Weather Notes 

Local 5 Day Weather Forecast

Weather Notes Archive

Heavy Winter Rain

It is said that the key months for replenishment of the aquifers deep underground are the six winter months, from the beginning of October to the end of March, when there is minimum evaporation and the plants have stopped taking up water for growth.  In 2006/7, we recorded 26.55 inches of rain in these six months, well above the recent average of about 20 inches (and in fact more than fell in all 12 months of 2005), so despite the dry spell of the last few weeks, we can hope there will be no hose-pipe bans, and that the Pillhill Brook will continue to flow throughout the year.     DJSW  May 2007

No April showers this year !

What a month April was, barely a cloud in the sky from beginning to end, and, by all accounts, the warmest April on record. Here we measured only 0.12 inches of rain in the whole month, the lowest of any calendar month over the last 18 years. There was a spell of 22 consecutive days, 31st March to 21st April, without any rain at all – the last time we had a similar run was in 1997 (21st March to 16th April). Interestingly, it is not unusual for there to be dry spells in March or April, often accompanied as in this year by very drying northerly or easterly winds. But what a contrast May has been: chill, windy and wet, with over 2¾ inches of rain. No global warming in sight at the moment!     DJSW June 2007

Rainfall in 2007

We measured just a shade under 36 inches of rain in East Cholderton last year, only about an inch more than the recent average; but this figure masks some quite considerable variations. For example, April - normally quite a wet month - was almost bone-dry throughout with only 0.12 inches (no April showers there!): and there was a long dry spell of 30 days, from 21 August to 19 September, in which no measurable rain fell at all. In marked contrast May, June and July were all unusually wet and we recorded 14.25 inches, an increase of nearly 60% on the average of 9 inches for these three months.

Such are the vagaries of the English weather that almost any month can turn out to be the wettest of the year, but the accolade must usually go to November, averaging about 4 inches; and our records here suggest that no month averages less than 2 inches. 
DJSW Feb 2008  

No settled weather yet

This year has seen a long drawn out spring with predominantly cool weather and a greater than average rainfall. The six key months for replenishing the underground water levels, October to March, were in fact about 2½ inches below the average, but this has been more than made up by 3½ inches falling in May and more in early June (the 11 days starting on 23 May gave us just under 4½ inches), so farmland and gardens have had good growing weather. Now lets hope for some warmth for the rest of the summer. DJSW July 2008

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