All times gmt.


The rainfall total for today so far is 17.4 mm, which brings the monthly
total to 106.4 mm. This is the second wettest May in eleven years of
collecting weather data. The wettest may in my records is 2000 at 112.6
mm. This is the first time I have exceeded 100 mm in a month since August
2004.

There were two thunder storms today as well, one to the north west from
1610 to 1630, and the other to the south east from 1850 to 1915. There
was a brief burst of rain with the second, unlike the first which came
during a bout of heavy rain - 13 mm was collected between 1500 and 1700.
The local roads are still flooded at 2000 and the winterbourne is flowing
- highly unusual for this time of year.

This is the second significant rain event this month. On 13 May,
Faversham was hit by torrential rain accompanied by thunder. It was
reported that the Co-op store near the railway station suffered some
flooding. The cause was apparently a part of the roof collapsing under
the weight of water.

The plants in my brother in law's garden were "flattened" by the downpour,
and his conservatory was flooded.

The water pooling under the Forbes Road bridge was reported to be at the
level of the pavement, which is about five feet. Some people had to be
rescued from cars. The flooding reached as far as the crossing at
Athelstan Road. There was much rubbish to be cleaned up the following
morning.

On that day, the total collected here in just over an hour was 23.4 mm.

The yearly total up to 1700 today is 290.2 mm.





Clive May wrote:

The rainfall total for today so far is 17.4 mm, which brings the monthly
total to 106.4 mm. This is the second wettest May in eleven years of
collecting weather data. The wettest may in my records is 2000 at 112.6
mm. This is the first time I have exceeded 100 mm in a month since August
2004.

There were two thunder storms today as well, one to the north west from
1610 to 1630, and the other to the south east from 1850 to 1915. There
was a brief burst of rain with the second, unlike the first which came
during a bout of heavy rain - 13 mm was collected between 1500 and 1700.
The local roads are still flooded at 2000 and the winterbourne is flowing
- highly unusual for this time of year.

Very interesting - we were driving back from Rochester at about 4pm
today - the rain was especially hard as we were driving up the A20
through Lenham and especially Charing. Roads were effectively one big
gutter.

On returning to Canterbury I noted that there hadn't been anywhere near
as much rain here. Indeed I have only recorded 6.9mm today. My total for
the month is now 59.4mm. I suspect that a lot of the difference in
totals between here and Boughton is the lack of any very heavy rain
(apart from one occasion on the 13th). I also suspect that height
difference comes into the equation - we are only 8m ASL here and
Boughton is somewhat higher than that.

The thunderstorm that passed to the south of here at 1900Z caused some
rain to be recorded but not much - I've noticed quite a few similar
events in the past couple of years when a large storm has passed just to
the south but not quite far enough north to affect Canterbury: notable
for the pretty decent rainbows!

--
Jonathan Stott
Canterbury Weather: http://www.canterburyweather.co.uk/
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