PITSFORD HALL WEATHER STATION
NORTHAMPTON, UNITED KINGDOM

MONTHLY WEATHER REPORT - MARCH 2005

REVIEW OF THE MONTH

Headline: A cold and frosty start with some snow showers. Becoming
noticeably mild around mid-month. Ending dull with persistent mist and fog.

March began on a wintry theme. It was cold with winds generally from the
north or north-west and there were frequent snow showers. Accumulations
across the county though were slight apart from on the morning of the 4th
when significant falls of snow caused traffic chaos during the rush hour.
Overnight frosts were particularly sharp, air minima falling to -3.0C on the
4th with a ground frost down to -8.5C.

From the 8th onwards it turned noticeably milder. Air minima held up above
freezing and by the 10th daytime temperatures had at long last reached
double figures (10.2C) ending a protracted cold period lasting from the 12th
February (10.9C). The transition to milder conditions brought with it the
inevitable damp south-westerly airstream off the Atlantic. Rainfall totals
across the county were slight, however, although the 11th and 16th were
fairly wet.

As high pressure built up over the county on the 17th and 18th it became
sunny as well as appreciably mild and temperatures peaked at 17.2C on the
17th and 18.5C on the 18th, several degrees above the norm for mid-March.
Anticyclonic conditions, however, tended to favour the development of
overnight mist and fog; this being particularly noticeable on the morning of
the 19th with mist persisting on most mornings until the 25th.

From the 21st onwards high pressure began to be replaced by more cyclonic
conditions and an unsettled spell of weather. Temperatures held up due to a
mainly south-westerly airflow until the 27th when the wind veered more
northerly bringing daytime maxima down to more modest values. Rain and
occasional showers were experienced on most days, although there were some
notable windows of fair weather on the 25th and 28th with generally light
winds. The 29th was particularly wet across the county with 11.3mm of rain
falling over nearly 14 hours at Pitsford.

As the month drew to a close high pressure gained control once more and some
dense fog patches developed clearing only very slowly during the day.

CLIMATOLOGICAL STATISTICS


Air Temperatures
The Highest Maximum: 18.5C on 18th
The Lowest Maximum: 3.1C on 2nd
The Highest Minimum: 10.1C on 17th
The Lowest Minimum: -3.0C on 4th
The Mean Maximum: 10.5C
The Mean Minimum: 3.2C
The Overall Mean: 6.9C
Difference from the Monthly Mean: -0.6C

Relative Humidity:
Highest Relative Humidity (at obs): 100.0% on 29th, 30th & 31st
Lowest Relative Humidity (at obs): 66.9% on 7th
Mean Relative Humidity (at obs): 89.5%

Dew Point:
The Highest Dew Point (at obs): 11.3C on 22nd
The Lowest Dew Point (at obs): -2.9C on 7th
The Mean Dew Point (at obs): 4.6C

Rainfall:
Total: 32.0mm
Difference from the Monthly Mean: 71.1%
Duration: 32.1hrs
Highest 24 hour fall (obs to obs): 11.3mm on 29th
Rain Days (/=0.2mm): 12
Wet Days (/=1.0mm): 9

Sunshine:
Total Duration of Bright Sunshine: 71.9hrs
Sunniest day: 8.5hrs on 3rd
Days without sunshine: 8
Cloud cover (mean at obs): 7.0oktas (87.5%)

Pressure (reduced to sea level):
The Highest Pressu 1033.5mb on 9th
The Lowest Pressu 999.9mb on 2nd
Mean Pressure (recorded at obs): 1016.1mb

Winds
Run of wind (mean over 24 hrs): 126.7miles
Mean daily wind speed: 6.9mph
Highest mean daily wind speed: 13.6mph on 16th
Run of wind: 3927.3miles
Highest Maximum Gust: 40mph on 2nd & 11th
Highest wind strength (at obs): 19.6mph on 16th
Mean wind strength (at obs): 8.8mph

Winds from the Following Directions:

N 6 NE 2 E 1 SE 3 S 8 SW 1 W 1 NW 8 Calm 1

Ground Temperatures:
Lowest Grass Minimum: -8.5C on 4th
Mean Grass Minimum: -0.6C
Lowest Concrete Minimum: -5.4C on 2nd
Mean Concrete Minimum: 1.3C
Lowest Bare Earth Minimum: -2.0C on 3rd
Mean Bare Earth Minimum: 3.0C

Soil/Earth Temperatures:
Surface mean: 5.8C
5cm mean: 5.4C
10cm mean: 5.6C
20cm mean: 6.0C
30cm mean: 6.1C
40cm mean: 5.8C
50cm mean: 6.1C
100cm mean: 5.6C


Days with:
Thunder: 0
Hail less than 0.5mm: 1
Hail greater than/equal to 0.5mm: 0
Snow or snow & rain: 4
Snow lying: 3: 1st, 2nd & 4th
Fog 4
Air Frost: 10
Duration of Air Frost: 60.0hrs
Ground Frost: 14
Gales: 0


Total Evaporation (tank) 31.74mm