WEATHER REVIEW - October 2006

Headline: An exceptionally mild month with an absence of ground or air frost and above average rainfall.

October opened with an area of low pressure placed to the south-west. This tracked slowly across the UK over the next few days gradually filling producing a small amount of rain across the county on the 1st and 2nd.  As the low progressed across the North Sea pressure across the UK was slack for a while before a second more vigorous low worked across mainly on the 5th. 6.0mm of rain was recorded over a period of 3.8 hours at Pitsford in the 24 hour period from 0900 GMT with further rain during the 6th.  The low continued to deepen as its centre passed just to the north of Scotland and wind speeds picked up across the county gusting to 30mph on the 6th.

A ridge of high pressure built in across the UK from the south-west on the 7th giving a fine and settled albeit rather breezy day. A total of 7.5hrs of sunshine were recorded at Pitsford making this what was to become of the sunniest days of the month. High pressure just about held on across the south-east on the 8th, but essentially much of the country was coming increasingly under the influence of a fairly complex low pressure system over the Atlantic.  This low had deepened to 967mb south-east of Iceland by mid-night on the 12th. Fronts tied into this low drove spells of wet weather across the county including a significant 23.3mm in some spectacular thunderstorms on the 11th. Despite the rain, wind speeds across the county remained fairly light with gusts rarely exceeding 15mph.

On the 12th high pressure over Scandinavia and high pressure over the Bay of Biscay converged on the UK steering the centre of the low further north and away from the UK.  The southerly component of this high waned fairly quickly and the anticyclone became fairly stationary over the North Sea and southern Scandinavia over the next few days. In fact the weather across the county and much of the eastern half of the UK remained settled until the 18th when the high eventually retreated to eastern Europe allowing the next low pressure system in from the south-west.  Although there were some sunny spells associated with this high, on the whole the morning periods were generally rather gloomy with mist and fog persisting.

The change which was introduced on the 18th brought a fair amount of rain, particularly on the 19th with 11.7mm falling in just under 5 hours. In fact, the UK was to remain under a cyclonic theme for quite a while with a succession of discrete lows tracking across the UK. It also became quite windy at times with gusts reaching 33mph on the 22nd.  With the strong mainly south-westerly airflow across the UK, temperatures remained generally above average for mid to late October and night-times were particularly mild.

The last low to make a significant impact on the county’s weather during October arrived late on the 25th. Again there was a fair breeze and it was fairly wet.  Over the next few days, whilst the north caught further rain, high pressure was the prevailing influence across the county and it remained dry.  The high was sufficiently strong to break up some residual fronts as they worked southwards overnight on the 28th/29th.

Overall, the month was noted for its mildness and an absence of overnight ground or air frosts something which appears to be becoming increasingly common since the 1990s.  The strong cyclonic influence resulted in above average rainfall and temperatures significantly above average.

Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum:  21.0C on 10th
The Lowest Maximum:  11.7C on 23rd
The Highest Minimum:  13.9C on 11th
The Lowest Minimum:  5.2C on 27th
The Mean Maximum:  16.7C  
The Mean Minimum:   9.5C  
The Overall Mean:   13.1C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: +2.8C  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0% on 18th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 76.1% on 31st
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 91.2%  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900):  15.9C on 9th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): 7.1C on 31st
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 11.5C  
    

Rainfall:    
Total:    70.0mm  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 127.0%  
Duration:    33.6hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 23.2mm on 11th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm):  14   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm):  10   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 75.1hrs  
Sunniest day:   8.7hrs on 29th
No. of days without sunshine:  6   
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 86%  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900):  6.2oktas (77.5%)
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure:  1031.8mb on 13th
The Lowest Pressure:  987.6mb on 20th
Mean Pressure (recorded at 0900): 1009.4mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 106.8miles  
Mean daily wind speed:  5.8mph
Highest mean daily wind speed: 10mph on 5th  
Run of wind (cumulative):  3311.2miles  
Highest Maximum Gust:  35mph on 31st
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 13.8mph on 26th
Mean wind strength (at 0900):  6.5mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 2 NE 2 E 3 SE 3 S 12 SW 5 W 1 NW 3 Calm 0   
    
Ground Temperatures:     
Lowest Grass Minimum:  0.6C on 27th
Mean Grass Minimum:  5.9C  
Lowest Concrete Minimum:  3.2C on 27th
Mean Concrete Minimum:  7.8C  
Lowest Bare Earth Minimum:  1.9C on 4th
Mean Bare Earth Minimum:  8.3C  
    
Soil/Earth Temperatures:     
Surface mean:   12.4C  
5cm mean:   12.1C  
10cm mean:   12.6C  
20cm mean:   13.1C  
30cm mean:   13.8C  
40cm mean:   13.8C  
50cm mean:   14.1C  
100cm mean:   14.5C  
    
    
Days with:    
Thunder:    1   
Hail <5mm:   0   
Hail >/=5mm:   0   
Snow or snow & rain:  0   
Fog:    4   
Air Frost:    0   
Ground Frost:   0
Gales:    0   
    
Total (Tank) Evaporation:  19.05mm 

All data © Pitsford Hall weather station.

Click here to view the full AWS weather record for October 2006.

Click here to view the statistical summary for 2006.

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 may download this report for £2 or take out an annual subscription for the paper-based report for £25. Click here for further details.