Month: February 2024

Wednesday was the last of the warm days for a while that saw a peak of 10.6C, 2.5C above my 40-year average, in the morning before rain arrived in the afternoon. The past night was mild with the thermometer only dropping a degree to a low of 9.1C, which was a significant 7.4C above my 40-year average.

Thursday arrived wet with a weather front crossing our area, this is a cold front that will see lower peaks for the next day or two.

Waiting in the winds is the next approaching depression that will bring stormy conditions on Friday after a calm day on Thursday.The barometric pressure has already dropped 15mb since Wednesday, currently 1004.7mb, as the low pressure system closes in on the UK.

The temperature recovered a little on Tuesday, thanks to a gentle southwesterly breeze and some brightness, that saw the thermometer rise above average for the first time in five days with a peak of 9.0C at 14.15. Day light hours were dry. The cloud cover again meant a mild night as the cloud minimised warmth escaping into the atmosphere, with a low of 6.6C at 07.28 on Wednesday.

Wednesday revealed a cloudy start to the day but relatively high cloud base. However, two warm fronts are heading our way today that will likely mean some precipitation around mid-afternoon brought on the continuing southwesterly light air stream. The barometer pressure is heading downwards again as another depression approaches.

The very strong wind on Monday, gusting most of the day above 30mph with a peak gust pf 34mph, produced a wind chill. Although the maximum of 8.1C was exactly average it felt more like 4C for much of the day. A clearing sky late afternoon meant the thermometer dropped away to -1.1C (2.6C below average) at 06.02 early on Tuesday producing another air frost.

Tuesday began bright but yet again another weather front is approaching with its advance cloud soon after dawn obscuring any brightness. The thermometer had risen a little to -0.5C by 08.00. The barometric pressure is currently very high with a reading of 1023.2mb at 08.00, that is producing a temporary ridge of high pressure so a mainly dry day in store. The wind today will be much calmer and be predominantly from the southwest.

The wind did increase in strength Sunday afternoon and overnight, as forecast, with a peak gust of 33mph at 05.20 Monday morning. The temperature at 08.00 on Monday was 4.2C but due to the strength and direction of the wind, a cool northerly, a wind chill meant it felt more like -0.1C at that time outside.

The maximum of 6.8C on Sunday made it the coolest day since the 7th (5.5C) being 1.3C below my 40-year average. Irrespective of the strong north northeasterly overnight the cloud cover meant a low of 4.1C at 07.30 Monday was 2.4C above my 40-year average. Not only the cloud limited the loss of warmth into the atmosphere, acting as a blanket, but the wind kept the air constantly on the move. The rainfall for the past twenty four hours measured 7.7mm that took the monthly total to 139.3mm, which is 212% of my 40-year average.

The low pressure system that caused the rain and wind over the past twenty-four hours has now moved across to the near Continent. As it continues to move further away the barometric pressure will continue to rise rapidly. This will also be due to an intense high-pressure system mid-Atlantic that is producing a temporary ridge of high pressure over the UK on Monday helping to funnel the strong wind down from the north between the clockwise rotating air mass of the high pressure and anticlockwise low pressure systems. The air is much drier this morning reading 88% at 08.00, the driest air flow this month.

A peak of 8.6C on Saturday was a degree up on the cool Friday also just creeping above my 40-year average (+0.5C). However, the opposite occurred overnight as the thermometer dropped below freezing (-0.1C) at 22.26 and slowly descended until it reached a minimum of -2.1C at 04.11 early on Sunday producing a modest air frost. This was the coldest night since 20th January being 3.8C below my 40-year average minimum for February.

Sunday after dawn revealed broken cloud that had slowly drifted in allowing the thermometer to recover to -0.4C at 08.00, also brief glimmers of weak sunshine.

A deep low-pressure system was centred just off the coast of southwest Ireland at midnight and is forecast to slowly move southeastwards during the day. This will mean a likely dry morning but with increasing cloud and rain arriving around mid-afternoon. As the depression passes at its closest to the Southwest the wind will pick up considerably, probably above 40mph at its strongest. The wind at 08.00 was light and from the east and will continue from an easterly quadrant all day.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm read 1.5C at 08.00, the lowest since 27th January due to the colder days and recent cold nights.