PITSFORD HALL WEATHER STATION NORTHAMPTON, UNITED KINGDOM MONTHLY WEATHER REPORT - JANUARY 2004 Headline: Generally mild, wet and windy. Cold snap in final week with signficant snowfall. January began rather cold and drizzly. However, from the 4th onwards pressure built over the south of the UK giving a very mild spell of weather. In fact, by the 6th daytime maxima had risen to around 11C, several degrees above normal for early January. Accompanying the mild conditions was the inevitable drizzle and showery rain conveyed on a mainly south-westerly wind. Deep depressions tracked across northern areas during the second week and their attendant frontal systems brought further spells of rain across the county. A particularly vigorous depression tracked across northern England on the 8th bringing strong winds gusting to gale force at Pitsford Hall. Strong winds also ripped across the county on the 11th again with gusts reaching gale force at Pitsford. Despite the wind and rain, it remained very mild with daytime maxima typically around 9 or 10C. The 14th saw an unexpected fall of snow across the county amounting to 7cm at Pitsford Hall tied into a discrete low which tracked slowly over the Midlands. As low pressure moved towards the south-east over the next few days it became progressively colder culminating in a fairly sharp frost on the 18th (grass minima falling to -7.0C). From the 19th onwards, temperatures ameliorated and it became very mild once again, but not without further spells of rain tied into weak fronts which crossed the region. It remained generally cloud with no sunshine recorded at Pitsford until the 24th. With the cloud came little change between daytime and night-time temperatures. The final week saw a change to much colder conditions. An arctic airstream set in across northern Britain on the 26th and reached the county on the 27th bringing a light dusting of snow overnight. However, significant snowfall during the afternoon of the 28th caused major traffic chaos in Northampton as commuters tried to rush home early before sufficient grit had been placed on the roads. The snowfall lasted no more than 2 hours but laid a good 5cm at Pitsford. The cold snap came to an abrupt end as mild air was introduced across the region on strong winds on the 30th and 31st. In fact, the 31st saw gusts reaching 54mph at Pitsford and power lines being brought down in several villages. The accompanying heavy rain also precipitated a flurry of calls to fire and rescue teams and several premises were flooded. Air Temperatures The Highest Maximum: 11.5C on 31st The Lowest Maximum: 3.5C on 26th The Highest Minimum: 7.2C on 11th The Lowest Minimum: -5.4C on 29th The Mean Maximum: 7.8C The Mean Minimum: 1.6C The Overall Mean: 4.7C Difference from the Monthly Mean: +0.3C Relative Humidity: Highest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 98.7% on 20th Lowest Relative Humidity (at 0900): 71.4% on 28th Mean Relative Humidity (at 0900): 90.7% Dew Point: The Highest Dew Point (at 0900): 9.2C on 31st The Lowest Dew Point (at 0900): -5.7C on 28th & 29th The Mean Dew Point (at 0900): 3.2C Rainfall: Total: 91.8mm Difference from the Monthly Mean: 175.5% Duration: 66.0hrs Highest 24 hour fall (from 0900): 15.0mm on 30th Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 23 Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 16 Sunshine: Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 57.8hrs Sunniest day: 7.0hrs on 29th Sunless days: 15 Cloud cover (mean at 0900): 6.0oktas (75%) Pressure (reduced to sea level): The Highest Pressure: 1026.8mb on 18th The Lowest Pressure: 979.9mb on 13th Mean Pressure (recorded at 0900): 1006.1mb Winds Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 175.9miles Mean daily wind speed: 9.5mph Highest daily wind speed: 19.4mph on 9th Run of wind: 5453.7miles Highest Maximum Gust: 54mph on 31st Highest wind strength (at 0900): 31.1mph on 31st Mean wind strength (at 0900): 10.5mph Winds from the Following Directions: N 1 NE 2 E 0 SE 2 S 11 SW 2 W 3 NW 9 Calm 1 Ground Temperatures: Lowest Grass Minimum: -8.1C on 30th Mean Grass Minimum: -1.3C Lowest Concrete Minimum: -6.2C on 30th Mean Concrete Minimum: 1.1C Lowest Bare Earth Minimum: -2.5C on 30th Mean Bare Earth Minimum: 1.2C Soil/Earth Temperatures: Surface mean: 4.1C 5cm mean: 3.8C 10cm mean: 4.1C 20cm mean: 4.6C 30cm mean: 4.6C 40cm mean: 4.6C 50cm mean: 5.0C 100cm mean: 5.7C Days with: Thunder: 0 Hail less than 0.5mm: 0 Hail greater than/equal to 0.5mm: 0 Snow or snow & rain: 4 Snowing lying: 3: 28th, 29th & 30th Fog: 1 Ground Frost: 21 Air Frost: 11 Duration of air Frost: 66.0hrs Evaporation (tank): Not recorded. All data © Pitsford Hall weather station.