Freezing blasts and Sahara dust clouds
IF you thought this winter was a harsh one, you were right, It was the coldest winter for eight years in Leicestershire, going back to 2012-13.
February was month of stark contrasts. The first half of the month was the coldest for eight years as winds from western Russia spread frigid air over us as a large area of high pressure developed over Scandinavia.
Temperatures struggled to reach freezing for seven days, with nighttime temperatures falling to -8.5C. Snow fell again during this week, with 5cm falling at my recording station in Mountsorrel on the February 9. Cosby, in the south of
athe county, saw up to 12cm on the same date.
The middle of the month saw the weather turn on its head as winds originating in North Africa blew in from the south. Temperature s climbed, peaking at 16C, an average May temperature, on February 24 and with the southerly wind came dust from the Sahara desert. The dust fell on newly-washed cars leading many to ask just what was going on with the weather this time! Temperatures for the month as a whole ended up being close to average with afternoon temperatures averaging 8C and nighttime temperatures close to 2C. The overall mean of 5C was exactly the average for this month. It was a slightly drier month than average as firstly the cold winds from Russia, then the very warm breezes from Africa, kept our usual rain-bearing winds from the Atlantic at bay for longer than usual.
Mountsorrel was the driest station at 40mm, with Hinckley recording 47mm. Cosby was the wettest station this month at 51mm. The average rainfall for Leicestershire in February is 48mm.
It was shaping up to be a very dull month, but the four days at the end of the month provided 35 hours of sunshine, bringing the monthly total in Cosby up to 84 hours, slightly above normal.
The meteorological winter (December to February) brought an average winter temperature of 4.1C, which is 0.6C below normal. There were 19 days when snow fell and 34 air frosts were recorded.
January 24 brought our heaviest snowfall since February 2012, with 15cm falling in some parts. Our lowest temperature of -8.5C was recorded in Cosby on February 11.
The end of the winter brought us very mild temperatures.
Many thanks to Dean Whittaker,
Hinckley’s own dedicated weather enthusiast, and Dave Mutton, the Leicester Mercury’s weatherman for more than 40 years from his station at Cosby. You can follow Dean on Twitter @Hinckleyweather as he provides daily weather analysis for the town.