Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: Mostly cyclonic and wet. Warm at first, but then mostly cool and breezy.

The hot weather at the end of June continued into July for the first couple of days. Temperatures at Pitsford on the 1^st reached 30.0C, the highest maximum throughout the entire month, followed by a high of 27.1C on the 2^nd. The hot weather came to a close with a thundery breakdown on the 3^rd and whilst the next few days remained fairly warm across the county, temperatures would fall consistently over the next 7 days.

The 6^th saw an area of low pressure tracking eastwards across the UK and this brought with it some fairly brisk winds. The 6^th itself was wet marked by heavy thunderstorms during the morning which delivered most of the 11.7mm of rain recorded in the 24 hour period to 0900 on the 7^th. Further thundery showers occurred later on the 7^th with another 6.9mm being recorded. The next few days then stayed largely dry with spells of sunshine with a fair breeze developing on the 9^th. The 10^th became quite warm during the afternoon with highs reaching 19.9C . The following day saw a frontal system move northwards across the region bringing outbreaks of rain. Although there was some sunshine during the afternoon on the 11^th, more general rain set in overnight into the 12^th. Once this rain cleared, the county experienced a showery spell of weather with some good spells of sunshine over the following few days.

Another depression tracked across the county on the 16^th and 17^th. Both days were wet across Northamptonshire, more especially the 17^th which saw some heavy and thundery showers. Rainfall totals though were slight across the county in comparison to other areas of Britain which saw some flooding problems, in particular parts of the south-west and north-east. Once the low cleared, the weather remained cool and breezy with frequent showers.

Yet more cloud and rain were brought in by a low on the 21^st. Although much of the rain had cleared the county by the morning, the day remained overcast and breezy. Apart from the 23^rd, a showery regime was again introduced which saw thunderstorms developing on the 24^th. High pressure became established on the 25^th and this resulted in a pleasant day across Northamptonshire with highs at Pitsford climbing to 23.3C. There were some spells of sunshine, although the day was mostly cloudy. However, the high was only a transient feature and quickly gave way to another deep low which developed to the north-west and which drove a succession of frontal systems eastwards over the next few days. The 29^th was particularly wet in Northampton with a total of 18.3mm recorded at Pitsford. The month finally came to a close with a regime of sunshine and showers.

Overall this was the wettest July in Northampton since 2002 when 87.6mm was recorded. Temperatures were also below average for July and sunshine totals were down by more than a quarter. The month was particularly disappointing from the point of view of earlier forecasts made by the Met Office which predicted a warmer and drier than average summer.

Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum: 30.0 C on 1st
The Lowest Maximum: 16.7 C on 29th
The Highest Minimum: 17.0 C on 1st
The Lowest Minimum: 8.4 C on 10th
The Mean Maximum: 21.0 C  
The Mean Minimum: 12.2 C  
The Overall Mean: 16.6 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: -0.2 C  
    
Solar Radiation    
Maximum (at 0900): 687.0 W/m^2 on 12th
Mean (at 0900): 345.0 W/m^2  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0 % on 21st, 24th & 27th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 46.4 % on 6th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 81.0 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900): 18.4 C on 3rd
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): 7.2 C on 6th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 13.0 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total: 81.3 mm  
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 181.5 %  
Duration: 57.7 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 18.3 mm on 29th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 20   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 12   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 154.6 hrs  
Sunniest day: 10.8 hrs on 10th
No. of days without sunshine: 1   
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 70.9 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 6.1 oktas (76.3 %)
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure (at 0900): 1023.4 mb on 1st
The Lowest Pressure (at 0900): 1000.9 mb on 22nd
Mean Pressure (at 0900): 1012.0 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 107.8 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 5.8 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative): 3342.2 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 33 mph on 17th & 22nd
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 18.4 mph on 15th
Mean wind strength (at 0900): 8.8 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 0 NE 0 E 1 SE 5 S 10 SW 7 W 4 NW 3 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum: 8.3 C on 10th
Mean Concrete Minimum: 12.3 C  
    
Evaporation    
Piche 103.3 ml 
Pan  Not available
    
Days with:    
Thunder: 5   
Hail <5mm: 0   
Hail >/=5mm: 0   
Snow or snow & rain: 0   
Snow lying: 0   
Fog: 0   
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.