Hyde Heath Weather reports by Gary Beynon from his own garden observations and measurements
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January
January was a relatively dry month, mild during the day, a number of frosts/car frost overnight, just 2 days with snow flurries and an equal mix of bright and cloudy days.
The pressure was high for most of the month with 14 days higher than 1030 Mb. At just 26.8mm of rain over 12 days it was dry compared with last year with 133 mm and a 41 year average of 79.58 mm.
The trend for January is marginally increasing but this is against a background of very variable amounts year on year. Last January was colder on average overnight but not especially so; frosts were similar.
A somewhat unremarkable month for one that I suspect we all assume will be really wintery even though the data doesn’t support that stance. The Met Office have said that this mild weather is going to bring the flowers out some 2 weeks earlier; looking at snowdrops and crocus plants they could well be right!
The pressure was high for most of the month with 14 days higher than 1030 Mb. At just 26.8mm of rain over 12 days it was dry compared with last year with 133 mm and a 41 year average of 79.58 mm.
The trend for January is marginally increasing but this is against a background of very variable amounts year on year. Last January was colder on average overnight but not especially so; frosts were similar.
A somewhat unremarkable month for one that I suspect we all assume will be really wintery even though the data doesn’t support that stance. The Met Office have said that this mild weather is going to bring the flowers out some 2 weeks earlier; looking at snowdrops and crocus plants they could well be right!
February
A month that we will all remember for the two named storms, Eunice and Franklin, that came quickly one after the other on 18th and 20th.
I hesitate to say that they were not as bad as predicted as that is a view expressed by someone with very little damage and probably not shared by people who were a lot worse off.
Certainly there were a number of trees down together with cables and, as might have been expected, the railway suffered. Top marks to the people who cleared the obstructions so quickly.
After a dry January, February started to make up with nearly 90 mm of rainfall spread over 17 days, the wettest giving 20.6 mm.
February has seen wide variations in rainfall from as little as 8 mm back in 1993 to a huge 144 mm in 2014. 18 of the past 42 years have been above average and you will see from the linear trend line on the graph that February is getting a good deal wetter.
The temperatures were quite mild with a maximum of 14.3° and a minimum of 2.0°. There was frost on cars over 8 mornings. Compared with last year, this February was not that different on average but 2021 saw 7 consecutive days with minimum temperatures below zero and a low of -4.4°.
March
What will we remember about March; the very mild days or the snow showers at the end? As time goes on we probably won’t remember it at all!
March was a mild month but with a sting in the tail. Temperatures over the middle period were warm but dropped dramatically for the last 3 days. However overnight temperatures were often down in the low single figures with frost evident on 9 mornings.
It was a dry month with rainfall below average although March is not a wet month with average rainfall of 53.6mm and a trend decreasing.
This year March compares not that differently from 2021 with same maximum and similar minimum temperatures.
The average figures however suggest that this March was warmer overall perhaps reflected in the way in which the grass is growing and the flowers and blossom has been magnificent.
Over the winter months (October to March) rainfall—which is when the aquifers are replenished—was below average and well below some the wettest times we have had over the past 41 years. Please see the chart that is with this report.
April
Rather a strange month which we may remember for the high temperatures in the first half and the very heavy rain—with thunder and the inevitable power cuts—in the last 10 days.
The wettest day with 26mm was the 28th but 5 other days all had between10.2 and 17.3mm so little wonder that the month total was 130.3mm. August over the years has been something of a mixture with either a lot of rain or reasonably dry.
The 40 year average is 64.65mm and the trend is for it to get wetter but with such large variations I am not sure that this is that meaningful. We always hope that August will be sunny and warm for the school holidays but experience shows that it often disappoints.
Compared with last year this August was on average the same maximum temperature wise but had warmer nights. Rainfall was virtually double compared with last year but the same level of wet days.
Apparently the wheat harvest has been poor due to a combination of the wrong weather at crucial times and then too much wet when harvesting was taking place.
My runner beans have certainly suffered from not enough water when it was needed to give a good crop but apples are some 2 weeks ahead of the norm because the weather was right for them.
May
May made the grass grow or, more accurately, the rain did.
It was not a particularly wet month with rainfall well below the 42 year average but with 19 days with some precipitation it was enough to keep the surface wet enough for the grass and cereal crops to grow well.
Over the 42 years of my records, the rainfall trend is virtually flat but with dramatic variations from 2007 with 153mm to 1990 with only 2mm. Temperatures were pleasant with an average maximum of 18.75° and 7 days above 20° and a “best day” of 23.6°; this compares with last May of average 15.45°, 2 days above 20° and a high of 23.7°.
Most importantly it was fine for the fête and everyone was able to enjoy the day after such a long break.
June
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June was a real mixture of weather with a rather pleasant very warm spell in the middle of the month but otherwise rather average and not especially memorable. It was dry with below average rainfall; that is the 4th month in a row below average and it is evident from the hardness of the ground and, what I suspect will be, a poor hay harvest. Despite this the Misbourne and lake at Shardeloes are full and flowing well. Temperatures were not dissimilar from June 2021 although last year was a lot wetter with 2 days contributing 63mm of rain; more than we had in the whole of this June! |
