Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: Below average temperatures for a large part of the month. Frequent showers.

April began with an area of high pressure positioned to the south-west. The first four days were warm across the county with temperatures climbing to around 16C on the 4th with generally light westerly winds. On the 5th high pressure began to form over Iceland and this introduced a strong northerly airflow across the UK and temperatures across the county tumbled significantly. A trough caught up in this flow brought heavy snow fell at Pitsford during the morning of the 6th giving an accumulation of some 5cm. Air frosts were then recorded for the next few days until the morning of the 8th.

Low pressure remained close to or over the British Isles from the 9th until the end of the second week. This introduced showers across Northamptonshire, particularly on the 13th when some fairly hefty showers were recorded at Pitsford. Despite the unsettled nature of the weather some good spells of sunshine were recorded, sufficient to total over 9 hours on the 11th and 12th. With the wind coming in from the south or south-west, light at first but generally strengthening after the 10th, temperatures gradually recovered although they remained below the norm for mid April.

From the 16th high pressure centred over the Shetland Islands introduced a brisk easterly airflow across the county. This maintained the below average temperatures although overnight lows fell short of an air frost. Daytime temperatures typically reached 10 or 11C. With the exception of the 17th which recorded over 10 hours of sunshine, most days were fairly dull and overcast especially the 19th and 20th, the latter beginning with fairly extensive mist and fog. As the high extended its influence over southern Scandinavia on the 23rd the wind veered south-easterly and consequently temperatures began to rise towards a high of 19.5C at Pitsford on the 26th and overnight into the 27th it remained very mild with lows not falling below 10.8C. The warmth on the 27th was sufficient to trigger some thunderstorms, but these tended to miss much of the county being confined to areas further north and west.

The south of the UK came under the influence of a deep depression during the last few days. Heavy rain associated with this made its way into the county. 12.1mm was recorded over 4 hours at Pitsford. Barometric pressure also fell noticeably with a low of 988.4mb (reduced to sea level) recorded at 09:00 GMT on the 30th.

Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum:   19.5C on 26th
The Lowest Maximum:   6.1C on 6th
The Highest Minimum:   10.8C on 27th
The Lowest Minimum:   -1.1C on 8th
The Mean Maximum:   12.5C  
The Mean Minimum:   4.0C  
The Overall Mean:   8.3C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: +0.1C  
    
Black Bulb    
Maximum (at 0900):   21.6C on 27th
Mean (at 0900):    13.2C  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 97.5% on 23rd
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 62.7% on 28th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 78.8%  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900):  9.4C on 4th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): -1.3C on 6th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900):  4.8C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total:     29.6mm  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 56.4%  
Duration:    27.8hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 12.1mm on 29th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm):   14   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm):   9   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 153.8hrs  
Sunniest day:    10.2hrs on 17th
No. of days without sunshine:  3   
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 114.9%  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900):  5.8oktas (72.5 %)
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level at 0900):    
The Highest Pressure:   1029.2mb on 3rd
The Lowest Pressure:   988.4mb on 30th
Mean Pressure (recorded at 0900): 1009.5mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 137.0miles  
Mean daily wind speed:   7.4mph  
Run of wind (cumulative):  4110.9miles  
Highest Maximum Gust:   40mph on 1st
No. of gusts of 50mph or more:  0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 26.5mph on 5th
Mean wind strength (at 0900):  9.7mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 1 NE 3 E 5 SE 2 S 6 SW 7 W 2 NW 4 Calm 0   
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum:  -3.4C on 8th
Mean Concrete Minimum:  2.5C  
    
Evaporation    
Piche     76.8ml  
Pan     63.28mm
    
Days with:    
Thunder:    1   
Hail <5mm:    1   
Hail >/=5mm:    0   
Snow or snow & rain:   2   
Snow lying:    1   
Fog:     1   
Air Frost:    4
Duration of Air Frost:   8.0hrs   
Gales:     0


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.