Wet was the year that was!

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:34:00 GMT

Wet, wet, wet are the only three words I can use to describe the rainfall we experienced in 2012! 

Only 114 days of the year had no rainfall, which meant that it rained on 68.8% of the days in the year.  A total of 1119.42mm of rainfall was recorded during 2012, compared to the average figure of 823.6mm. making it the wettest year since our records began and – according to the Met Office - the second wettest year in the UK since weather records began. 

The wettest month of the year was April, with 147.4mm of rainfall (13.2% of the year’s total) and this was very closely followed by June with 145.22mm.  The wettest day of the year was Friday 22^nd June, when 38.8mm of rainfall was recorded.  The driest month of the year was March, with just 17.2mm of rainfall.  The driest spell of the year was between Saturday 19^th May and Tuesday 29^th May.  The wettest spell was between April 16^th and Tuesday 1^st May when a total of 106.6mm of rainfall was recorded.

The warmest month of the year was August, with an average temperature of 16.7˚C.  The warmest day of the year was 24^th July, when an average temperature of 21.9 C was recorded.  The highest temperature during the year was 28.3˚C recorded on Thursday 24^th May, making it the highest recorded temperature for May since our records began. 

The coldest month of the year was December, with an average temperature of 5.24˚C.  The coldest day of the year was Thursday 13^th December, with an average temperature of -1.9˚C.  The lowest recorded temperature for the year was -5.1˚C on Wednesday 8^th December.

The windiest month of the year was April with an average wind speed of 14.22km/hr.  The windiest day of the year was April 28^th with an average wind speed of 41.04km/hr making it the windiest day since February 4^th 2011.  The highest gust of wind for the whole year was 115.2km/hr recorded on April 4^th; the highest gust recorded since November 26^th 2011.

 

2012 round-up month-by-month

All average figures are those recorded by the Applied Sciences weather station since 1990

• January -It was both the warmest and wettest January since 2008.  Just five days of the month escaped rainfall.
• February - A cold start to the month meant temperatures fell below zero on all but one of the first eleven days of the month.  It was particularly dry, with just 25.2mm of rainfall, just 34% of the expected rainfall figure of 73.34mm expected for this time of the year, making it the third equal driest February since our records began.
• March - It was the warmest March since 1997 as well as one of the driest since our records began.  The monthly temperature was 8.95˚C making it 1.74˚C higher than the average figure for March of 7.21˚C.  Wednesday 28th was the second warmest March day since our records began with an average temperature of 15.6˚C.  Temperatures reached 22.8˚C on Tuesday 27^th – the highest recorded temperature for March since our records began.  Only 17.2mm of rainfall was recorded compared to the average figure of 58.7mm.
• April – April was the 13^th wettest month out of all months since our records began, 147.4mm of rainfall was recorded compared to the average figure of 57.01mm.  Only three days escaped rainfall.  The monthly recorded temperature of 7.33˚C was almost two degrees lower than the average for April of 9.31˚C making it the coolest April since our records began.  April was the windiest month of the year.
• May - 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.  Wednesday 23^rd was the third warmest day in May recorded since our records began with an average temperature of 20.9˚C.  The highest maximum temperature for the month was 28.3˚C, the highest recorded temperature for May since our records began.
• June – It was the coolest June since 1991 with only 8 days of the month escaping rainfall.  Significant rain fell throughout the month making it the wettest June since 2007 and the second wettest since our record began.  145.22mm was recorded compared to the average of 66.6mm.  Friday 22^nd was the wettest day of the year with 38.8mm (27% of the month’s total), it was the wettest day recorded since September 5^th 2008.  High wind speeds were also recorded during the month.
• July – It was the fifth coolest July since our records began with monthly temperatures over a degree cooler than average.  It was by far the wettest July experienced locally since our records began with 146mm of rainfall recorded (average 60.14mm). It was the third month this year to have rainfall figures in excess of 145mm which has never happened before in the history of the weather station!
• August – It was the warmest August since 2009, however the weather station recorded the lowest temperature for August since our records began on Thursday 30^th of 4.3˚C (average 7.7˚C).  This was also the second coldest August day since our records began.  Rainfall totals were slightly above average however, totals for the summer as a whole resulted in the wettest recorded summer for over 100 years. 
• September – The beginning of the month saw nine days with no rainfall and temperatures reaching over 25˚C, the rest of the month experienced rainfall on every day with below average temperatures. The monthly temperature was 13.24˚C (average 14.24 ˚C) making it the coolest September since 1994.  It was the second wettest September since 1990 with a total of 110.8mm (average 61.45mm)
• October - It was a cool and damp October with temperatures over 1.5˚C cooler than average and whilst the amount of rainfall recorded was around average for the time of year only four days of the month escaped rainfall.
• November - Temperatures for the month were nearly half a degree cooler than average temperatures expected for the time of year.  Above average rainfall was experienced with very few days escaping rain, the wind speeds for the month were much lower than average.
• December - The monthly mean temperature was slightly above average, however the second half of the month was significantly warmer than the first.  It was the seventh wettest December since our records began with 129.8mm of rainfall.   It was the fourth month of the year where rainfall totals exceeded 100mm.

 

Weather Watch – December 2012

The monthly mean temperature was slightly above average however, the second half of the month was significantly warmer than the first.  It was the seventh wettest December since our records began and added to the rainfall total it was the wettest year since our records began.  The average figures are those recorded by the Applied Sciences weather station since 1990.

The monthly mean temperature was 5.24˚C compared to the average figure for December of 4.94˚C.   The warmest day of the month was Friday 28^th with an average temperature of 11.8 C.  The highest maximum temperature of 14˚C was recorded on Saturday 22^nd.  The coldest day of the month was Thursday 13^th with an average temperature of -1.9˚C, the lowest minimum temperature of -3.5˚C was also recorded on this day.  Severe black ice was experienced on Friday 14^th December causing many accidents on the roads and injuries to people due to falling on the ice.  The temperature fell below zero on 7 days of the month.

A total of 129.8mm of rainfall was recorded during the month compared to the average figure for December of 96.63mm making it the 7^th wettest December since our records began and the fourth month this year where rainfall totals have exceeded 100mm.  The wettest day of the month was Friday 14^th with 13.6mm of rain (10.5% of the month’s total rainfall).  Just seven days of the month escaped rainfall with no significant dry spells.

The mean wind speed for the month was 11.05km/hr.  The highest mean wind speed was 37.8km/hr recorded on Sunday 30^th.   The highest gust of wind was 102.96km/hr recorded on Saturday 22^nd.

The prevailing wind direction for the month was southwest.

 

Back to news index - All Stories