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Wrington Meteorological Report 2002 |
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Wrington Meteorological Report 2002 |
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Local councillor and meteorological enthusiast, Dawn Judd, kindly provides us with a weekly met. report based on readings she takes daily at her home - 8.30am for the rainfall. |
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| Overall
figures for 2001 |
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | |
| Review of the Year 2002 | |
| Well, 2002 has come to its end - a period of very variable weather. A not very warm Spring was followed by a cool start to the Summer. You may have forgotten, but we experienced 10 consecutive days of warm dry weather in July, 19 days in August, and 21 days of indian summer in September. Rainfall for the year totalled 1370mm - s;ightly above average, but not as wet as 2000. The driest month was September and the wettest November. There was rain on 166 days (in 1994 it rained on 186 days). We had gales at the end of October which caused some damage to property. Trees also suffered, especially any made unstable by old age or disease. Discounting gales, there was less wind than usual. Indeed, that from the south-west seems to have decreased over the last few years, both in frequency and force. During the last couple of months in particular, the wind's been more from the north and east. A happy new year - and may you all get the weather you want ! [A sentiment we all echo - together with many thanks to Dawn for her regular reports - Ed] |
| 29th December, 2002 - 4th January, 2003 | |
| 76.5mm of rain this week, so no wonder everywhere was flooded. Generally, December has been fairly mild and had rain on 20 days, giving a total of 149.5mm. It's not been a pleasant month weather-wise - almost continual cloud cover made it very dark and gloomy. Friday produced a big change with the temperature falling and pressure rising though the day. This resulted in frost at night. Saturday was cold but did manage some sunshine in the afternoon. This morning (Sunday) the temperature is a low -5.6C. |
| 22nd - 28th December, 2002 | |
| A fairly wet week again - rain 6 days out of 7 - giving a total of 32mm. The wettest 24-hour period was 28th, mostly during the night, with 12mm and still raining as I write ! There were 9mm on Christmas Day, but again mainly at night, and there was actually a nice spell morning and afternoon encouraging the taking of a walk. It's been very mild all week as the wind's been from the south-west, so this, too, encourages walking - in any dry intervals. At no time was it dry enough for any serious gardening, though. |
| 15th - 21st December, 2002 | |
| After a brief, cold, dry spell midweek, we seem to have returned to our accustomed winter weather - wet - receiving 35mm of rain ! Most (25mm) fell on Saturday, but now the wind appears to be coming from the south-west. Whether that's a good sign remains to be seen, but I won't be going out without a raincoat or umbrella for the next few days ! |
| 8th - 14th December, 2002 | |
| 24.5mm of rain this week, and 15.5mm of that fell during the night of 14th. It's been a little warmer towards the end of the week, but the wind is still coming from the east, making it quite chilly - and the damp makes it worse. What we need now are some really dry, bright days with sunshine, but that doesn't look very likely at the moment ! |
| 24th - 30th November, 2002 | |
| Well, November is over and it's certainly been wet ! 217.5mm of rain make it the wettest month in the last 13 years. It just beats the 210mm of December, 1993. Although we had only 7 periods of 24 hours without rain, which was bad enough, December '93 actually had no more than 4 days without rain. On the plus side, it has been fairly mild, resulting in us not having to put on coats, hats, scarves and gloves every time we stepped outside - just wellingtons and an umbrella ! So on to December whose records range from a low of 30mm of rain to the afore-mentioned high of 210mm. The average works out at 116.5mm, and it's certainly going to start wet. It could just as likely remain wet for at least the first week or so, after which ... who knows ? |
| 17th - 23rd November, 2002 | |
| Slightly less rain this week - 40mm in all - and two dry days - Sunday and Monday. If it's any consolation, most of Europe seems to be having a very wet month as well ! Looking over the whole year, the rainfall is only slightly above average so far. So there's still a long way to go to equal the total for 2000. |
| 10th - 16th November, 2002 | |
| What can I say, other than another wet week which produced 58.5mm of rain over 6 days out of 7 ! So far this November, in fact, we've had just two dry days. and it looks set to continue along these lines for a while longer. |
| 3rd - 9th November, 2002 | |
| Another wet week, with only one day without rain - 64mm in all. We are catching up after all that dry weather we had in August and September ! Still very mild, though, and not much wind this week either. |
| 20th - 26th October, 2002 | |
| 37mm of rain this week - and only one 24-hour period - the 23rd - without rain. It's also been quite windy towards the end of the week. With the promise of gales on Sunday, 27th, it's fairly typical October weather, really - so I suppose we can't complain too much after all the fine weather we've had recently. |
| 13th - 19th October, 2002 | |
| What a change ! 118mm of rain this week - and 60mm of that fell in the 24 hours from 8.30am on Sunday, 13th to Monday, 14th. It was not particularly heavy, but it was persistent, continuing almost uninterrupted for 24 hours, and this is very unusual. Our first frost in the village came on Saturday, 19th, so quite an interesting week weatherwise [That's one way of putting it ! - Ed]. The wind had been very changeable, too, varying from NE to SW and back again all week. |
| 6th - 12th October, 2002 | |
| 9mm of rain on the night of Friday/Saturday, otherwise it's been a dry week. It has become noticeably cooler, especially night and morning. Only two weeks before we put the clocks back, and, whilst this won't affect the weather, it will make it much more pleasant for those who start work early in the day. |
| 22nd - 28th September, 2002 | |
| Another dry week. What a lovely September we've had this year. What more can I say ! |
| 15th - 21st September, 2002 | |
| Another dry week. The pressure remains high and what wind there is, is coming from the north-east. This is usually a sign of dry weather for us. There's quite a lot of cloud at times, and, in other parts of the country, rain - but not here. So enjoy it while you can ! |
| 8th - 14th September, 2002 | |
| After 27mm of rain on Monday, a nice, dry and warm week. The pressure rose again, and the wind is set from the east, so it may last another day or two yet. This weather is quite usual for September - taking the last 10 years. In 6 of those years we have had dry spells of longer than a week. We're also more likely to have heavy rain in September, that is up to 25mm - 30mm in just one day. |
| 25th - 31st August , 2002 | |
| Another lovely week until Friday evening which produced 5mm of rain after 19 dry days. This brought the total rainfall for August to 53mm. 23mm of that fell on the 9th. It's been the driest August since 1998, after a fairly damp start we had rain on only 7 days. And we've had the best weather in the country. Ireland, Scotland and the more northern half of Britain have had considerably more rain than us [I know - we've just had 2 weeks in County Durham - Ed. !] and lower temperatures. Setember - season of mists and mellow etcetera - is another very variable month for our area, from a low of 32mm of rain in 2001, to a high of 182mm in 2000 - or worse, in 1992 when it rained on 24 days. We shall see. |
| 18th - 24th August , 2002 | |
| A dry week, lovely weather with a bit of cloud at times. We are having much better weather than some other parts of the British isles where there have been considerable falls of rain |
| 12th - 17th August , 2002 | |
| Lovely dry week. Lots of sunshine, everyone happy I hope. Long may it continue, but the long range forecast is unsettled. So we shall see |
| 4th - 11th August , 2002 | |
| 42mm of rain this week, the most on Friday when the roads were badly flooded for a few hours in our area. In fact with only two dry days not a good week at all for August |
| 21st - 27th July, 2002 | |
| Only 3mm of rain this week - two small showers - one on Monday and one on Friday, so gardeners need to think about watering. At this time of year we need a minimum of 18mm a week just to replace water lost through transpiration and evaporation, as the water reserves in the soil become used up. Established trees and shrubs are fine, as they are deeper-rooted, but plants out in this year will soon start to wilt unless they were heavily mulched in the Spring. |
| 14th - 20th July, 2002 | |
| No rain all week, plenty of sunshine, lovely and warm ! What more could we ask for ? But with school holidays in full swing, next week may not be as nice. The latter half of July is rarely as dry as the first couple of weeks. I know this year July was wet to start with - so maybe we've had our share of rain, but I still think the next week may bring a change. |
| 7th - 13th July, 2002 | |
| Slightly less rain this last week - 30.5mm - but it did rain on 5 days out of 7. However, it was a lovely day on Saturday, and for once it stayed warm right through the evening. The outlook for next week still seems to be fairly cloudy and showery, but we may miss the showers if we're lucky. The weather's not as bad as we may think. In the first 14 days of July last year we had more rain than we've had this year. |
| 23rd - 29th June, 2002 | |
| A dry week until late Saturday, but even then only a light shower gave us just 0.5mm. There was plenty of sunshine, but still a chilly wind - most noticeable in the evenings, or whenever it clouded over. With July starting on Monday, we can look to an average rainfall of 66mm. The lowest for this month has been 11mm in 1999, and the highest was in 2001 when we had 119.5mm. In 1999 it rained on only 3 days during the whole of July, but that was followed by a fairly wet - and cold - August. |
| 16th - 22nd June, 2002 | |
| A much drier week with only 6mm of rain, and most of this during late Friday evening. We were quite lucky this last week as the weather generally was showery - and most of them missed us ! It warmed up nicely, too, at least until the weekend, when the temperature dropped back. Wimbledon starts on Monday, which always seems to encourage rain, although the longer range forecast is for drier to come. |
| 9th - 15th June, 2002 | |
| Only 29mm, but it did rain on 6 days out of 7, and we rarely saw the sun. Very disappointing for June, but it could be worse. For those who don't read the weather in The Times, 100 years ago it rained for 58 hours from 13th - 15th June - one of the longest continuous periods of rain ever recorded ! |
| 26th May - 1st June, 2002 | |
| Another not very good week for the end of May. Not so much rain - 17mm - but it fell as very heavy showers. Not warm, either, until Saturday, which was a lovely day for the start of the new month. Temperatures rose to the mid-70F. This has been the second wettest May for the last 10 years with 114mm of rain. The wettest in 2000 produced 130mm. However, it has rained on more days this year - 17. Whether June will be better I don't know. This morning (Sunday, 2nd) started clear, but already cloud is developing from the south-west. |
| 19th - 25th May, 2002 | |
| Well, we've had rain every day this week - 66mm. Quite unusual to have such a long spell of rain in May, and, of course, lower temperatures than usual for this time of year - and next week doesn't look too promising ! |
| 12th - 18th May, 2002 | |
| It rained late on Sunday, and then became warmer through the week until Thursday - our warmest day this year - when the temperature broke into the 70s. This changed by Friday, though, and we had 15mm of rain mainly during the night. This was better than Milford Haven which suffered 48mm ! We missed most of the heavy rain which was forecast, although Saturday arrived with strong winds, cold, and heavy showers. Even this improved during the day, to produce a week's total of 25mm. |
| 5th - 11th May, 2002 | |
| Only 6mm of rain this week - which gave quite reasonable weather for Wrington Fair week. There was still a cold wind at times, taking the warmth out of the sunshine, but once you were out of the wind it was lovely. |
| 21st - 27th April, 2002 | |
| 20mm of rain this week. The weather has now changed to more usual April weather - sunshine and showers - but I think most gardeners and farmers are glad to have some rain, as the ground had become very dry. Although the wind has changed direction, it's still cold, and without the sun, it feels even colder than the thermometer indicates - something of a shock after a couple of really warm days earlier in the week, when it felt more like summer. |
| 14th - 20th April, 2002 | |
| 18mm of rain this week, just enough to keep things growing. Still high pressure, and at times a cold wind from the north-east, but really warm sunshine if you can get out of the wind. |
| 7th - 13th April, 2002 | |
| No rain this week, in fact no rain since 2nd April, but a very cold wind from the north-east. Pressure is still high, and this weather pattern could continue for a few more days, which is quite usual for April. We normally have a spell of dry weather - 2000 and 2001 exceptionally were fairly wet - but previous years all had a dry week or so. In fact, in 1997 it didn't rain from 9th March until 25th April - 46 consecutive dry days. |
| 24th - 30th March, 2002 | |
| Unless we have a tropical deluge on 31st March, the month will have seen slightly below average rainfall. The average for March over 10 years is 69mm, and this year we've had 57mm. Time now to look at our winter rainfall record, which is has such important implications for the next 6 months. The period: October/November/December 2001 January/February/March 2002 produced 612mm, slightly below the 10 year average of 631mm. However, this is not enough of a difference to matter as far as our water supply is concerned. |
| 17th - 23rd March, 2002 | |
| Of the 32mm rain which fell this week, most occurred on Tuesday, with 14mm, and again, there were 4 days when it rained. It was milder this week, with much less wind. We've now passed the Spring equinox, so the weather and temperature should steadily improve. However, any cloudless nights with no wind could still result in quite hard frosts by morning. The clocks go forward next weekend, so there'll be more chance of getting outside during the evenings. |
| 10th - 16th March, 2002 | |
| 25mm of rain this week - rain on 4 days |
| 3rd - 9th March, 2002 | |
| No measurable rain all this week, and very variable temperatures, ranging from a lovely warm, Spring day on Thursday, to a bitter cold Saturday and very high winds at times, especially from mid-morning. Typical March weather, in fact. I've noticed the Blackthorn is flowering, and, traditionally, this always signals cold weather to come. |
| 17th - 23rd February, 2002 | |
| Not much rain this week - only 9mm - but the windiest week for a long while. In the 1970s and 80s, periods of strong winds, usually from the south-west, were much more common, but over the last 10 years or so, they have become less frequent. Hopefully, we are now heading for a quieter spell. |
| 10th - 16th February, 2002 | |
| After rain last Sunday and Monday, we had a dry week - 29mm only. But, of course, dry weather in February means we've had a couple of frosts, and then on Saturday fog which lasted most of the day, and returned in the evening. |
| 3rd - 9th February, 2002 | |
| 39mm of rain this week - rain six days out of seven. We've seen very little sun and it's looking really gloomy outside at the moment. The days are noticeably longer now, however, and it's still mild - so no frosts to worry about. |
| 20th - 26th January, 2002 | |
| A wet week, culminating in 25mm of rain on Saturday, giving a total of 66mm for the week. Bristol Water must be pleased ! Fairly mild as well, although the wind was strong at times. Snowdrops are out in sheltered gardens (and in the churchyard - Ed ) and as we reach the end of the month, days are getting a bit longer. |
| 13th - 19th January, 2002 | |
| 26mm. of rain in the last seven days, and a big change in the weather - much more like our usual winter weather - fairly mild and wet, occasional sunshine, but not much. We do need rain now to get us through the dry spells we will have in the summer, hopefully. The milder weather will bring out the snowdrops and early crocuses. |
| 6th - 12th January, 2002 | |
| 12mm. of rain this week and warmer towards the end of the week. I'm beginning to wonder when we are going to have a reasonable amount of rain, or will we begin the Spring with a deficit - which will cause problems in the summer. The difference between this January and last is marked when you look at Blagdon and Chew Valley. |
