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

Temperature

With an average monthly temperature of 5.4C, this has been a mild
February in Coventry, though the mean overnight minimum temperature of
just 1.1C is the lowest locally for five years.

It has been cooler than last year, when the February mean reached
6.1C, though only four February months have been milder than 2008 in
the past ten years (2000, 2002, 2004, 2007).

There were 20 ground frosts during the month, with only nine nights
frost-free in our region; this is the highest incidence of February
ground frost in the city since 1996 (23). Just out of interest, the
record is 28 in 1895, 1942, 1947 and 1979.


Rainfall

This has been the driest February in our region (26.7mm), since 2004
(20.2mm), with just 60% of the normal February rainfall.

Only three February months have been drier than 2008 in the past 15
years (1998, 2003, 2004).

We enjoyed 18 consecutive dry days from the 6th to the 23rd of
February, making this the longest dry spell locally at this time of
the year since 1986 (19 days). The record is 23 days in 1895.

There was just one day with snowfall all month, making this the lowest
number of February snow days since 1997 (0).


Sunshine

Without a doubt, it is the February sunshine that makes all the
headlines this year!

With 137.0 hours of sunshine, more than double the 30 year city
average from 1971-2000, this has been the sunniest February on record,
with records dating back to 1894.

The previous record stood at just 105.6 hours of sunshine in 1998, 23%
less than this year.


Just to show how remarkable this monthly sunshine total is for
Coventry, remember that the dullest February on record only managed
12.5 hours of sun in 1940, though in that year, the city was more
concerned about events elsewhere, rather than its dull weather.

To further highlight the enormity of this sunshine total, we only
managed 136.6 hours of sunshine as recently as August 2006 – a summer
month!

Days of special interest during February 2008


• 12th The mildest day of the month recorded 14.3C, the warmest
February day in Coventry since 2004 (15.2C).

• 17th The coldest night of the month recorded an overnight minimum of
just -6.3C, making this the coldest February night in Coventry since
1991 (-7.5C).

• 18th The sunniest day of the month recorded 9.1 hours of sunshine,
making this the sunniest February day in the city since 1996 (9.3
hours). Only five Februarys have included days with more sunshine than
this since 1894.