 13.8°C.
June has started warm and
sunny, with more promised for the next week or so.
June
2005
The rainfall for the first six months of this year is still
only just over 80% of the average, though June's contribution of 66mm
is slightly up the average for the month. Two-thirds of the rain fell
on just three days: the 5th (21mm), 14th (12mm) and the 24th (also
12mm). This pattern follows March, April and May where most of the
rain fell on only three or four days. In June there were 20 days with
no rain.
Temperatures were well up. The warmest day was the
19th with 30.3°C, only just short of the highest I have recorded
of 30.8°C in July 2003. The coolest night was on the 6th (9.0°C),
and the overall average for the month was 17.9°C, slightly up on
the average for June.
July has started warmish and wettish,
with dryer and warmer weather promised for the second week.
July
2005
July was grey, damp and dreary. There were 21 days with no
rain, of which 17 were consecutive: 6th to 22nd. We had 86mm in the
whole month, 39mm falling on just two days (24mm on the 23rd and 15mm
on the 24th).This was near the average for the month (92.4mm), but we
are still less than 85% of the average for the year so far, a deficit
of 102mm or 4in. The saving grace may have been frequent heavy dews,
which do not count as rainfall, but which keep the grass and the
crops growing.
Temperatures were well up to average. The July
monthly overall average temperature was 18.7°C against the
average for the last few years of 18.1C. The maximum temperature was
28.4°C (10th to 14th) with the highest minimum 19.0°C on the
11th. The lowest was 11.0°C on the 4th.
August has started
fine, dryish and warm. Real summer at last, soon perhaps including
some thunderstorms.
August 2005
Yet another dry month, with
65mm of rain, over half on just two days: the 1st (14mm) and the 24th
(20mm, the highest in the month). There were 19 days with no rain at
all. This leaves us with a deficit of 109mm on the average for the
year to the end of August, so we have had only 85% of the expected
rain this year so far.
Temperatures were about the same as
last year, with the month's overall average of 17.9°C, well below
the 19.7°C of 2003. The highest day temperature was 24.9°C on
the 18th, while the lowest day temperature was 17.4°C on the
24th. The highest nighttime temperature was 18.0°C on the 30th,
the lowest 11.0°C on the 25th.
The promised thunderstorm
at the beginning of September failed to come our way, so autumn will
have to be spectacular to fill the rivers. The last four months of
2002 gave us 858mm, well over the 629mm we have had in the first
eight months of 2005. Then again, it might be more like 2003 when
September to December produced only 442mm. We must wait and
see.
September 2005
September's rainfall was 54mm,
virtually spot on the average for the last few years. But as we are
108mm short of the average for the year so far, the month has done
nothing to make up the deficit. Once more over half the rainfall came
on just two days: 18mm on the 26th and 11mm on the 28th. There were
19 days without any rain.
The temperatures were slightly up on
the average for the month overall. The highest was on the 4th
(24.6°C) with a steamy 18.6°C as the minimum temperature the
night before. The lowest was on the 16th (7.0°C), and the overall
monthly temperature was 16.0°C.
Ocober has started mild,
grey still and almost completely dry. But the second week is forecast
to be wetter.
October 2005
So we got our rain at last.
There were 277mm in the month, well above the average of 218mm and
close to last year's 290mm. So the total for the year so far, 960mm,
is now 95% of the average for this time in the year. There were only
10 days without rain, and the highest day's total was 54mm on the
24th.
The temperatures were very mild for the time of year.
The monthly average was 13.8°C, 2.0°C above the average for
October and warmer than May this year! The maximum was 18.4°C on
the 10th and 11th and the lowest was 8.5°C on the 4th and
8th.
November has started warm, wet and windy. The average
rainfall for November is 175mm, and in the first week we have already
had 129mm with lots more forecast for the week to come.
November
2005
The rainfall, at 158mm, was over 90% of the average for the
month. The first week or so was decisively wet, with two days (the
1st and the 5th) giving us 40mm each. The rest of the month produced
only 15mm. The total for the year so far reached 1118mm or 95% of the
average for this time of the year.
The overall average
temperature for November is 9.2°C, but this November was colder
at 7.6°C. The maximum was 15.9°C on the 2nd, the lowest 0.5°C
on the 21st. These are air temperatures: ground temperatures are a
few degrees lower as we saw in the amount of hoarfrost on several
days.
December has started wet and with a cold wind. We have
had 85mm of rain in the first week. Just as well it did not fall as
snow. Remember the rule of thumb: 1 inch of rain equals 1 foot of
snow, so 85mm of rain would have meant over a metre of snow. Let's
see what December brings.
December 2005
There was only 98mm of rain in the month, giving 1216mm for the whole
of 2005. This is 82mm below the average for the last few years. The
first week produced 85mm, but the rest of the month was virtually
rainfree. So, even with the wet months of June, September and October,
we still ended up with a somewhat dry year.
Temperatures in December ranged from a high of 12.3ºC on the 16th to a
low of -3.4ºC on the 28th, and the average for the whole month was
5.9ºC compared with an average for the last few Decembers of 6.8ºC.
I have never before thought it worth while commenting on the
atmospheric pressure. But this December produced the lowest and the
highest readings since I started collecting them in 1991. The high of
1046hPa (hectopascals, the latest name for millibars) on the 13th and
the low of 967hPa on the 2nd are both remarkable, particularly as they
happened within two weeks of each other.
January 2006 has begun chilly and dry, though it is snowing as I write
this on 8th January.