Month: October 2024

The only major effect from Storm Ashley on Sunday was the increasing wind strength during the morning with a maximum guest of 28mph, before the wind slowly dropped away after midday. The cloud began to thin and break mid afternoon, as the weather front moved eastwards, after seeing the thermometer reach a peak of 16.8C at 13.03 being 1.9C above my 40-year average. The rainfall from the weather front was modest, just 3.2mm, that took the month’s total to 99.6mm being 109% of my 40-year average. The past night was mild with the thermometer not dropping below 10.2C at 05.03 early Monday, which was 2.8C above the long-term average.

Monday revealed a cloudy start to the new day as the back edge of the weather front, from Storm Ashley, eased away, the centre now moving across the North Sea towards Scandinavia.

Today we are under the influence of a high pressure system mid-atlantic that is producing a temporary ridge across the southern half of the UK. The barometric pressure has risen 12mb since Sunday, a reading of 1020.0mb was logged at 08.00, the second highest pressure this month. The wind will continue from a mainly southwesterly direction, having fallen light, with the cloud beginning to thin around mid-afternoon, so a dry day likely.

Saturday was another very mild day with the thermometer reaching 16.9C at 15.22 being 2.0C above my 40-year average even though the wind had backed into the west, not quite such warm direction. The day was dry. During the evening the temperature dropped away to a minimum of 8.7C at 21.21 after which time the advancing cloud from Storm Ashley brought thick cloud that saw the thermometer recover to 12.5C by 08.00 Sunday.

Rain began to fall at 06.30 Sunday, light at first, but more likely heavier by midmorning shown by the rain radar.

Storm Ashley is barrelling down on Northern Ireland then moving towards north Scotland. The barometric pressure has started to drop rapidly, currently 1008.1mb, whilst at the centre of the depression it read 952mb. The pressure here dropped 2mb in the last half hour. The wind has backed into the southwest and has been strengthening since midnight.

Friday was a quiet, dry day with much sunshine after the misty conditions had cleared lifting the temperature to 15.9C by 14.46 being 1.0C above my 40-year average. A drop of just 4C overnight due to the cloudy conditions gave a minimum of 11.8 at 07.52 on Saturday, which was 4.4C above the average.

There were a few spots of rain in the evening but after midnight a 100 mile rain band arrived dropping 13.8mm of precipitation, being intense at 06.00 on Saturday when rain fell at the rate of 55mm/hour, very briefly, from the back edge of the weather front. This additional rainfall took the monthly total to 95.8mm being 5mm above my 40-year average.

The back edge of the weather front meant a cloudy start to Saturday with almost calm conditions.

The first named storm of the season, Storm Ashley, was named by Met Eireann yesterday. Its greatest impact will be Northern Ireland, Scotland and some north western coastal areas. It will be just wet and windy here on Sunday with gusts in the 30’s.

The soil temperature at a depth of 5mm read 13.1C at 08.00 due to the recent warm days and especially mild nights after a low of 4.9C on the 11th.

There was much welcome sunshine on Thursday that, combined with the flow of warm air from the south-east, meant a warm day as the thermometer peaked at 18.C at 14.33. This high was 2.9C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since 21st September.

The sky overnight was initially clear with a great image of the very large Hunter moon, however, that allowed the warmth to dissipate into the atmosphere allowing the temperature to drop to 6.1C at 02.33 early Friday being 1.3C below my long-term average. This was a much large diurnal variation of 11.7C compared to that recently of 1.6C.

It was a dry day, the first for a week, with Low UV, not unreasonable for this time on the year.

The low temperature overnight, combined with very wet ground, allowed misty conditions to form but not dense enough to be classed as fog. It was the fifth morning when the humidity read 100% at 08.00, unusual for October, more like November. The wind direction has seen it back from southeast to southwest earlier today and later will return to the south, but mainly light.

The deep low pressure system just south of Iceland continues to deepen rapidly with a very low centre pressure of 960mb by 12.00 today. The track of the system is projected to take it more towards Scotland and Northern England than our area for Sunday but rain and strong winds, from the tightly packed isobars, will give us a breezy day.

The flow of moist, warm air from far south continued on Wednesday that saw the thermometer rise to 17.1C at 14.05 before dropping back slightly. This maximum was 2.2C above my 40-year average and the warmest day since 26th September.

It was a dry day but overcast and misty. The next rain band arrived at 17.20 producing 12.6mm of precipitation taking the monthly total to 82.0mm, just 9mm below my 40-year October average.

The overnight minimum of 10.8C was logged at 07.27 early Thursday being 3.4C above the long-term average, so another mild night.

The start to Thursday revealed that the dull, dreary beginning to recent days had passed and variable light and high cloud allowed a bright start to the new day. Overnight radiation fog had formed in the River Og valley that had all but dispersed by 07.30. The wind direction has changed from southeast on Wednesday to southwest overnight as the next weather system edges closer.

The Atlantic synoptic charts show a very large low pressure system developing just south of Iceland that is deepening rapidly and slowly heading our way. The forecast pressure at its centre will be an extremely low pressure of 962mb by midnight. However, the extreme wind and rain is likely to have greatest effect over Scotland and Northern England although it will breezy and wet here on Sunday. The wind gusts are forecast to reach 40mph over high,exposed ground locally.