Having been in a northerly airstream for some time, it would appear to have had a marked influence on the weather for this time of year. While the clear skies have resulted in lower temperatures but much more sunshine, it is the rainfall that has been most affected.

The notherly winds first appeared on 28th March 2012 and contiued until11th May 2012, which was 45 days in total. During this period there was always a northerly element in the wind direction and only 33.4mm of rain fell, which is much lower than expected.

Considering that 16.0mm of rain fell on 1 day in April, the total rainfall for that month was only 32.2 mm. This weather pattern continued into May with only 1.0mm of rain falling in the first 10 days.

During the 45 day period, we experienced 26 days without measurable rainfall, 12 of which were consecutive, a record in itself at this station. The last 19 days produced only 1.6mm of rain with only 6.2mm falling in the last 24 days.

April’s weather was influenced by the predominant wind direction, that of NNE, bringing less rain and lower temperatures but also clearer skies and plenty of sunshine.

There were only 5 days in April when the wind direction did not contain a northerly element bringing cold, drier air resulting in 3 ground frosts, a low temperature of -1.8′C and a lttle snow falling on the 2nd. The mean temperature (1 minute) of 7.0′C was lower than the 10 year mean (2001 – 2010) of 8.8′C and a full 3.1′C below that of April 2011, when the average mean temperature (1 minute) was 10.1′C.

The total rainfall for the month was 32.2 mm, the 10 year mean (2001 – 2010) being 67.0mm. Considering that 16mm fell in 10 hours overnight on the 16th, the total rainfall was very low, continuing the downward trend of recent years

The predominant wind direction was NNE which is very unusual. Winds were a little lighter than last year with the average windspeed being 7.6 mph, a high gust of 42mph and a total wind run of 5437.6 miles. One of the benefits of being in this northerly airsteam has been the fact that most days have been bright and sunny if a little chill at times.

Here we are in the middle of April and the temperature dropped to -1.8′C last night making it the lowest temperature recorded this year.

This is only the second time this year that temperatures have fallen below freezing, the other being 17th March 2012 when it reached -0.1′C, and is the lowest recorded temperature since 6th January 2011 when it reached -2.8′C.

The recent dry spell finally came to a close today, ended by a light shower that took everyone by surprise. Although only 0.2mm of rain fell, it ended 12 consecutive days without any measurable rain, the longest dry spell recorded at this station.

Of all the months, it is March that is showing the most deviation from the 10 year norm (2000 – 2010), a trend continuing on from last year.

Most pronounced was the months rainfall with only 19 rain days producing 32.8mm of rain, 10.4 mm of this falling in 1 day. This is a full 48.4mm below the 10 year average! The month ended with no measurable rain recorded on 11 consecutive days, an all time record in itself at our station and set to continue into April.

The temperature was also higher than the 10 year norm by 1.8′C, the mean temperature (1 minute) being 8.6′C. Although there was 1 air frost, the mean minimum was also 1.2′C higher than last year.

Wind and wind direction was as expected with the monthly average wind speed being 10.2mph, the predominant wind direction being SW. The wind run was 7568.7 miles, slightly up on last year.