| 28th February - 6th March |
|
A dry week with lots of sunshine which made a nice change from our recent weather. Still a cold wind, with frost on 6 nights out of 7, ranging from -1.7ºC down to -5.9ºC on Friday. Because of the sun, it's been warming up fairly quickly and we've had some lovely days, with the spring flowers rushing to catch up after their late start.
I'm glad to see the end of February, particularly the last two weeks of unremitting cloud, rain and sleet. It was cold right through February. First, two weeks of frost and then finishing up wet, but only little amounts of rain each day, giving a monthly total of 71mm, below average again, making the last three months low. Chew Valley Lake is 93% full though, so no shortage there. It's probably benefitting from melting snow on the Mendips topping up the ground water, as they had a lot more snow than us.
March is usually relatively dry, average over 10 years -79mm with a high of 154mm in 2008 and a low of 43mm in 2000. The average over 20 years is 71mm. We usually have spells of dry weather with sunshine by day and frosty nights, but no guarantees ! In 2001 it rained on 20 days with no frost and in 2006 we had snow on the 12th.
|
|
| 21st - 27th February |
Some rain every day this week, although only small amounts - 31mm altogether. Also very overcast at times making it dark and unpleasant.
When the sun did come out, it was lovely, but soon clouded over with some very sharp showers as we did today (Saturday). End of February tomorrow, so we should be looking forward to some seasonal spring weather.
Meanwhile, I'm enclosing some pictures of the crocuses at the Old Rectory - they all opened out in the sun today and looked perfect. Chris
 
|
| 14th - 20th February |
25mm of rain spread over 5 days, but we still managed to have below zero temperatures on 4 nights.
-1.4ºC Tues, -1.5ºC Thurs, -3.3ºC Fri and -1.5ºC on Saturday night before it warmed up and rained.
It was a lovely day on Saturday with plenty of sunshine to melt the frost, and only light winds making it feel quite warm at times. Only one week left of February, doesn't time fly!
 
 
[Following receipt of a photo of some snowdrops last week, readers were invited to send their shots of Spring flowers - these from the Elliott/Judd garden ! - Ed]
|
| 7th - 13th February |
|
A dry week, but still very cold especially in the mornings: Wednesday -2.9ºC, Thursday -3.1ºC, Friday
-5.2ºC, and it didn't really warm up during the day either. A little bit better on Saturday, the wind was still cold , but if you managed to find shelter and the sun came out, it was possible to detect warmth, but it will be a while yet before we don't need a coat !
|
| 31st January - 6th February |
Well, the week started with a low of -3.3ºC on Monday, but by Friday it had warmed up, giving us a reasonably pleasant 11.3ºC. Also fairly good on Saturday but not as warm. Incidentally, Wells was much sunnier than here on Saturday. I've noticed before that the weather on the other side of the Mendips can be very different - either better or worse. Only 13mm of rain.
January
A total of 55.5mm of rain, so below average, but that doesn't count the amount of water that fell as snow.
18 mornings when temperatures were below zero; the lowest was -11.7ºC on the 7th. The first two weeks of January gave us some exeptionally cold weather with variable amounts of snow depending on where you were. Probably the worst weather since 1987 (although it took longer to clear then).
The rest of the month was the usual January weather, cold, damp and cloudy most of the time, with more frosty mornings from the 21st until the end of the month.
February's average rainfall over 10 years is 83mm, with a low of 37.5mm in 2009 and a high of 155.5mm in 2007 - our highest February rainfall for 18 years. The average over 20 years is 73mm, with a low of 11mm in '98 (when it only rained on 1 day). The difference is mainly due to 4 dry Februarys in 1991, '92, '93 and '98.
We often have some of our coldest weather this month with frequent frosts and it is the most likely month for snow, but it is the shortest month and when it's over we can start looking forward to spring.
|
| 24th - 30th January |
At last some sunshine, at least in the mornings, what a difference it makes ! Back to quite hard frosts though, particularly in the early morning, and, in spite of the sunshine, temperatures not very high and soon dropping back after lunch:
Mon night/ Tues morning -3.2ºC
Friday night/ Sat morning -2.5ºC
Saturday night/ Sun morning 5.5ºC
These were the lowest temperatures during the last week., and with February starting on Monday I don't have much hope for warmer weather for a while yet.
Did anyone see the brilliant full moon on Saturday night ? It was spectacular and with no clouds in sight, almost as bright as daylight.
|
| 17th - 23rd January |
Rain on 4 days, 26mm in total, and temperatures still low, dipping down to freezing in the early morning.
In spite of the bad weather we've had, the early snowdrops are fully out in our garden. I don't know what variety they are, but they are always in bloom in early January and as the snow melted, there they were.
|
|
10th - 16th January
|
Frost on Sunday, Monday ,Tuesday, and Wednesday, snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, and rain on Thursday , Friday and Saturday made quite a mix this week.
Temperatures - Sunday: -1.7ºC, Monday: - 0.7ºC, Tuesday: -1.2ºC, and Wednesday: -0.3ºC The snow was quite heavy, but as it became warmer it soon melted away, taking the rest of the first lot with it, apart from the odd bit in shady corners. 25mm of rain in 3 days and although it is warmer we'll need our coats for a while yet.
|
| 3rd - 9th January |
No rain this week, snow instead. I don't have the equipment to measure snow, which is difficult to do accurately. Although media reporters, especially on television, seem to be able to do this with nothing more than a good imagination!
I can measure temperature though, using several electronic sensors which send signals back to a base unit in the porch, allowing us to check what's going on without having to step outside. These are the minimum temperatures for the last 7 days;
Sunday -7ºC
Monday -6.6ºC
Tuesday -9.6ºC
Wednesday 3.9ºC
Thursday -11.7ºC
Friday -11.1ºC
Saturday -3.3ºC
These are early morning readings, usually just as it's getting light, invariably this is when the lowest temperature occurs.
This system is very interesting as you can check anytime, and it is fascinating to see the variation over a period of time, as it doesn't move steadily as you would expect, but up and down - some times in a few minutes in little hops and jumps.
|
| 27th December- 2nd January |
28mm of rain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Frost on Friday and Saturday -5.7ºC and -2.3ºC repectively, so quite a mix.
The total rain for December is 96.5mm, again slightly below average, but after the high of November we won't miss it. Rain on 16 days spread fairly evenly throughout the month and when it didn't rain, it froze (on 11 days) and I expect the cold to continue well into January.
January average rain is 107mm in the last 10 years and 114mm over the last 20, so not much difference.
2009
A fairly normal mix of rain cold wind and frost in January and February, a dry spell in March, but too early to be useful to gardeners. Some very nice sunny days in May and early June, low rainfall every month so far and we looked forward to the promised barbecue summer. Instead we got 217mm of rain in July when it rained on 24 days. It never seemed to get realy warm either. Some of the best weather this year was again in the Autumn, until November when it rained on 27 days giving us 239mm.
The total for 2009 is 1097mm which puts it in 10th place over the last 20 years, with 2000 being the wettest and 1996 the driest.
The driest month was September with 5 days of rain and the wettest was November.
So, we've started another year, and once again it will be too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too sunny or too dull for someone, somewhere because we're never all happy with the weather! (and what would we talk about otherwise)
[Once again we have much to thank Dawn for in keeping the record of our yearly experience of that great and perennial subject of conversation - Ed]
|
