Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wet, wild weather

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farm pond
Phil’s farm pond was very high on Sunday 16th and the field saturated with rainwater. It helps to prevent heavy rainfall run-off, reducing the levels of the rivers. In this case it flows directly into the River Arrow, reducing the flooding risk.

Phil

Alvechurch amateur weatherman Phil Thomas records the changes.

February was another very wet and windy month. The rainfall to the 17th was 84.6mm, already more than the month’as average of 52mm. The mean temperature was also above the local mean, standing at 6.3C, or 2.2C above the mean value.

There were some very strong gusty winds too – a gust of 49mph on the 9th, 44mph on the 15th and 43mph on the 16th. My automatic weather station was blown over despite being anchored by heavy flagstones!

All of these extremes are due to a very strong jet stream bringing warm moist air from the south-west, interacting with a cold air stream further north.

February 2020 (to the 17th)
Mean Max  9.7C  2.4 above average
Mean Min   3.1C   2.0 above average
Mean        6.3C    2.2 above average
Rainfall   84.6mm   161% of average
Sunshine  33.7 hrs  56% of average

January was very mild and damp with a mean temperature of 6.2C, which is 2.3C above the local 30-year mean.

No snow was seen falling during the month (the last recorded snow lying was in March 2018). The barometer reached an all-time high for my site (records going back to 1989). It reached 1049.1 on the 19th.

January 2020
Mean Max  8.C  2.0 above average
Mean Min   3.8C   2.6 above average
Mean       6.3C     2.3 above average
Rainfall    65mm  95% of average
Sunshine  53.5 hrs  106% of average

Outlook
Into March, a continuation of unsettled weather is expected, broken by brighter but showery conditions. Temperatures should generally be above normal again for the time of year.

More information at https://www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com  
You can see an improved HD weather-cam, updated at one-minute intervals, at: https://www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com/webcam_alvechurch.php