University weather watch - May 2012
Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:27:00 BST
MAY 2012 had both the warmest and the coldest temperatures ever recorded for the month by School of Applied Sciences weather station.
Overall, temperatures for May were slightly below average for the time of year. A cool start to the month was followed by a few exceptional temperatures recorded towards the latter half of the month. Rainfall was average although it was the wettest May since 2009.
The monthly mean temperature was 12.23˚C compared to the average for May of 12.48˚C. The warmest day of the month was Wednesday 23rd with an average temperature of 20.9˚C making it the third warmest day recorded for May since our records began.
The highest maximum temperature of the month was 28.3˚C recorded on Thursday 24th making it the highest temperature recorded for May since our records began.
The week between Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 30th saw average daily temperatures of 18.75˚C. The coldest day of the month was Saturday 5th with an average temperature of 5.1˚C, the minimum temperature of 0˚C was also recorded on this day which is the first time the temperature has fallen to zero in May since our records began.
A total of 50.4mm of rainfall was recorded during the month almost equal to the average figure for May of 50.6mm. The wettest day of the month was Wednesday 9th with 25.8mm of rain (51.2% of the month’s total rainfall) making it the joint wettest day since the 3rd February 2011. Eighteen days of the month escaped rainfall, the driest spell falling between Saturday 19th and Monday 28th.
The mean wind speed for the month was 12.64km/hr. The highest mean wind speed was 27.36km/hr recorded on Sunday 13th. The highest gust of wind for the whole month was 100.8km/hr again recorded on Sunday 13th.
The prevailing wind direction for the month was east.
The average figures are those recorded since 1990 by the School of Applied Sciences weather station.
