A month by month review of 2007 in Coventry
January

January 2007 was one of the mildest on record in Coventry - the
warmest for 86 years. With records dating back to 1892, only two
January months have been warmer than January 2007 (1916 & 1921.

It was also our sunniest January since 2001. With sunshine records
dating back in the city to 1894, only two Januarys have ever recorded
more sunshine (2000 & 2001).

February

February became the sixth month in succession with above average
temperatures in Coventry; we have to go back 11 months to March 2006
to find the last colder than average month locally. With a mean
monthly temperature of 6.1C, this was the mildest February since 2002
(7.0C).

During February 2007, we recorded just slightly more than double the
normal amount of rain (89.7mm) – this became the eighth month in
succession with higher than average rainfall in our region. It was the
wettest February locally for 30 years, 1977 recorded 170.6mm – only 7
February months have been wetter than February 2007 since rainfall
records were first kept in the city in 1870.

Winter 2005-2006

This was the mildest winter in Coventry for 33 years; only the winter
of 1973-74 has been milder than this year since 1892, when records
were first kept in the city. It was also the wettest winter since
1994-95.

March

Early March was wet with local flooding; 84% of the total monthly rain
total fell in the first 5 days, two of which were dry! Despite a
relatively dry last three weeks of the month, so much rain fell in the
first few days, that March 2007 became the wettest March in our region
since 1988. This is the only March month in the past 25 years to be
wetter than 2007.

April

With temperature records for Coventry dating back to 1892, this became
the warmest April on record, eclipsing the previous warmest April in
1893. We now believe that this April was the warmest in the Central
England Temperature serie, in over 348 years.

With just 5.1mm of rain during the month, this was the driest April in
Coventry since 1938 (2.0mm). With rainfall records for the city dating
back to 1870, only April 1938 has been drier in the past 137 years,
and with respect to monthly rainfall totals at any time of year, this
has been the driest month in Coventry since October 1969 (4.7mm) –
only 12 months have been drier than April 2007 in the past 137 years.

With sunshine records dating back to 1894 in Coventry, this became the
sunniest April (243.0hr) on record, beating the previous record of
231.4 hours of sunshine set in 1984.

May

This was the wettest May in Coventry since 1983, with more than double
the 30-year average falling on the city; looking back through the
archives, we find that only 9 May months have been wetter than May
2007 since 1870. On the wettest day of the month, we recorded 27.1mm
of rain, making this the wettest May day in the city since 1967.

Spring

This was the warmest Spring on record, equalling the previous record
of 10.4C from 1992. It was however, the wettest Spring in Coventry
since 2001, though the sunniest Spring locally for 10 years.

June

After a wet May, early June was pleasantly warm dry and sunny, with 12
consecutive dry days at the start of the month Although we didn’t
realise it at the time, we were however on the threshold of
experiencing the wettest June (175.0mm) since rainfall records were
first kept in Coventry in 1870, with 18 consecutive rain days to end
the month.

Although we had our driest April in our region since 1938, such was
the wet nature of the first half of 2007, that we totalled the wettest
first six months of any year on record with 519.7mm, exceeding the
previous record of 1977 (496.7mm). Of course, we also had our wettest
May (114.1mm) locally since 1983, so if we add the rainfall totals of
the two months, we find that the May and June combined rainfall total
of 289.1mm is the highest in Coventry since before 1870, beating the
previous record of 244.2mm of 1878 by some way.

The 14th of June was the wettest June day on record (69.9mm of rain).
Only one day has ever recorded more rainfall in 24 hours than this at
any time of year, and that was on 31st December 1900 (72.3mm), the day
of the famous floods in Coventry City Centre

July

With 139.7mm of rain (almost three times the city’s average), this
became the wettest July in our region since 1936 (141.6mm).

So July 2007 became the third month in succession in Coventry to
record more than 100mm of rain – this is the first time this has
occurred since the period from November 1876 to January 1877. The
first seven months of 2007 recorded 659.4mm of rain, making this the
most rain recorded in this period since before 1870.

The wettest day of the month (38.1mm on the 20th) became the wettest
July day in Coventry since 1991 (52.5mm).

August

With a mean monthly temperature of 16.3C, this was the coolest August
in Coventry since 1993 (15.1C).

Although drier than average during August, nevertheless the first
eight months of 2007 were still the wettest such period on record
(709.3mm); in a data series dating back to 1870, the previous highest
total was 706.6mm in 1912.

Summer 2007

It was the coolest summer in Coventry since 1998, and the wettest
summer on record in Coventry with records dating back to 1870

September

After the wettest summer on record in our region, we only recorded
just over half of expected rainfall during September 2007 (54%). With
just 31.8mm of rain falling, this became the driest September in
Coventry since 2003 (26.0mm).

October

With just 42.8mm of rain, this was the driest October in Coventry
since 1995 (28.1mm), the third month in succession with below average
rainfall locally.

November

November became the fourth drier than average month in succession in
Coventry with 52.9mm of rain (9% below normal), and the driest
November in the city since 2004 (32.6mm).

Even so, the 18th of November became the wettest November day in
Coventry since 1954 (28.4mm).

Autumn 2007

This was the driest autumn in Coventry since 1996..

December

Although this has been the wettest year in Coventry since 1912,
December has become the fifth drier than average month in succession
during 2007.

The mildest day of the month (14.6°C on the 6th) was the warmest
December day in Coventry since 1994 (14.9°C). As a contrast, on the
night of the 20th, we recorded a grass minimum temperature of -10.4°
C; this is the lowest such reading in the city during December since
1995 (-10.5°C).

Steve Jackson
Bablake Weather Station
Coventry UK
www.bablakeweather.co.uk