Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: An average January. Unsettled to begin with and then anticyclonic. Little snow.

January began with high pressure centred west of Ireland. A cold front moving southwards introduced outbreaks of light rain or drizzle on the 1st and noticeably colder conditions on the 2nd. As pressure fell over the next few days, the weather across the British Isles was generally unsettled. In Northamptonshire it remained largely dry apart from a light shower on the 3rd, although it was rather grey and overcast. Daytime temperatures struggled, reaching just 2.0C at Pitsford on the 3rd which also saw some light snow showers during the evening and overnight. Whilst there were some night-time frosts, these were not a severe as they could have been under the blanket of cloud. Daytime temperatures did recover slightly from the 4th as the wind picked up to a moderate south-westerly.

Milder air was introduced across the county on the 7th on the back of outbreaks of rain, although the 8th and 9th were cold by comparison, with a widespread ground frost early on the 9th. Despite the initial cold, the 9th was a sunny day with temperatures lifting to around the seasonal average (5.9C) by the afternoon. Outbreaks of rain spread across the county the following day, resuming the trend towards milder weather in a fairly strong southerly airflow. In fact, the 11th was quite a windy day with gusts reaching 40mph at Pitsford.

A mild south-westerly airflow persisted across the UK through to the 16th. Daytime temperatures rose consistently each day reaching a high of 13.0C at Pitsford on the 13th , although it continued mild for the next few days with daytime maxima typically reaching 11 or 12C. Accompanying the mild airflow were spells of rain. It was particularly wet early on in this period with the 11th, 12th and 13th being particularly wet days with 21.9mm falling in the 36 hours. Unsurprisingly with all the rain, the skies remained rather leaden across the county. In fact, very little recordable sunshine was seen at Pitsford until the 18th.

From the 18th until the end of the month, conditions remained anticyclonic. High pressure remained fairly stationary across the UK until the 22nd and then began to retreat temporarily to the west of Ireland until the 27th when it built in again across the British Isles. As the high built in from the 18th, the change to a north or north-westerly airflow saw temperatures falling. Whilst initially it was sunny, the clear skies resulting in a fairly hard frost on the 21st, it clouded over later giving a protracted period of anticyclonic gloom, punctuated by some outbreaks of rain around the 25th as the high lost control. As the month came to a close, it remained dry although temperatures struggled in an easterly airflow reaching just 1.7C on the 28th and with some hard night-time frosts returning.

Air Temperatures    
The Highest Maximum: 13.0 C on 13th
The Lowest Maximum: 1.7 C on 28th
The Highest Minimum: 10.0 C on 14th
The Lowest Minimum: -4.4 C on 31st
The Mean Maximum: 6.4 C  
The Mean Minimum: 1.5 C  
The Overall Mean: 4.0 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 0.0 C  
    
Solar Radiation    
Maximum (at 0900): 77.0 W/m^2 on 9th
Mean (at 0900): 24.5 W/m^2  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0 % on 11th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 73.3 % on 27th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 90.5 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900): 10.6 C on 13th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): -5.1 C on 31st
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 2.2 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total: 39.1 mm  
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 70.8 %  
Duration: 30.0 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 9.3 mm on 13th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 10   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 8   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 27.6 hrs  
Sunniest day: 4.9 hrs on 9th
No. of days without sunshine: 15   
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 49.4 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 6.7 oktas 83.8 %
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure (at 0900): 1040.7 mb on 21st
The Lowest Pressure (at 0900): 992.0 mb on 8th
Mean Pressure (at 0900): 1018.2 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 133.0 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 7.2 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative): 4122.1 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 40 mph on 11th
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 27.7 mph on 16th
Mean wind strength (at 0900): 10.7 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 2 NE 3 E 1 SE 0 S 5 SW 7 W 2 NW 8 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum: -5.0 C on 31st
Mean Concrete Minimum: 0.9 C  
    
Evaporation    
Piche 33.2 ml  
    
Days with:    
Thunder: 0   
Hail <5mm: 0   
Hail >/=5mm: 0   
Snow or snow & rain: 1   
Snow lying: 1   
Fog: 1   
Air Frost: 9  
Duration of Air Frost: 156hrs 
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.