--
Penzance Weather www.easterling.freeserve.co.uk/weather.html
Holiday Cottage www.easterling.freeserve.co.uk

"Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote in message
...

"Graham Easterling" wrote:
"Philip Eden" wrote:

A quick calculation indicates that, for England and Wales,
the rainfall for the winter quarter has a return period of about
10 years, and for Southeast England a return period of
about 16 years.

The Nov-Feb rainfall has a return period of ~25 years.

It's certainly been very dry down here in the far SW. Well over half of
our annual rainfall normally falls in the 5 months Nov-March.
The normal (1971-2000) rainfall for this period is 634.1mm.
So far (with little sight of appreciable rainfall in the near future) the
total is 301.5mm or just 47.5% of the Nov-March norm.

Nov 1991-March 1992 produced a total of 316mm at
the old Penzance site ... you'll do well to beat that :-)

Philip Eden

Philip,

You're quite right.

But the old site is just behind the sea front & just above sea level, and
I'm a good 800metres inland and at 60m alt.

My rainfall figures are extremely similar to the EA site at Drift Dam (same
altitude as me, 2 miles to the west).

My records start 1992.
Taking Drift for Nov-Dec 1991 (136mm) + My rainfall for Jan-March 1992
(185mm) gives 321mm
Not much difference, but I might just beat it.

The difference beween my site & the old Penzance site during the 90's was
greater in Summer, as the old Penzance site was less prone to catching the
sea breeze convergence showers.

Graham