Category: Uncategorized

The after effects of Storm Callum

Storm Callum, the third named storm to hit the UK, was enhanced by Hurricane Leslie which has been churning in the Atlantic for the last three weeks, as it interacted with a strong depression in the Atlantic and as a result boosted the amount of warm air. As members know warm air contains a lot of moisture and boy, did we get it. In the 48 hours from 0800 BST on Friday to 0800 BST on Sunday we received 53mm of rain (around two inches) or a month’s worth. This as a result saw our local river surge to a height of 102cm (3 feet 4 inches) or some 50cm (20 inches) above flood stage, but although we did not have much in the way of flooding other parts of Ceredigion were less lucky with the towns of Lampeter and Aberaeron receiving damage from floods (including up to nine boats critically damaged in Aberaeron harbour and the main supermarket in Lampeter being flooded).

Weekly Averages for Llanrhystud : July 1 – 7 2018

Average daytime high: 73°F
July average daytime high: 67°F
Average night time low: 64°F
July average night time low: 53°F
Total rainfall: 0.002 inches
July average rainfall (per week): 0.625 inches
Average windspeed: 0.45mph

Summary: Heatwave conditions are still with us and looking at the forecast will remain with us for the whole of next week before breaking around next Tuesday, meaning that this heatwave will have lasted no less than 23 days.

Weather Observations : July 5th 2018

Maximum Temperature: 69°F
Minimum Temperature: 60°F
This is the first occasion since this heatwave started on June 24th of the daytime and night time temperatures being in the same band (in this case 60°F to 69°F)
Rainfall: Nil
Wind speed (at 0800 BST): Calm
Weather: Unbroken Sunshine

So far this heatwave has seen the following temperature ranges:

Maximum Maximum: 79°F (July 2nd 2018)
Minimum Maximum: 66°F (June 24th 2018)
Maximum Minimum: 69°F (June 30th 2018)
Minimum Minimum: 57°F (June 24th 2018)

Weather Observations : July 1st 2018

Now that I have a max / min thermometer, a wind speed guage and a rain guage, I am now able to join in with everyone else who posts their observations. And, although the United Kingdom uses metric measurements (°C and mm), I have decided to use imperial measurements (°F and inches) so that no one gets confused. All observations are taken at 0800 local time and refer to the previous 24 hours.

Maximum temperature: 75.7°F
Average maximum for July: 67.0°F
Minimum temperature: 66.4°F
Average minimum for July: 53.0°F
Cooling Degree Day: 6.05
Rainfall: 0.002 inches

I suppose it had to happen

Starting at 6.00pm BST this evening, a province wide hosepipe ban will be enacted across the whole of Northern Ireland with NI Water has appealed for people not to use water for washing cars, filling pools, or sprinkling gardens, as supply failures have already hit some areas.
It comes as temperatures are set to hit 29C on Friday, just a fraction lower than highs of 30.5C Thursday which is going to come as bad news for the 25 fighters are battling a major gorse fire on the Glenshane Pass, which has been burning for three days and now has a front up to 500m long.

And it gets worse as a man is arrested for causing a grass fire in Bolton, not far from the fire on Saddleworth Moor.

Man arrested on suspicion of arson in Lancashire

Ballycastle in Northen Ireland

With Wales having boasted two days of being the hottest place in the UK

Now comes the downside, grass fires. First, a major one, which is still happening in moorlands of Greater Manchester. Saddleworth Moor (which lends its name to the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency) has been burning since Sunday evening and is now classed as a major incident by Greater Manchester Police and the City of Manchester Fire Service

Saddleworth Moor Fire now a “major incident”

Saddleworth Moor

Stalybridge

And at the same time, not too far from where I live, a grass fire caused the closure of the Vale of Rheidol small guage railway line so that the fire service could attend.

Ceredigion Grass Fire Reports

Cwm Rhiedol Grass Fire

Gobbledygook is the last thing we need during a heatwave

The Misadventures of Gobbledegook the Turkey

Dictionary.com defines “Gobbledygook” as:

language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of technical terms.

And it is my belief that the definition of a heatwave from the UK Met Office meets the definition precisely:

A heatwave refers to a prolonged period of hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. The World Meteorological Organization guidance around the definition of a heatwave is “A marked unusual hot weather (Max, Min and daily average) over a region persisting at least two consecutive days during the hot period of the year based on local climatological conditions, with thermal conditions recorded above given thresholds.” They are common in the northern and southern hemisphere during summer, but classification and impacts vary globally.

The British Summer gets a boost

The more observant of you will have noticed that the British weather of late has been lacking in action. Indeed, aside from storm Hector (as the Irish called it) since about the beginning of May it’s been so quiet, I’ve had nothing much to talk about (as demonstrated by this chart showing how dry it was in May)

Rainfall in May 2018 (compared to the long term average)

Well, this week is going to see those numbers for June look comparable (or even more dry) as we are now in what is termed an Omega high (because that’s what it looks like) and for us here in Ceredigion, we are expecting the following temperatures over the course of the week

Sunday: 21°C (70°F), Monday: 23°C (73°F), Tuesday: 25°C (77°F), Wednesday: 26°C (79°F), Thursday: 25°C (77°F), Friday: 24°C (75°F) and Saturday: 22°C (72°F)

All of which are above the long term average for June of 18°C (64°F), therefore I am going to (starting today) use my maximum / minimum thermometer (in the alleyway which is shaded 24/7 and is 5ft in the air) to record this long spell of warmth and see how I compare with the official recordings at Trawsgoed (inland) and Aberporth (coastal)