Weather Statistics for January 2006

Headline: A cold month with temperatures well below average. Despite a couple of mild days in the second week, the arrival of Spring was not felt until the final week. Again, rainfall was below average.

With low pressure centred over the North Sea March opened with a cold north-westerly airflow across the region. There were some good spells of sunshine, including 8.3hrs on the 1st and 7.0hrs on the 4th and 5th. However, clear skies overnight following the sunshine sent temperatures plummeting with some hard and penetrating frosts. Temperatures fell to -6.4C on the morning of the 3rd which also saw freezing fog depositing rime producing a very wintry scene across the county. Frontal systems moving south tied into the North Sea low introduced some snow showers with 3cm lying at 0900hrs on the 3rd.

A ridge of high pressure extended across the southern half of the British Isles on the 6th ahead of an Atlantic weather system on the 7th and a switch to a milder west or south-westerly airflow. A significant amount of rain was recorded at Pitsford, some 10.1mm over a period of 8.2hrs. Rain continued on the 8th with a further 8.2mm over 6.2hrs. Temperatures recovered to double figures with the maximum on the 8th reaching 12.0C and the night-time period free of any frost.

High pressure converged on to the British Isles from the north-east and south-west from the 11th onwards. Over the next few days a battle developed between high pressure centred over Scandinavia and a developing low to the north-west which was attempting to push frontal systems in from the west. The winds backed more easterly as the high retreated and small amounts of rain fell across the county. Temperatures fell considerably short of the norm for mid-March with daytime maxima generally around 5 or 6C. By the 15th the Atlantic low had made in-roads across the UK, although with the fronts now wound up into a weak occlusion the day was relatively dry in the county.

The Scandinavian high re-exerted itself across the UK on the 16th introducing a drier spell of weather. The high though moved slowly westwards past the north of Britain over the next few days ceasing to be a feature by the 20th. Away from the centre of the high winds across the county were fairly brisk and from an east or north-easterly direction maintaining a run of below average temperatures. It was generally rather cloudy, although the cloud did serve to hold temperatures up above freezing overnight, although not enough to prevent ground frost.

The UK came increasingly under the influence of low pressure working in off the Atlantic from the 23rd onwards. A switch to a milder south or south-westerly airstream allowed temperatures to recover hitting 14.7C by the 26th and bands of rain swept eastwards. Totals though were rather modest here with the county mostly in a rain shadow; the heaviest totals fell further west. The period from the 26th through to the 28th was quite windy as low pressure west of Ireland was fuelled by a second discrete centre off the Cornish coast. The month came to a close with low pressure still very much in charge resulting in short spells of sunshine and showers.


Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum: 16.5 C on 30th
The Lowest Maximum: 3.5 C on 12th, 16th
The Highest Minimum: 8.9 C on 31st
The Lowest Minimum: -6.4 C on 3rd
The Mean Maximum: 8.4 C  
The Mean Minimum: 1.4C  
The Overall Mean: 4.9 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: -2.6 C  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at obs): 97.3 % on 8th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at obs): 57.7 % on 23rd
Mean Relative Humidity (at obs): 82.0 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (at obs): 10.3 C on 27th
The Lowest Dew Point (at obs): -5.0 C on 3rd
The Mean Dew Point (at obs): 1.2 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total: 42.0 mm  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 93.3 %  
Duration: 42.1 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (obs to obs): 10.1 mm on 7th 
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 18  
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 12 
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 72.0 hrs  
Sunniest day: 8.3 hrs on 1st
Days without sunshine: 5
Cloud cover (mean at obs): 5.8 oktas  (72.5%)
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure: 1031.3 mb on 12th
The Lowest Pressure: 990.3 mb on 24th
Mean Pressure (recorded at obs): 1010.0 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 158.9 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 8.6 mph  
Run of wind (to date): 4925.0 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 40 mph on 27th
Highest wind strength (at obs): 21.9 mph on 27th
Mean wind strength (at obs): 9.7 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 1 NE 5 E 3 SE 3 S 7 SW 3 W 1 NW 7 Calm 1
    
Ground Temperatures:     
Lowest Grass Minimum: -9.6 C on 4th
Mean Grass Minimum: -1.9 C  
Lowest Concrete Minimum: -5.5 C on 23rd
Mean Concrete Minimum: 1.0 C  
Lowest Bare Earth Minimum: -5.5 C on 7th
Mean Bare Earth Minimum: -0.5 C  
    
Soil/Earth Temperatures:     
Surface mean: 3.9 C  
5cm mean: 3.5 C  
10cm mean: 3.7 C  
20cm mean: 4.0 C  
30cm mean: 4.2 C  
40cm mean: 4.3 C  
50cm mean: 4.5 C  
100cm mean: 4.5 C  
    
    
Days with:    
Thunder: 0   
Hail less than 0.5mm: 2   
Hail greater than/equal to 0.5mm: 0   
Snow or snow & rain: 7   
Snow lying: 3
Fog 1  
Air Frost: 11
Duration of Air Frost: 64.0hrs
Ground Frost: 22
Gales: 0

Total Evaporation (tank)  22.61 mm

All data © Pitsford Hall weather station.

The weather station publishes a full Monthly Weather Report (ISSN 1741-4733) which is distributed to libraries across Northamptonshire. This report comprises a full UK weather diary, reports of extreme weather events across the county, statistics from Pitsford Hall's affiliated stations across the county as well as news from the weather station itself. Individuals Marchsubscribe to this report at a rate of £15 per year. Please contact the station for further information.