Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: Mildest November for 10 years. High frequency of southerly winds and rain recorded nearly every day.

November opened with the whole of the British Isles coming under the influence of an extensive and complex area of low pressure reaching southwards from Iceland. Tied into this low on the 1st was a discrete depression centred on the Celtic Sea. This brought a fair amount of rain, 6.4mm, to the county on the 1st and some fairly strong winds. Over the next few days this depression would fill, although the larger Icelandic low would continue to deepen. Showers and/or longer spells of rain would mark the weather for much of the first week, although between the showers there were good periods of sunshine. Temperatures fell from quite a mild start and it became noticeably chilly by the morning of the 4th.

By the 6th, the low which had covered the UK since the start of the month had filled only to give way to a succession of frontal systems as a new low developed south of Iceland which then tracked south-eastwards across the UK over the next few days. There were some brief respites from the rain. Prolonged spells of sunshine were recorded throughout the day on the 7th and early rain on the 8th again cleared to good sunshine through the afternoon. However, clear skies overnight following the sunshine allowed temperatures to fall away sharply and with fog associated with a col struggling to lift on the 9th daytime maxima suffered too reaching just 7.2C.

Following the establishment of the col on the 9th and until the 12th, pressure remained fairly slack across the UK, although a succession of occlusions maintained overcast skies with showers and longer spells of rain. Temperatures during the daytime remained fairly modest and there were some chilly nights.

A noticeable change temperature-wise was recorded on the 12th. Low pressure which had become established south of Iceland on the 11th began to deepen and drive some active frontal systems across the UK. These fronts brought some heavy spells of rain, but the moderate to fresh south-westerly winds lifted temperatures. A high of 14.8C was recorded at Pitsford on the 13th and overnight lows also recovered. The pressure gradient on the British side of this low steepened significantly towards the 14th as the centre of the low moved slowly eastwards. Gusts reached up to 40mph. Frontal systems would continue to circulate around it maintaining wet conditions.

Although conditions remained cyclonic across the UK over the next few days, Northamptonshire would escape the direct influence of frontal systems and would be removed from the main centres of low pressure to the north and west. There were some good spells of sunshine during the daytime and from the 16th until the 19th it remained essentially dry.

The pressure gradient across England and Wales steepend on the 18th as high pressure developed across France and Iberia and depressions continued to track eastwards across Scotland. It became particularly windy across Northamptonshire with gusts at Pitsford reaching 46mph. However, with the wind bringing warm tropical maritime air temperatures rose, particularly overnight minima which remained above 11C on the 19th and 20th. The arrival of an active front on the 20th was marked by some torrential downpours during the morning, these clearing to sunshine later.

The continental high gained some ground albeit very briefly across the soith-east of the UK on the 21st, although low pressure deepening west of Ireland would gain the upper hand over the next few days driving bands of rain across Northamptonshire as its centre moved slowly past the north of Scotland. Again, it became very windy at times. Gusts exceeded 40mph on the 23rd and 24th. This low was very quickly followed by another deep depression on the 24th which took a similar route towards the north of Scotland and would then remain fairly stationary for the next few days maintaining the unsettled weather marked in the county by showers, longer spells of rain and a good moderate south-westerly wind. Further discrete lows joined forces with this large low pressure system as the month came to a close. The wet weather then continued until the 30th when for the first time a ridge of high pressure building in from the west would result in the only completely dry day in the whole of the month.

Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum: 16.5 C on 1st
The Lowest Maximum: 6.1 C on 30th
The Highest Minimum: 11.5 C on 20th
The Lowest Minimum: 2.5 C on 10th
The Mean Maximum: 11.2 C  
The Mean Minimum: 6.0 C  
The Overall Mean: 8.6 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: +1.7 C  
    
Solar Radiation    
Maximum (at 0900): 179.0 W/m^2 on 7th
Mean (at 0900): 59.7 W/m^2  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0 % on 9th, 10th & 11th 
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 73.0 % on 18th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 90.6 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900): 12.0 C on 21st
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): 2.1 C on 28th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 6.7 C  
    

Rainfall:    
Total: 73.1 mm  
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 146.7 %  
Duration: 58.0 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 8.8 mm on 13th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 25   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 20   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 46.6 hrs  
Sunniest day: 5.0 hrs on 7th
No. of days without sunshine: 9   
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 52.3 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 4.9 oktas 61.3 %
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure (at 0900): 1020.6 mb on 9th
The Lowest Pressure (at 0900): 985.2 mb on 4th
Mean Pressure (at 0900): 999.8 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 190.6 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 10.3 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative): 5718.2 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 46 mph on 17th
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 28.8 mph on 19th
Mean wind strength (at 0900): 12.7 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 2 NE 0 E 0 SE 4 S 14 SW 6 W 1 NW 2 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum: 1.5 C on 7th
Mean Concrete Minimum: 5.0 C  
    

Days with:    
Thunder: 0   
Hail <5mm: 0   
Hail >/=5mm: 0   
Snow or snow & rain: 0   
Snow lying: 0   
Fog: 3   
Air Frost: 0   
Gales: 0   
    
Evaporation:   
Pan 56.42 mm  
Piche 55.7 ml  

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.