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uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) (uk.sci.weather) For the discussion of daily weather events, chiefly affecting the UK and adjacent parts of Europe, both past and predicted. The discussion is open to all, but contributions on a practical scientific level are encouraged. |
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An historical perspective on the climate statistics
for Coventry during December 2006 Temperature With an average monthly temperature of 6.4C, 1.4C above the 30-year mean for Coventry (1971-2000), this has been the mildest December locally since 1988 (7.4C). Looking back through the record books, we find that only three December months have been milder than 2006 in the past 35 years (1974, 1985 & 1988). With city temperature records dating back to 1892, December 2006 ranks 11th equal in this 114 year series. The mildest days of the month (4th & 29th) were the warmest December days in Coventry since 2000 (13.6C). ***It is somewhat surprising to note however, that in these days of global warming, there has been a marked absence of really mild December days locally; we have to go back to 1915 to find the last daily maximum above 15C, whilst the record for this month stands at a staggering 18.9C as long ago as 1899, well before any concerns about the so-called enhanced greenhouse effect!*** There were just 5 air frosts in Coventry this month (four less than normal), but only 4 as recently as 2002; just out of interest the city has never has a frost free December with just 1 air frost being the lowest incidence in 1989. We would expect 15 ground frosts during an average December, but only managed 8 in 2006; the lowest incidence of ground frosts at this time of year was 7 in 2002. Rainfall By the end of Boxing Day, there was a local rainfall deficit of 20% compared to 30-year averages, despite the wet first half of the month in Coventry. A nine day spell of dry weather, with just fog drip in the rain gauge, had reduced the rainfall total well below normal. Thanks however to a wet end to the month, with 38% of the month's rainfall total (71.0mm) falling in the last 5 days, December 2006 became the wettest month at this time of year since 2002 (92.8mm). Only two December months have been wetter than 2006 in the past decade (2000 & 2002). December 2006 has become the first December since 1992 without any snowfall; we would normally expect 3 days with snowfall at this time of year. Looking at the records however, we find that this is by no means unusual locally; as there have been 31 December months without any recorded snowfall since 1892. There were no mornings with snow lying on the ground in the city during December, the first time this has happened since 2002, though once again, this would appear to be the norm in our region, with 68 December months without any lying snow in the past 114 years. Sunshine With just 52.6 hours of sunshine this has been the dullest December in Coventry since 2002 (35.1 hours). Only two December months have been duller than this in the past 14 years, even though this year's sunshine total is still % above the 30-year city average. The sunniest day of the month (17th) only managed 5.7 hours of sunshine - this is the lowest total for December's sunniest day since 1989 (5.2hr). However, the lowest reading for the sunniest day of December was in 1902 with just 3.0 hours, though this was almost 50% of the whole month's sunshine! We had three mornings of thick fog during December 2006, the highest incidence of fog at this time of year since 1994 (4). Just out of interest, there were 10 foggy mornings during December 1934. As a further note of interest, we experienced our first December gales (3rd) since 2000, when there were two such "gale days". The highest number of December gales was in 1954 and 1974 with 4 days of gale force winds. Steve Jackson Bablake Weather Station Coventry UK www.bablakeweather.co.uk |
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