Gary Beynon
November 16th 2017                                                                              Top of Page                 Home






September

September was not an especially memorable month. After a poor summer there is always the hope that September and October will give us that boost before autumn really sets in. September didn’t and October doesn’t look that good either. Rainfall was very close to the 37 year average and similar to 2016 with 23 and 19 days of some precipitation respectively. The rainfall pattern kept the grass green but the ground absorbed the wet very effectively. On average temperatures were some 2° lower than last year and the maximum actually 5° lower. All the indications are that the season is some 2 to 3 weeks earlier setting in; the apples have matured that bit earlier and the people that make juice expect to finish that bit earlier. The trees seem to be holding their leaves and colour with many showing no sign of turning. I spotted a tree yesterday that was in a real muddle; most branches the leaves were turning but one had buds (sticky) as if it was spring.

Just the weather for August that one might expect with the children on the long summer break. More rain and cloud than one would have hoped and temperatures reasonable but nothing to write home about. A measure of the rainfall throughout this summer has been the way in which the grass—can’t dignify it with the word lawn—has not turned brown at the edges. It has been a bit of a struggle to get the harvest in; some dry days but enough rain to slow everything down. Not as good as 2016 with more rain, not as high a maximum temperature and averages just that bit lower. Can we look forward to an Indian summer? September has not started well but we can live in hope.

Gary Beynon
September 12th 2017                                                                              Top of Page                 Home



July

Another month of contrasts; the first half was mostly dry with higher temperatures whereas the latter part of the month was wetter and a little cooler. Overall July was a wet month with 96.7mm of rainfall over 18 days but some 65mm of this fell on just 3 days. Last year July was the driest for 37 years so don’t look for patterns! July seems to be characterised by very variable rainfall; 16 of the 37 years I have records for were greater than the average with this year being nearly 100% above. It almost goes without saying that the first week of the school holidays was wet. The average temperatures were comparable with last year and a maximum of 31.4°C on 6th was quite pleasant especially as that whole week had temperatures above 25°. Of course the bit we will remember is the heavy rain.

Another drier than average month that may also be remembered for 5 days of temperatures above 30°C. These high temperatures are not unusual but I suspect that we were not accustomed to this level and it was therefore a surprise to the system .Nearly half the days experienced some level, albeit very small in some cases, of rainfall.2 days saw 16 and 14mm of rain but this was a good deal less than other parts of the country; very welcome for the gardens nevertheless. Looking back over my notes, it is surprising how often the skies were predominantly cloudy; 15 in fact. The sunny days were rather pleasant though! Compared with June last year it was a deal drier and a good deal warmer.

May is always a strange month; you never quite know what to expect and this May was no exception. The old saying is “ne’er cast a clout ‘til May is out”; a warning that the temperatures can still be low and frost is a possibility. I saw just one morning when frost was evident on the cars so not too bad. At the other end of the scale, we had a maximum temperature of 27.4°C on 25th and 26th with maximi above 25° on 4 days. The early months of the year were dry with below average rainfall; May started to redress the balance with just above average rainfall but some 50% fell in just 4 consecutive days. It was most noticeable how much the cereal crops shot up after that rain (never mind the grass in our gardens!). There has been a very dry May with just 2mm in 1990 and a very wet month in 2007 with 153.9mm. Compared with May last year, this was not that different with similar rainfall and temperatures. June last year is best forgotten so no repeat thank you. 

Dry, Dry and more Dry; April turned out to be a very dry month as evidenced by the concrete like ground. It was not the driest April in the last 37 years as 2007 has that distinction with just 2.6mm, and we have had 2 further years with less rainfall than this year. Compared with the average rainfall over the last 37 years at 55.86mm it was still a very dry year and followed 3 months that were either below average or, in one year, just marginally above. Now of course they are talking about drought and hose pipe bans; as I showed last month the overall rainfall in the “fill up the water table months” has not been too bad so maybe they are just being cautious. We had a warm spell of weather with the maximum reaching 23.3°C but a number of mornings when frost was evident at least on the cars. 1 day gave us a real mixture with a shower of snow, sleet and hail briefly.

Gary Beynon
May 2nd 2017                                                                              Top of Page                 Home






March

The impression I had about March was that it was a dry month. Partly I thought this because the ground has become hard and the grass was slow in growing. The figures dispute the impression! Compared with the 37 year average, rainfall was down somewhat but on a par with February. What the figures do show is that we had a very mild month with the maximum temperature 6º above last March and the average temperature some 3½º up. There were no frosts; not on my drive anyway compared with 12 in 2016. The warm weather brought leaves and plants out quickly so we had a real bonus of clean and bright colours from that bit earlier. The first few days of April have continued to be warm, sunny and pleasant. Let’s hope it lasts.

Looking at the rainfall for the period October to March over 36 years shows that this last “winter” period was the 4th driest. Not a good sign for the water table.

Gary Beynon
April 17th 2017
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February

Quite a mixture of weather was seen during February. The temperature reached 16.4ºC on one day and there was snow or sleet on four other days. Overall it was a mild and dry month with average temperatures above that of 2016 and rainfall very similar. Despite the comparatively dry month the ground did not dry out very well, in part due to the high humidity that prevailed and lack of a drying wind; Storm Doris being the exception. February has been relatively dry over the years with a 37 year average of 55 mm. There has been a dramatic variation with the wettest year in 2014 at 144.5 mm and the driest in 198 at just 8.8 mm. 16 of the 37 years were above the average; one might conclude that February is unpredictable----but we could say the same of most months.