PITSFORD HALL WEATHER STATION NORTHAMPTON, UNITED KINGDOM MONTHLY WEATHER REPORT - JUNE 2004 Headline: Dry and warm for the first fortnight then turning cooler with showers and longer spells of rain. June opened with a ridge of high pressure extending across the county. Some weak fronts pushed southwards on the eastern side of the UK giving some light rain on the 1st and 3rd, but otherwise it was mostly dry with temperatures steadily climbing with daytime maxima in the high teens to low 20s. By the second week high pressure had become well established over continental Europe and this fed in some very warm air across the UK. Daytime temperatures reached 30C in Northampton on the 8th and continued to reach the mid 20s right through to the 16th. During this period many places caught some thunderstorms, but it remained dry in Pitsford right through to the 18th. In fact, the protracted dryness encouraged the local media to run articles on dry Junes of the past given that only 3% of the normally expected rainfall had fallen between the 1st and 18th. The 17th saw the arrival of a cold front which brought a change to much fresher weather. Temperatures fell markedly to an overnight low of 4.2C on the 19th with a grass minimum of 1.2C. In fact, some areas of England even caught an air frost and ground frosts were widespread. The third week saw a deep low track to the north of the county. One of the deepest lows to affect the UK during June, it brought a significant amount of rain to the county with 14.1mm falling in 7.4 hours at Pitsford. The barometric pressure in Northampton fell to a low of 986.7mb at 11:10 BST on the 23rd. Winds were particularly strong with gusts at Pitsford reaching 40mph (force 8). However, the county escaped the damaging gusts recorded along the south and east coasts. A second low tracked past the county on the 26th giving another wet day, although the main weather event associated with this low occurred on the 27th. A freak 'gale' (possible 'gust front') passed through Pitsford and neighbouring villages at around 18:30 BST. Winds gusted to 40mph and temperatures dropped dramatically from 17.1C at 18:20 to 12.2C at 18:50. As the month came to a close there were further outbreaks of rain on the 29th, but essentially the weather settled back down with sunny periods and temperatures recovering to daytime maxima of 20C. In Northampton this was the warmest June since 1996 and the driest June since 2002 (24.3mm). Air Temperatures The Highest Maximum: 30.0C on 8th The Lowest Maximum: 15.5C on 1st The Highest Minimum: 14.6C on 6th The Lowest Minimum: 4.2C on 19th The Mean Maximum: 21.1C The Mean Minimum: 11.1C The Overall Mean: 16.1C Difference from the Monthly Mean: +1.1C Relative Humidity: Highest Relative Humidity (at obs): 97.8% on 1st Lowest Relative Humidity (at obs): 53.6% on 19th Mean Relative Humidity (at obs): 75.5% Dew Point: The Highest Dew Point (at obs): 18.7C on 8th The Lowest Dew Point (at obs): 6.1C on 19th The Mean Dew Point (at obs): 12.6C Rainfall: Total: 31.7mm Difference from the Monthly Mean: 55.5% Duration: 24.1hrs Highest 24 hour fall (obs to obs): 14.1mm on 22nd Rain Days (>/=0.2mm): 11 Wet Days (>/=1.0mm): 7 Sunshine: Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 189.3hrs Sunniest day: 12.8hrs on 13th Days without sunshine: 2 Cloud cover (mean at obs): 5.7oktas (67.5%) Pressure (reduced to sea level): The Highest Pressure: 1032.2mb on 13th The Lowest Pressure: 987.2mb on 23rd Mean Pressure (recorded at obs): 1016.4mb Winds Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 104.5 miles Mean daily wind speed: 5.7 mph Run of wind (to date): 3133.6 miles Highest Maximum Gust: 40 mph on 23rd & 27th Highest wind strength (at obs): 17.3 mph on 15th Mean wind strength (at obs): 6.6 mph Winds from the Following Directions: N 0 NE 1 E 0 SE 2 S 8 SW 3 W 5 NW 11 Calm 0 Ground Temperatures: Lowest Grass Minimum: 1.4C on 19th Mean Grass Minimum: 8.3C Lowest Concrete Minimum: 5.1C on 19th Mean Concrete Minimum: 10.6C Lowest Bare Earth Minimum: 5.1C on 19th Mean Bare Earth Minimum: 11.1C Soil/Earth Temperatures: Surface mean: 18.3C 5cm mean: 16.7C 10cm mean: 17.0C 20cm mean: 17.0C 30cm mean: 17.2C 40cm mean: 17.1C 50cm mean: 17.2C 100cm mean: 15.2C Days with: Thunder: 0 Hail less than 0.5mm: 0 Hail greater than/equal to 0.5mm: 0 Snow or snow & rain: 0 Fog 1 Air Frost: 0 Ground Frost: 0 Total Evaporation (tank) 99.65mm