Dullest August in the county since 1902
AFTER a promising start to the summer, August itself was a big disappointment for those who were hoping for warm sunshine.
In fact it was the dullest August in Leicestershire since 1902. We normally expect 180 hours of sun in this month but this year we recorded just 90 hours at Dave Mutton’s station in Cosby just 50% of the usual total.
Not surprisingly it was a little cooler too. Afternoon temperatures averaged 20.2c in Mountsorrel which was 1.5c below normal but the dull and cloudy nights helped to keep the night time temperatures up and at Hinckley Dean Whitaker averaged 12.8c at his station which was 0.5c above normal. The overall average of 16.6c was 0.5c cooler than normal. Indeed it was the coolest August since 2017.
A little more surprisingly was that it was quite a dry month with just 32mm falling at Hinckley and 38mm at Mountsorrel which is only about half the usual total.
It ended up by being the driest August since 2003 so although there was a lot of cloud there wasn’t too much rainfall. Winds were generally moderate and blew in from all directions but the maximum gust of 33mph was recorded at Hinckley on the 8th. Air pressure varied from a low reading of 995mbs on the 7th to a high reading of 1031mbs on the 31st.
The month began on a showery note and the heaviest fall of rain was recorded on the 5th which produced 11mm. The only other notable rainfall event was a thunderstorm in the early hours of the 22nd which produced 10.8mm in Mountsorrel. The month had 17 dry days in the county. Most of the months rain occurred in the first 10 days as low pressure dominated. After the 23rd a large area of high pressure did develop to the NW of the B Isles but this caused the winds to blow in from the NE.
These brought in a lot of cloud and mainly cool temperatures into our region. Our warmest day of the month was on the 4th with a high of just 23.9c and our coolest night was on the 26th but it still registered 10c
The summer itself (June to August) gave us mostly average temperatures with the mean of 17.3c being 0.7c above normal thanks to the very mild nights. The first two weeks of June were mostly warm and sunny and the third week of July gave us temperatures above 27c each day from the 22nd to the 29th.
The hottest day of the summer was recorded on July 18th when the temperature reached 30.7c at Hinckley. August as we have said though was disappointing with no protracted warm and sunny spell and very dull and leaden skies. I recorded 155mm of rain for the summer period in Mountsorrel which was 15% below normal while Dean recorded 120mm 37% below the
normal summer total.
The sun shone for 453 hours during the summer which was 85% of the usual total. So all in all temperatures slightly up and rainfall and sunshine slightly down. Overall it was the warmest and driest summer since 2018. Many people would perceive it to be worse than this but the warmth and sunshine of June and July was forgotten by most during a very dull August. Lets hope for a warm and sunny spell in September!
Many thanks to Dean Whitaker of Hinckley for all the data from his station and from Dave Mutton in Cosby with his sunshine figures.