PITSFORD HALL WEATHER STATION NORTHAMPTON, UNITED KINGDOM MONTHLY WEATHER REPORT - FERBUARY 2002 Headline: Mild, but frequently stormy with strong winds and frequent outbreaks of rain. A brief quiet spell around mid-month. The month opened with low pressure developing off the north- west coast of Scotland. The first week was particularly windy with peak gusts recorded at 50mph on the 1st and 47mph on the 4th. The police closed a section of the A14 due to the risk presented to high sided vehicles and part of the roof of a service station in Towcester was lost due to the high winds. With winds blowing from a generally south-westerly direction temperatures were mild with overnight minima holding up at around 10.4C on the 2nd and 8.0C on the 3rd. It was also wet, although the county escaped the heavier totals recorded elsewhere. Depressions continued to track between Scotland and Iceland until the 13th with their attendant fronts sweeping across the county bringing further outbreaks of rain. In between the rain it remained pretty cloudy with only occasional glimpses of sunshine. Again, heavy rain caused flooding in some parts of the UK whilst the county remained largely unaffected by this threat. Anticyclonic conditions developed from the 13th. Cloud and rain gave way to a dry, quiet and reasonably sunny period with some overnight frosts. As winds swung round to a more northerly direction on the 15th temperatures fell sharply with grass minima dropping to -4.8C. A weak weather front slipped through the county on the 18th giving just a spot or two of rain. Wild conditions returned on the 19th as some vigorous lows tracked across the UK. 12mm fell at Pitsford Hall in slightly over 9 hours. Over the course of the next few days low pressure deepened over Scandinavia bringing a run of strong winds with gusts again reaching gale force. By the 23rd the weather had turned decidely wintery with a sharp shower of snow pellets falling during the morning. On the 25th a small but very vigorous low tracked eastwards across Scotland bringing widespread disruption due to gale force winds across the country. In Northamptonshire power lines were brought down and there was structural damage to several properties. A peak gust of 59mph was recorded in the early morning at Pitsford Hall. The month came to a close as a trough migrated down from the north bringing hail on the 26th and further brief snow showers on the 27th and 28th. Climatological & Agromet Statistics - February 2002 Air Temperatures The Highest Maximum: 14.0C on 11th The Lowest Maximum: 7.1C on 16th, 23rd The Highest Minimum: 10.4C on 2nd The Lowest Minimum: -2.0C on 15th The Mean Maximum: 10.3C The Mean Minimum: 3.2C The Overall Mean: 6.8C Difference from the Monthly Mean: +2.3C Relative Humidity: Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 100.0% on 16th, 17th Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 68.9% on 26th Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 88.5% Dew Point: The Highest Dew Point (at 0900): 10.9C on 11th The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): -0.5C on 15th The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 4.4C Rainfall: Total: 56.5mm Difference from the Monthly Mean: 149.9% Duration: 48.5hrs Highest 24-hour fall (from 0900): 12.0mm on 19th Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 23 Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 16 Lowest pH: 6.22 on 13th Sunshine: Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 79.6hrs Sunniest day: 8.0hrs on 18th Sunless days: 7 Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 5.8 oktas (72.5%) Pressure (reduced to sea level): The Highest Pressure: 1035.9mb on 15th The Lowest Pressure: 978.1mb on 26th Mean Pressure (recorded at 0900): 1009.8mb Winds: Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 185.3 miles Mean daily wind speed: 10.0mph Highest 24-hour Wind Speed: 26.6mph on 1st Run of wind (to date): 5187.1 miles Highest Maximum Gust: 59mph on 25th Highest wind strength (at 0900): 27.7mph on 2nd Mean wind strength (at 0900): 12.5mph Winds from the Following Directions: N 0 NE 1, E 0, SE 1, S 13, SW 4, W 5, NW 4, Calm 0 Days with: Thunder: 0 Hail less than 0.5cm: 2: 23rd & 26th Hail greater than/equal to 0.5cm: 0 Snow or snow & rain: 3: 23rd, 27th & 28th Snow lying: 0 Fog: 1 Air Frost: 3 Duration of Air Frost: 21.0hrs Ground Frost: 10 Evaporation: Total evaporation (tank): 23.91mm Ground Temperatures: Lowest Grass Minimum: -4.8C on 15th Mean Grass Minimum: 1.2C Lowest Concrete Minimum: -3.6C on 15th Mean Concrete Minimum: 1.5C Lowest Bare Earth Minimum: -1.9C on 15th Mean Bare Earth Minimum: 2.7C Soil/Earth Temperatures: Surface mean: 5.4C 5cm mean: 5.0C 10cm mean: 5.7C 20cm mean: 6.2C 30cm mean: 6.3C 40cm mean: 6.2C 50cm mean: 6.5C 100cm mean: 6.6C Climatological observations made at 0900 UTC. Averages refer to the period 1971-2000.