If there was one thing that made the early months of lockdown bearable for many people, it was the weather.
As Villagers found themselves with the time to explore their local area, on foot or on bicycle, we were blessed with a very dry and sunny April followed by an even drier May, with more than 250 hours of sunshine to bask in.
The last four months followed the trend of warmer than average months.
April was one of the warmest in my 30-year records, with a mean temperature of 10.5C (2.3C above the expected value) and May was one of the driest and sunniest months in all my local records, taken from 1990-2020.
Sunshine was measured at 254 hours. Only July 2006 with 279 hours was sunnier. Rainfall was only 5.6mm, one of the driest months over the same 30-year period. There had been only two drier months: July 2011, with 4.0mm of rainfall, and June 2018, with 5.5mm.
Rainfall was below normal for March, April and May, although the rainfall in June soon made up for this, with 95.9mm.
The reason for the spring anomalies was a high pressure area blocking the Atlantic low pressure areas, bringing, warmer and drier conditions from the south and south east.
This returned to a more normal westerly flow from early June.
The month started with a couple of warm days followed by cooler wet conditions from the 3rd to the 20th.Temperatures increased from the 21st to the end of the month with a max of 29.3C on the 28th, the mean temperature of 15.3C was 0.9C above the local 30-year mean.
But the month overall was very wet, with 95.9mm of rainfall – 162% of the local mean – and three thunder days, on the 13th 16th and 17th.
Lockdown Weather Stats
March 2020
Mean Max 10.3C 0.3 above average
Mean Min 2.6C 0.2 above average
Mean 6.5C 0.3 above average
Rainfall 40.4mm 90% of average
Sunshine 121.3hrs 128% of average
April 2020
Mean Max 16.1C 3.3 above average
Mean Min 5.0C 1.4 above average
Mean 10.5C 2.3 above average
Rainfall 36.6mm 55% of average
Sunshine 204.1hrs 173% of average
May 2020
Mean Max 18.8C 2.5 above average
Mean Min 6.9C 0.2 above average
Mean 12.9C 1.4 above average
Rainfall 5.6mm 10% of average
Sunshine 253.9hrs 168% of average
June 2020
Mean Max 19.9C 0.9 above average
Mean Min 10.7C 0.9 above average
Mean 15.3C 0.9 above average
Rainfall 95.9mm 161% of average
Sunshine 154.4hrs 114% of average
Spring Averages 2020
The figures for the average temperature and rainfall over March, April and May show that it was indeed very dry and sunny, with half as much sunshine again than would be expected and less than half the rainfall:
Mean Max 18.8C 2.1 above average
Mean Min 4.8C 0.6 above average
Mean 10.0C 1.4 above average
Rainfall 83.1mm 48% of average
Sunshine 579.2hrs 159% of average
More information at www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com You can see an improved HD weather-cam, updated at one-minute intervals, at: www.alvechurchweather.metsite.com/webcam_alvechurch.php
