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A winter of
contrasts: warm and wet; cold and dry; cold and wet then
finally warm and dry.
This was a winter that
was characterised by 3 relatively short, intense wet
spells interspersed by long, dry periods. I don't think
I have ever known such an extreme wet/dry theme to a
winter before. With snow seen falling on 3 days, and
actually lying on the ground (>50%) on two mornings,
this was the snowiest winter since moving here in Spring
2005. As in previous winters, there were no 'ice-days'. |
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The first dry spell
followed a very wet day when 47.0 mm of rain fell on the
13th of December. This dry spell lasted for 29 days
before another very wet period when rain fell everyday
between the 12 and the 25th of January giving a total of
122.4 mm. Another drier interlude from the 26th of
January to the 6th of February then 42.0 mm of rain fell
in 3 days. Then from the 11th to the 28th only 2.1 mm of
rain fell.. |
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This winter was quite
frosty but not exceptionally so, and there was rather a high number of grass
frosts. |
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Sunshine levels were
around average or just below and there were quite a lot of days
without any sunshine whatsoever. |
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Soil temperatures
were generally below normal but recovered towards the
end of the February. |
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Unusually, the winds dominated from the
north-east sector. |
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There were 25 air frosts
which amounted to a total time of over 261 hours with
temperatures below 0°C. |
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Sea temperatures gradually
rose from about mid-February onwards. |
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Mean pressure was +0.3 hPa
above normal. |
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Dewpoints were
significantly low at times during the first two weeks of
January. |
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This cold, dry air during
January meant relative humidity ended up
being below normal. |
