An historical perspective on the climate statistics

for Coventry during August 2008


Temperature

With a mean monthly temperature of 16.7C, this has been the warmest
August in Coventry since 2005 (16.9C).

Although slightly warmer than the 30-year city average (1971-2000) by
just 0.1C, this masks some interesting contrasts:

• By day, the mean maximum temperature of just 20.4C is 1.0C below
average, representing the coolest August by day since 1993 (19.9C)..
• The average night-time minimum temperature however was 1.3C above
normal – the highest such value in the city for four years.

Rainfall

August is on average the wettest month of the year in Coventry, and we
get over 100mm of rain in this month approximately one year in every
five, so this month’s total of 105.2mm should come as no real
surprise.

It has been our wettest August locally since 2004 (142.4mm), itself
one the wettest on record.

Only five August months have been wetter than this year in the past 34
years (1977, 1986, 1992, 1999, 2004).

Sunshine

This has been a relatively dull summer month in Coventry with just
111.8 hours of sunshine, 40% lower than the city’s 30-year averages.

It has been the dullest August in our region since 1968 (93.2hr).

Only eight August months have recorded less sunshine than August 2008
since 1892, namely 1894, 1896, 1912, 1948, 1956, 1957, and 1968 with
August 1902 the dullest on record with just 87.2 hours of sunshine.






Days of note within August 2008

• 13th The coolest day of the month (15.7C) was the coldest August day
in our region since 1999 (15.2C).

• 15th The coldest night of the month (8.0C) recorded the lowest
August minimum temperature since 2003 (4.3C).

• 15th The coldest night of the month on the ground (2.9C) recorded
the lowest August grass minimum temperature since 1999 (2.6C).

• 30th This was the warmest August night (17.7C) in Coventry since
2004 (19.5C). With records dating back to 1892, only six August months
have recorded minimum temperatures as high as this year.

• 30th The warmest day of August 2008 recorded a maximum temperature
of just 23.6C; this is the lowest such value locally since 1986
(20.5C).

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