The real rain started just after 09.00 and continued until just after 15.00 bringing 10.6mm of very welcome rain, especially for gardeners. This was the wettest day since 6th April (11.6mm). The monthly total now stands at 13.8mm when the 38-year average is 60.7mm.
The loss of equivalent rainfall through evaporation from ground sources and plant life was a major factor in the the dry April. So far this month we have lost the equivalent of 25mm of rainfall, which is almost twice the rainfall for May to date.
Due to the many wet and cloudy hours on Wednesday the maximum temperature was subdued with a peak of 15.6C in the early evening at 18.22, during strong sunshine, being 1.9C below average.
The past night was cooler than of late with the thermometer sinking to 7.0C at 05.35, just above average.
Thursday dawned with welcome sunshine again that lifted the temperature to 12.8C at 08.00 at which time the barometric pressure had recovered to 1019.2mb as the depression eased away eastwards.
