January 2008
The temperature in January last year averaged 8.9°C. This year it was
6.6°C. But this figure is deceptive: the average for January over the
last few years is 6.7°C. Moreover the minimum temperature on two days
this year was 10.6°C, a most unusual figure for January in any year. The
maximum was 11.9°C on the 20th, and the minimum was -1.1°C on the 2nd.
Rainfall was 160.2mm against an average of 146.2mm. Nearly all the rain
came in the middle of the month, the most being the 38.6mm on the 14th.
There were only eight days without rain.
February has started mildish, breezy and changeable. But there is no
sign of a cold snap before the middle of the month. Meanwhile the frogs
in my pond think Spring is here already.
February 2008
February was dry with average temperatures. The usual rainfall is 115mm.
This year it was 49mm, or well under half the average. Moreover the rain
was concentrated in two patches of a few days each, one in the first
week and the other in the last. The highest fall was on the 4th
(18.6mm), and then there was virtually nothing for three weeks until the
25th (12.4mm).
There were only seven days with an air frost, the sharpest (-4.4°C) on
the 16th. The average daytime temperatures sound quite high, nearly
10°C, but there was often a wind that made it feel cooler. The highest
was 13.5°C on the 12th. The mean temperature for the whole month was
5.8°C, close to an average for the last few years of 6.0°C.
March has started where February left off: fairly average temperatures
emphasised by a breeze, and with little or no rain. But a big storm is
promised, or threatened, for the 10th and 11th. So we must watch out for
trees and chimney pots.
March 2008
The average temperature for the month was 6.3°C, lower than the expected
7.7°C, and made to feel worse by the often strong northerly wind. There
were only five nights with an air frost, the lowest -3.7°C (4th), and
the highest daytime figure was a mild 14.3°C (31st).
Rainfall amounted to 115.4mm against an average of 97.7mm. There were
ten days with no rain at all, but three days with almost an inch each:
the 9th (23.8mm), the 15th (22.0mm) and the 29th (22.4mm).
The beginning of April has really stepped out of line, with a scattering
of snow on two days in the first week. These are not the sort of April
showers we expect. But conditions are forecast to return to normal in
the middle of the month.
April 2008
April is often a rather variable month. Last year it brought just 6mm of
rain, while April 2001 had 122mm. This year the rainfall was slightly
below average at 60.2mm, the average being 76.0mm. There were only two
days with rain into double figures: the 20th (10.0mm) and the 29th
(17.2mm), and there were eleven days with none at all.
Temperatures were lower than usual: the average for the month was 7.7°C,
down on an average for the last few years of 10.5°C. The highest
temperature was 17.7°C (22nd and 26th), the lowest -2.8°C on the 7th.
There were seven nights with a frost.
May has started with something like a heatwave: temperatures have shot
up to the low to mid 20s°C. Let's hope this is not the only summer we
are going to get this year.
May 2008
May rainfall, at 84.4mm, was just under the monthly average of 93.6mm.
But, as so often seems to happen in Evershot, well over half the rain
fell in two large lumps: 30.4mm (26th) and 20.8mm (28th). There were
also 17 days with no rain or only negligible amounts. The rest was
hardly enough to lay the dust.
Temperatures were pleasantly high for much of the month, with 13 days
having a high into the twenties centigrade. The highest was on the 11th
(26.2°C), but there were some quite low readings at night, the lowest
being 3.6°C on the 21st. The average for the whole month was 13.5°C,
almost identical to the average for the last few years of 13.7°C.
June has started benignly, with warm sunshine, enough rain for the
garden and gentle breezes. But a chillier spell is forecast for the
middle of the month.
June 2008
June was on the dry side of the average rainfall, but slightly below the average
temperature. Rainfall was 39.6mm against the average of 62.7mm. The
highest was the 8.8mm on the 21st, but there were 17 days with no rain
at all.
The average temperature for the whole month was 14.1°C, but the average
for the last few Junes is 17.3°C. The highest temperature was the 25.9°C
on the 9th, the lowest night temperature 5.2°C on the 17th.
July has begun wet and mildish. But we must hope that it will not be a
repeat of last year.
July 2008
Nearly 75% of the month's rain fell on just three days: the 5th (34.2mm), the 8th (17.0mm) and the 9th (22.8mm). The total for the whole month was 111.8mm, the average for the last few years being 94.7mm. So a bit wetter, but not that much. Indeed, with 14 days without any rain at all, the middle of the month felt extremely dry.
The overall average July temperature for the last few years is 18.1°C, so this year's 15.5°C seems cool. But really it was cool only at night, with a low of 6.0°C on the 3rd. During the day the temperatures were quite well up, the maximum being the 27.5°C on the 28th. There were 15 days with a maximum of 20.0°C or more.
August has started grey and humid, not at all like the summer we expect. Temperatures are forecast to be rather below average for the rest of the month. Let's hope for an Indian summer in September.
August 2008
Nobody needs to be told that August, the third month of our summer, was
chilly, grey and miserable. It was also wetter than usual (87mm against
an average of 78.7mm), though not as wet as last year's 125.8mm. There
were only 8 days with no rain at all.
Temperatures ranged from a low of 6.8°C to a high of 22.9°C with an
overall monthly average of 15.2°C. This is well down on the average for
the last few years of 17.4°C. The often strong winds didn't help to make
this August feel like a summer month. The summer (officially June, July
and August) gave us an overall temperature of 14.9°C, much below the
average of 17.5°C.
The first week of September has carried on where August left off: cool
and grey, not at all the Indian Summer we sometimes get in early autumn.
September 2008
We never got our Indian Summer, or indeed any summer at all. The
temperature in September did not even reach the magic 21°C (70°F), the
highest being the 19.6°C on the 14th. The overall figure for the whole
month was 12.8°C, and the lowest 5.8°C on the 27th.
The rainfall, at 69.8mm, was slightly above the average for the month of
56.8mm, but there was 13.4mm on the 12th which accounted for much of
this total. There were also 16 days with no rain at all. But the general
impression of September was the grey skies day after day and often
blustery winds.
October has started chilly but bright: thank goodness for that!
October 2008
Almost the only thing worth remembering about October was the continual
grey gloom, day after day. It was quite dry: the total rainfall was only
102.8mm against an average of 211.2mm. But there were 22 rainy days, the
most being the 20.8mm on the 4th.
The temperatures were down on the average for October: 9.4°C for the
whole month, against an expected 11.7°C. And we had our first frost
since April on the 28th (-1.8°C).
November has started with a cold northerly wind, but heavy rain is
forecast to sweep in from the west with severe gales to push it on. If
this were later in the winter, we might be seeing a foot or two of snow
for Christmas.
November 2008
The month was drier than usual. We had 69.4mm of rain, where the average
is 166.1mm. There were 11 days with no rain at all, quite unusual for
November. The most was 11.4mm on the 10th. This gave us quite a dry
autumn (September, October, November): 242.0mm against an average of
405.4mm.
November was also cooler than usual. The overall monthly figure was
7.1°C, against an expected 8.8°C. The maximum was 13.2°C on the 15th,
but it turned chillier at the end of the month with night frosts,
including a minimum of -1.3°C on the 28th, with daytime temperatures
reaching only 2.3°C. So the autumn was nearly 2°C down on the average:
9.8°C against 11.7°C.
December has started cold and dry, but at least it is bright and sunny,
with beautiful winter days, even if chilly at night.
December 2008
Rainfall was just 42% of normal: 64.2mm against 152.7mm. And nearly half
(30.4mm) fell on a single day, the 12th. Seven months in 2008 were below
the average, some, such as October (102.8mm against an average of
199.2mm) and November (69.4mm against 166.1mm), giving us half or even
less. So 2008's total rainfall of 1013.6mm was over 300mm less than the
average, despite the wetter than usual months of July, August and
September.
December's average temperature was 3.5°C, or 3.3°C less than the average
for the last few years. The last week was distinctly chilly and produced
the lowest of the month at -4.1°C on the 31st. The annual average was
9.8°C or 2.2°C below the expected figure.
This theme has continued into 2009, with January starting dry (0.8mm)
and cold (average -1.3°C with a minimum of -8.4°C on the 6th). But it is
forecast to be warmer and wetter in the second week. We shall see what
the rest of 2009 brings us.
Back to the top