An historical perspective on the climate statistics
for Coventry during January 2008

Temperature

January 2008 has become one of the mildest on record with a mean
monthly temperature of 6.5C, 2.3 degrees Celsius above the 30-year
average for Coventry.

With records dating back to 1892, only five January months have been
warmer than 2008 (1916, 1921, 1974, 1983 & 2007). The mildest January
on record was in 1916 with an average of 7.4C.

• 18th & 20th The mildest days of the month (13.7C) were the mildest
January days in Coventry for 5 years (14.0C in 2003).

• 6th The coldest night of the month only recorded a minimum of -1.3C
– this is the highest such value in the city since 1925 (-1.2C).

There were just 4 air frosts during the month, the lowest number since
January 1990 (3).


Rainfall

Rain was recorded on every day between the 3rd and 23rd of January, so
it is not surprising to find that this has been the wettest January
(94.2mm) since 1988 (110.7mm) with 56% more rain than normal at this
time of year.

This has not only been the wettest January locally in the past 20
years, but also, only 5 January months have been wetter than this
year since 1948 (1956, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1988)..

• 11th the wettest day of the month recorded 24.7mm of rain, making
this the wettest January day since 1993 (25.3mm

Sunshine

With 71.3 hours of sunshine, this has been duller than January 2007
(84.9hr), but more sunny than any January month between 2004 & 2006,
with 29% more sunshine than the 30-year average for Coventry.

There were 7 days without any sunshine during January 2008, the
highest number of dull days since January 1996 (9). Just out of
interest, the record is 15 dull days in January 1987.

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