January 2007
Rainfall in the month was slightly above average: 182mm against 144.1mm.
Nearly all of this fell in the first three weeks, with the most, 24mm, on the
9th. The last 10 days produced almost no rain at all (5mm), and this trend has
continued into the first week of February.
This same couple of weeks also saw the lowest temperatures of the winter so
far. The 22nd gave us a minimum of 1.0°C, whereas the week before produced
the highest minimum of the month, 10.8°C on the 18th. The 19th saw the
highest daytime temperature of 13.9°C, a remarkable figure for January. The
overall average was 8.9°C against an average for the last few years of
6.7°C.
February has started cold and dry, with snow falling further north. But a return to warm and wet conditions is forecast for the middle of the month.
February 2007
The Met Office's 'official' Winter is over. It must be one of the
mildest and wettest on record. The average rainfall for the three months
was just under 380mm. This winter it was 633mm. The average temperature
for the same period was 6.1°C. This winter it was 8.6°C. But who knows:
next winter may be cold and dry.
February itself was wet and mild. There were only seven days without
rain, six of them in the first week. The highest daily rainfall was the
28mm on the 23rd, and 86mm fell between the 21st and 24th. The monthly
total was 227mm against an average for February of 96mm.
But even if it was a case of 'February fill-dyke', the temperatures too
were extraordinary. The 1st produced a minimum night temperature of
10°C, when the expected daytime value might be 7°C or 8°C. And there was
a daytime high of 12.9°C on the 20th. The overall monthly average was
8.4°C, the average over the last few years being 5.4°C.
The first eight days of March have produced 97mm of rain and
temperatures during the day well into double figures. But things are
forecast to settle down in the second and third weeks. So Spring may
really be here.
March 2007
March was dry, except the first five days. The total rainfall was 110mm
of which 88mm fell in those first few days. That meant only 22mm for the
whole of the rest of the month, and with no rain in the first eight days
of April and none in sight, means fields and gardens are dry.
The maximum temperature was 14.4°C on the 27th, the minimum 2.0°C on the
20th. The overall average for the month was a mild 8.9°C against an
average for the last few years of 6.2°C.
But, instead of Evershot, imagine living in La Réunion island in the
Indian Ocean. In early April they had a violent volcanic eruption which
is unlikely in West Dorset. Even less likely was the monstrous rainfall
from a tropical storm in La Réunion in late February 2007 of 1625mm in a
24-hour period. Let's be clear about this: it amounts to 5ft 4in of rain
in a day. I just hope their drainage system is better than ours.
April 2007
Nobody needs telling that April was a dry month. At 6mm the rainfall was
miserly by any standards. So no April showers this year. In fact, during
the two-month period from 6 March to 5 May, only 28mm, or just over 1
inch, of rain fell. But February's rain was double the average, so there
is actually no deficit to be made up: if no rain at all fell in May, the
overall rainfall so far this year, 525mm, would be above the average to
be expected, 519mm. But May has started changeable, with at least some
rain forecast for the second week and beyond.
Temperatures were well up, with a maximum of 21.9°C on the 14th, 15th
and 16th. The lowest night temperature was 5.0°C on the 3rd and 4th. The
overall monthly average was 13.4°C, compared with an average for the
last few years of 8.4°C, a considerable jump.
With the settled weather for the whole month, the barograph traces were
virtually straight lines, with only 17mb between the highest, 1032mb,
and the lowest, 1015mb. Generally it is easy to spot the high and low
points in the month. This April I had to use a magnifying glass to be sure.
May 2007
Rainfall at 146mm was nearly the same as last year, but the average for
the last few Mays was only 86.3mm. The total rainfall so far this year
amounts to 671mm, where we might expect only 527.1mm. So we have a
surplus so far this year of over 140mm. May's rain fell in two separate
periods of a few days: between the 10th and 15th, when 84mm fell; and
between the 27th and 31st, which gave us 39mm. The highest was the 36mm
on the 13th. There were 15 days without any rain at all.
Temperatures in May over the last few years average 11.4°C. This year it
was warmer at 13.8°C. The highest daytime temperature was the 22.9°C on
the 24th, and the temperatures at night dropped below double figures
only six times. The lowest was 7.5°C on the 27th.
June has started warm and dry, with no rain at all in the first eight
days. But the outlook is for more changeable weather in the middle of
the month, with near average temperatures.
June 2007
The average rainfall for June is 53.2mm, but this year we had 120mm, all
in the last 18 days. The most was on the 30th (34mm), but there were also
23mm, 13mm and 12mm during that stretch. The average total rainfall for
the first half year is 580.3mm, but this year we have had 791mm, so we
are still in surplus.
The average temperature for June is 17.5°C, and by coincidence that is
exactly the average for June this year. The warmest day was the 10th with
24.9°C, while the previous night was the warmest too (18.6°C). The
lowest temperature during the month was the 25th's 12.5°C.
July 2007
The average rainfall for July is 92.3mm. This year we had 141mm or 50%
more than the average. But of course we were lucky not to have the
deluge that other parts of the country have had. All the same, the total
rainfall this year is 932mm against an average for this time of the year
of 682.1mm, or more than 33% up. And it is still looking unsettled in
the first week of August, with 21mm of rain so far and more forecast.
On the other hand, the temperatures in July were well down. The average
for July is 18.9°C, while this year we had only 17.0°C. For comparison,
July 2006 gave us 21.8°C. The warmest day was the 11th with 22.4°C, the
coldest night was the 31st with 9.4°C. But the forecast is for it to
warm up in the middle of August. We shall see.
August 2007
The first three weeks of August were wet, the last ten days completely
dry. The total rainfall for the month was 125mm, against an average of
69.5mm. The year's rain to the end of August was 1058mm, whereas the
average is only 752mm. Three days in the middle of the month produced
90mm of rain: 47.2mm on the 13th, 24.2mm on the 14th and 18.6mm on the
18th. But then 2007 has been a year of extremes: I'm writing this on 8th
September, and the last rain was on 20th August. And no rain is forecast
for the next two weeks.
Temperatures too have been quite erratic. The average for August is
18.2°C. This year it was 15.4°C. The highest temperature was 25.6°C, but
the lowest was 7.6°C, the first time in single figures since I began
keeping a note of the temperatures.
September has started fine, dry and warm, a result of the Azores high
pressure system being close by to the west and drifting slowly across
the UK. So slowly, in fact, that there is little change forecast until
the last week of the month. Summer at last, perhaps.
September 2007
It's certainly been a summer of extremes. After the rains of May to
July, it suddenly stopped with a final flourish in the middle of August
and didn't start again until over three weeks later. In fact, from the
21st of August to the 22nd of September, only 3.6mm fell. Then in the
last week or so we had enough to bring the month's total up to 47.2mm.
The average for September is 54.9mm, so this was the first month since
April that we have had less than the monthly average.
Temperatures too were less than the usual. The monthly average was
13.4°C against an average for the last few years of 15.1°C. The maximum
was 23.8°C on the 7th, and the minimum 3.8°C on the 26th.
October has started quite benign, though the night temperatures have
started to fall away. The rain is patchy, and the gales expected in the
autumn have so far failed to arrive. But then, as we all know, the
seasons are really confused this year.
October 2007
October's rain was just a joke. The first two weeks were quite dry, but
then suddenly on the 16th we had 36mm, nearly half the monthly total.
Then next to nothing for the rest of the month. The total rainfall
amounted to 76.8mm, mostly in what seems to have been heavy dews. This
total compares with the October average of 203.4mm and is the lowest in
October in the few years I have been collecting rainfall figures.
The average temperature for October is 12.0°C. This year we only got
10.8°C. The highest was 17.9°C on the 14th, the lowest 1.2°C on the
20th. Perhaps the lower average was partly due to the northerly winds we
have had for much of the month.
The first week or so of November has been just more of the same, with
only a negligible 3.8mm of rain. November is still Autumn, according to
the Met Office, so we may have to wait for December to bring us any real
Winter.
November 2007
November was an almost exact copy of October: a dryish start and finish with a wet middle. The "middle" was from the 17th to the 21st and produced 103.4mm of rain, out of a total for the month of 132.2mm. The highest was on the 18th with 31.6mm. But overall the month was quite dry: the average is 178.2mm
Temperatures were slightly below average. The highest daily temperature was 16.4°C on the 1st, but there were five night temperatures below freezing, the lowest being the -4.0°C on the 23rd. The monthly average was 7.4°C against an average for November over the last years of 9.0°C. But the winds were quite light, so it did not feel too cold.
December has started quite differently from October and November. In three words, wet, windy and mild. We have had 60.2mm in the first week, nearly half the monthly average. That and storm force winds have made a miserable start to winter. But at least it is still mild, at any rate so far.
December 2007
December's rainfall was 125.2mm, slightly less than the average of
133.6mm and much less than last year's 224mm. The highest was the 18.6mm
on Christmas Eve, but there were also a 17.4mm (8th), 16.8mm (4th) and
16.6mm (28th). However the wet summer meant the total for the year was
up at 1439.2mm (average 1322mm).
Temperatures in December were down: 5.4°C (average 7.1°C). The highest
was 13.6°C (6th), the lowest -2.4°C (11th). Overall 2007's temperatures
were close to the average: 11.7°C (average 11.9°C).
2008 has started mildish, wet and windy. The forecasters are having a
tough time accurately predicting where and when, but all seem agreed
that there will be little change until late in January. Their promised
blizzard failed to happen, but there is always February and March still
to come.