WEATHERFRONT

Welcome to the first edition of a new feature that will report on the weather we have endured (or enjoyed) since the last White Admiral was published. I have kept weather records for over ten years now and so have amassed a deal of data. I measure daily rainfall in a normal rain gauge as found in any garden centre. The temperatures are recorded on a ‘max/min’ thermometer from the same source. Windspeeds are assessed and come mainly as light, medium or strong. If I am blown over they are gale force or I’ve had one over the eight!

As this is a new feature it will take me time to find reliable sources for information from every corner of the county. I am working on this but I will always be pleased to receive any data collected by readers. As I live in Ringshall, the details below refer to mid-Suffolk. I have also compared my figures with the averages for East Anglia as a whole. I am grateful to Ken Blowers, the weatherman of the East Anglian Daily Times, for this information.

March was a blustery month with winds mainly from the northwest. For four days the winds came from the southeast and were very much stronger. I recorded only three calm days.

Rainfall was slightly less than March 2004 with only 27.5mm against 34.5. However, the number of wet days was the same at 15. We endured three days of snow this year whereas in 2004 there was only one. I find snow very difficult to record accurately so I stick to a method that seems to work. I bring the rain gauge full of snow indoors until it melts and then I record the liquid level.

The temperatures in March hopped about quite a lot. The warm start soon plunged to a cold spell. In the middle of the month it played the trick typical of our climate and jumped up to unseasonably high temperatures. I recorded a high of 19ºC.  The temperature chart was broadly similar in 2004 but it climbed no higher than 16ºC.

The average daytime temperature was 8ºC for East Anglia whilst tropical Ringshall enjoyed an average of 9ºC. Ringshall’s night-time average of 3.6º exceeded the East Anglian average of 1.6ºC.

April saw the wind switching from the southeast to the northeast for equal periods of time. There were four calm days amongst some very blustery ones.

This month was considerably drier than April 2004 when I recorded 66.5mm of rain. This year delivered only 39mm. We had 12 wet days against 20 last year. Both March and April have been very variable over the last decade. March 2001 was very wet with a total of 95mm whereas 1997 could only squeeze 14mm. April 2001 followed the wet March by producing 73.5mm but in 1996 it could only manage a puny 1.8mm.

Although temperatures took a dip at the start of the month they gradually climbed to reach a very pleasant 18ºC by the end. In 2004 the highest daytime temperature was 23º but the average temperature was almost exactly the same as this year’s 13.5ºC.

I also take note of the mean temperature, defined as the difference between the highest and the lowest. If this is very different from the average temperature it indicates some unusual fluctuations. This was the case with April where some sharp changes in temperature occurred. Average daytime temperature was slightly above the 11.6 for the whole of East Anglia and the night-time lowest for Ringshall was 2ºC compared with 3.3ºC for the whole area.

May is the month when we think of summer. People dance round maypoles and plan all sorts of outdoor activities. I can only assume that when these traditions began the climate was different for recent times have given us cold evenings and unsettled weather in May.

This year was no different. The wind was either in the northwest or the southeast. It was mainly blustery with some very windy days towards the end of the month. There were only three calm days.

The average night-time temperature was 6.4ºC, which was one degree lower than last year for the same period.  This was the same as the daytime average of 15.2ºC. The month started warm but temperatures dipped sharply by the 4^th and climbed in spasms towards the end. Again we experienced a sudden rise in temperatures to a very high temperature. I recorded this as 25ºC in Ringshall. I recorded 30º in May 1995 but as you will see below this is in contrast with records from the rest of the region.

There was a fair bit of rain but my records show this month to have a very variable rainfall total. In fact I collected 52.5mm, which fell over 15 days at an average of 1.7mm.The average rainfall for East Anglia was 3.5mm.

There were 192.4 hours of sunshine, which is below the average 212. The lowest temperature was 1.6ºC on the twelfth. Ringshall’s lowest was 2º on the 4^th and the 10^th.

The highest temperature recorded in East Anglia was 30.5ºC,  the highest for fifty years! The average highest for the region was 27.2ºC.