Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: Despite a wet spell around mid-month August was drier than usual with plenty of sunshine. A prevalence of north or north-westerly winds lowered temperatures to average or just below.

August began with something of a north-south split across the UK with low pressure and associated fronts dominating the weather in the north whilst the south, the county included, came under the influence of high pressure. A weak front broke through the high on the 2nd to introduce a fair amount of cloud, but otherwise temperatures generally rose reaching a daytime maximum of 28.1C on the 5th with plenty of sunshine. Winds were mostly light and from the south.

The high finally gave way to low pressure across the whole of the British Isles on the 6th and a weather front that had remained on a line from southern Scotland to south-west Ireland began to swing round across England and Wales. However, the impact of this front on the county was negligible with just trace amounts of rainfall recorded at Pitsford and sunshine still managing to clock up a good 9.2hrs. The arrival of the front did see a change in wind direction to a cooler north or north-westerly and temperatures consequently fell, yet remained in the low 20s.

Over the next few days a ridge of high pressure worked in across the UK from the west and high pressure maintained its influence across the southern half of the UK up to the 11th. Once again, the county experienced some good spells of sunshine, over 12hrs on the 10th, and temperatures gradually recovered in the mainly light north-westerly breeze.

By the 12th low pressure had once again become dominant across the UK centred over the Western Isles. A succession of weather fronts then brought rain across the county. The initial rain was essentially light, although a more active low pressure system which moved in from the south-west on the 14th introduced some heavier bursts of rain and stronger south-westerly winds. The 14th and 15th were particularly wet across the county with 6.1mm and 7.3mm respectively falling on both days. With the exception of the 14th, some spells of sunshine managed to break through the rain clouds on most days. The movement of the low was slow over the next few days and as it remained over the northern North Sea it continued to feed in showers across the county.

The next low moved quickly in off the Atlantic on the 18th and maintained a presence across the UK over the next few days. Once again, the county caught some heavy rain as associated frontal systems worked through; 4.1mm over 5hrs on the 18th and a further 5.9mm in just 3hrs on the 19th.

By the 20th, high pressure had started to move in from the south-west and as this squeezed the low eastwards over the Netherlands the wind picked up to a fairly strong northerly with some unseasonably high gusts reported at Pitsford; 45mph on the 21st and 40mph on the 22nd. By the 24th this area of high pressure was pretty much in charge across the whole of the UK with just weak frontal cloud caught up in its circulation. Temperatures were once again on the rise reaching highs of 26.0C on the 25th. In fact, high pressure remained in charge across the UK right through to the end of August. However, sunshine was fairly intermittent as weak weather systems continued to work round the high which was mainly centred west of Ireland. Movement along one of these fronts was vigorous enough to introduce some unexpected rain across the county on the 28th, although generally the period was dry.

Overall, temperatures during August were a touch below the norm whilst rainfall was significantly below average. In fact, this was the driest August in Northampton since 1997 (27.1mm). Whilst much of the UK reported one of its wettest summers on record, the drier conditions in Northampton during August failed to break any records in terms of summer rainfall with the two wettest summers, 1980 and 1912, remaining unchallenged.


Air Temperatures    

The Highest Maximum:    28.1 C on 5th
The Lowest Maximum:    16.8 C on 20th
The Highest Minimum:    14.8 C on 19th
The Lowest Minimum:    8.4 C on 8th
The Mean Maximum:    20.8 C  
The Mean Minimum:    11.8 C  
The Overall Mean:    16.3 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean:  -0.3 C  
    
Black Bulb    
Maximum (at 0900):    35.1 C on 7th
Mean (at 0900):    21.7 C  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900):  94.9 % on 14th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900):  63.8 % on 1st
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900):  78.7 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900):   15.9 C on 15th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900):  8.2 C on 8th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900):   11.9 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total:      27.8 mm  
Difference from the Monthly Mean:  57.1 %  
Duration:     26.7 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900):  7.3 mm on 15th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm):    10   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm):   6   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine:  198.7 hrs  
Sunniest day:     13.1 hrs on 25th
No. of days without sunshine:   3   
Difference from the Monthly Mean:  117 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900):   5.3 oktas (66.3 %)
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure:    1029.2 mb on 26th
The Lowest Pressure:    993.4 mb on 15th
Mean Pressure (recorded at 0900): 1015.7 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs):  122.2 miles  
Mean daily wind speed:    6.6 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative):   3787.6 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust:   45 mph on 21st
No. of gusts of 50mph or more:   0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900):  20.8 mph on 21st
Mean wind strength (at 0900):   8.0 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 6 NE 2 E 0 SE 1 S 5 SW 3 W 3 NW 10 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum:    8.1 C on 17th
Mean Concrete Minimum:    11.6 C  

Days with:    
Thunder:      1   
Hail <5mm:      0   
Hail >/=5mm:      0   
Snow or snow & rain:    0   
Fog:       0   
Air Frost:      0   
Gales:       0   
    
Evaporation:  
Pan       113.54 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 may download this report for £2 or take out an annual subscription for the paper-based report for £25. Click here for further details.