Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: Very warm with below average rainfall. Long sunny periods, especially in the second half.

Anticyclonic conditions dominated the picture across the UK during the first week and this brought dry and mild conditions to the county, although it tended to be rather cloudy at times and there were some foggy mornings especially the 2nd and 3rd. Many other parts of Britain saw much higher temperatures during this period, the initial east or north-easterly breeze responsible for the cooler days across Northamptonshire.

Low pressure systems tracked close to Scotland early on in the second week. Although rainfall amounts were slight, the wind did pick up on the 7th reaching gusts of 33mph. However, one front became rather stationary across eastern counties from the 10th resulting in a fairly dull and damp Easter weekend. Easter Monday did see something of an improvement - a dry day with some sunshine, although this was to be the dullest Easter holiday for Northamptonshire since 1964.

Pressure remained fairly slack across the region in the first few days after Easter. Low pressure west of Ireland tracked south-eastwards and then intensified on the 16th introducing a frontal systems across central parts and outbreaks of rain across the county. It became warm and humid at times. Temperatures reached 20.0C on the 15th, sufficient to trigger some thunder activity. The 16th and 17th were noticeably cooler and cloudier, still with showers and longer spells of rain.

High pressure became resident across the British Isles once more on the 18th. The result was some good sunny days across the county and temperatures correspondingly recovered. 10.2 hours of sunshine were recorded on the 20th and on the 21st temperatures reached a warm 19.1C. With clear skies overnight temperatures fell quite sharply, but the county escaped the frosts experienced elsewhere.

The high retreated to Scandinavia on the 24th opening the way for a succession of frontal systems to track across the UK. The period until the end of the month was unsettled with outbreaks of rain, but amounts were slight in Northampton compared to the south-west where flash floods affected parts of Cornwall. It became cooler as well, although the month ended with temperatures recovering.

Overall, April was significantly warmer than average. However, although warmer than last year (8.3C) April 2007 was even warmer at 11.6C. Despite this, it was still the second warmest April since 1997 when 12.8C was the average for the month. Likewise with rainfall, although the month was very dry, April 2007 was drier still with just 1.6mm recorded in the entire month. Nevertheless, this April was the second driest since 1984 (10.2mm).


Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum: 20.0 C on 15th
The Lowest Maximum: 10.4 C on 16th
The Highest Minimum: 9.1C on 10th
The Lowest Minimum: 2.0 C on 5th
The Mean Maximum: 15.0 C  
The Mean Minimum: 5.6 C  
The Overall Mean: 10.3 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: +2.1 C  
    
Black Bulb    
Maximum (at 0900): 23.0 C on 24th
Mean (at 0900): 13.3 C  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0 % on 3rd
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 51.9 % on 24th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 81.6 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900): 10.8 C on 9th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): 3.6 C on 8th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 6.9 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total: 20.7 mm  
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 46.0 %  
Duration: 28.3 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 4.9 mm on 27th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 12   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 8   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 161.7 hrs  
Sunniest day: 10.2 hrs on 20th
No. of days without sunshine: 3   
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 106.2 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 5.5 oktas 68.8 %
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure (at 0900): 1029.2 mb on 20th
The Lowest Pressure (at 0900): 994.1 mb on 27th
Mean Pressure (at 0900): 1013.8 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 110.1 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 6.0 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative): 3301.8 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 33 mph on 7th
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 16.1 mph on 15th
Mean wind strength (at 0900): 8.0 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 3 NE 4 E 3 SE 5 S 6 SW 4 W 1 NW 3 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum: 1.6 C on 5th
Mean Concrete Minimum: 5.9 C  
    
Evaporation    
Piche 111.3 ml  
Pan 63.36 mm     

Days with:    
Thunder: 2   
Hail <5mm: 0   
Hail >/=5mm: 0   
Snow or snow & rain: 0   
Snow lying: 0   
Fog: 2   
Air Frost: 0   
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.