Monthly Weather Review - Pitsford Hall

Headline: A succession of shallow depressions made for a month of sunny spells and scattered showers. Continued lack of substantial rain led to the county receiving official drought status on 10th.

June began with high pressure building in across the UK. Generally, it was warm with temperatures at Pitsford in the low 20s, peaking on the 3rd with a high of 23.8C. There was also a fair amount of sunshine with 11.2 hours recorded on the 3rd making this one of the sunniest days of the entire month. North-easterly winds prevailed at first and these ultimately ushered in fresher air behind a cold front on the 5th. There were some outbreaks of rain, but amounts were slight at Pitsford compared to many other areas.

A depression approached from the northwest on the 6th and remained slow-moving over the next few days, bringing further outbreaks of rain across the county. However, once again total amounts were slight compared to many other areas with the most, 8.2mm, falling over a period of about 9 hours on the 12th. Daytime temperatures were generally cool for June, managing no higher than 15.7C on the 10th, and some nights were decidedly chilly, the lowest being 5.1C on the 12th. The rain on the 12th was fairly widespread across the UK making this nationally the wettest day since 2nd October 2010.

A transitory ridge of high pressure brought most places a brighter and warmer day on the 14th. Temperatures at Pitsford climbed to 21.5C with 10.7 hours of bright sunshine, but a new depression took up residence to the west of Scotland overnight on the 14th into the 15th. This brought further outbreaks of rain to the county. The 17th and 18th were particularly wet days across Northamptonshire; the 17th seeing some fairly prolonged rain (6.4mm) whilst some sharp showers on the 18th delivered 3.3mm in just under half an hour. Yet another depression crossed the country between the 20th and 22nd, triggering further sharp showers across the county.

A belt of rain moved northwards across the UK late on the 24th and 25th, introducing a tropical airstream or ‘Spanish plume’. It became very warm and humid on the 26th. Temperatures at Pitsford reached 27.9C in 11.7 hours of bright sunshine. The following night was particularly uncomfortable with lows not falling below 15.7C. The next day temperatures rose still higher to 29.4C. Again, it was very sultry under rather cloudy skies with very little wind. Olympic Park in London recorded the highest temperature on the 27th with 33.3C representing the highest June temperature anywhere in the UK for 5 years. Thunderstorms broke out across the eastern half of the county on the 28th, although the day was quite a bit cooler with highs of just 17.5C. The last two days of June saw spells of sunshine, interrupted by very brief passing showers.

Air Temperatures:   
The Highest Maximum: 29.4 C on 27th
The Lowest Maximum: 15.4 C on 17th
The Highest Minimum: 15.7 C on 27th
The Lowest Minimum: 5.1 C on 12th
The Mean Maximum: 19.7 C  
The Mean Minimum: 9.5 C  
The Overall Mean: 14.6 C  
Difference from the Monthly Mean: +0.3 C  
    
Solar Radiation:    
Maximum (at 0900): 806.0 W/m^2 on 9th
Mean (at 0900): 437.6 W/m^2  
    
Relative Humidity:    
Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 93.9 % on 26th
Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 53.0 % on 9th
Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 71.0 %  
    
Dew Point:    
The Highest Dew Point (0900): 22.7 C on 27th
The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): 4.0 C on 10th
The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 10.2 C  
    
Rainfall:    
Total: 35.1 mm  
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 64.3 %  
Duration: 32.5 hrs  
Highest 24 hour fall (0900 to 0900): 8.5 mm on 24th
Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 12   
Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 7   
    
Sunshine:    
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 168.0 hrs  
Sunniest day: 11.7 hrs on 26th
No. of days without sunshine: 0   
Percentage of the Monthly Mean: 88 %  
Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 5.7 oktas 71.3 %
    
Pressure (reduced to sea level):    
The Highest Pressure (at 0900): 1034.8 mb on 2nd
The Lowest Pressure (at 0900): 999.9 mb on 18th
Mean Pressure (at 0900): 1015.6 mb  
    
Winds    
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 91.4 miles  
Mean daily wind speed: 5.0 mph  
Run of wind (cumulative): 2742.2 miles  
Highest Maximum Gust: 40 mph on 23rd
No. of gusts of 50mph or more: 0   
Highest wind strength (at 0900): 25.4 mph on 6th
Mean wind strength (at 0900): 10.3 mph  
    
Winds from the Following Directions:    

N 3 NE 2 E 0 SE 4 S 5 SW 4 W 4 NW 7 Calm 1
    
Concrete     
Lowest Concrete Minimum: 5.6 C on 1st
Mean Concrete Minimum: 10.1 C  
    
Evaporation    
Piche 97.15 ml  
Pan 93.17 mm      

Days with:    
Thunder: 0   
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.