Rainfall

Although there are two years of data missing it is possible to see that there is no really recognisable pattern to our rainfall over this period.  The monthly rainfall varies fairly randomly.   Over the three years 2001-3 there is clearly a downward trend in the rainfall (orange line), but this follows a two year period of increasing rainfall.   2004 shows a return to average rainfall.

The highest monthly rainfall was 131mm (5.1") in October 2001 and the driest month with just 5mm (0.2") of rain in August 2003 - which is hardly a surprise!   The wettest day for the period was 49mm (almost 2") in September 2002 - barely a year before !   During 2006 there were only two days with more than 20mm (¾").



2003 was the driest year for many years with most months less than the average for that month, only November was significantly above average.   This extra rain which helped to put some water back into our ditches and ponds has still left the year well below average (orange line).   2004 was about average and since then, a little below average.

Average annual rainfall over 15 years is 613mm or 24.1".

Averaged over a number of years we can see the pattern of rainfall through the year (orange shaded area).   Contrary to the popular saying February fill-dyke, this is one of the driest months with October having an average nearly twice as much as March ~ the driest month.   August 2004 the wettest for many years contrasts very sharply with 2003, the driest for the period.

Average monthly rainfall is 52.8mm or 2.08".

Temperatures

Unlike the rainfall which is fairly unpredictable and dependant of the interaction of Atlantic weather systems and the weather patterns in Europe, the temperature is much more seasonal.  The mean temperatures each month are shown in orange and the maximum daytime temperatures and minimum (usually night-time) temperatures are shown in red and blue respectively.

The trend (orange dotted line across the middle of the chart), shows an increase over the last fourteen years of about 2.5°C (4.5°F).   This is not due to hotter summers (red peaks) but because the winters have been milder as shown by the troughs in the blue line which shows that frosts have been less severe.   In Britain, 2006 was the hottest year on record.  Locally it can be seen from the chart that the summer as not as hot as that of 2003, and the winter daytime temperatures were down. However, the night-time temperatures (blue line) were much higher than average.

The average temperatures for each month show a much more even seasonal variation with January - February the coldest months and July - August the warmest.   The rainfall figures above show a less clearcut seasonal pattern, drier in the Spring and wetter in the Autumn.