Wednesday 3 June 2020

Weather log May 2020

Weather log May 2020

Key:


WW = West Wales
Lwn = Llanwnnen
AG = Aldermans Green, Coventry
CL = Church Lawford
ROW = Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire
CC = Capel Curig, Snowdonia
MH = Milford Haven
Mids = Midlands
CITE = Coton-in-the-Elms, Derbyshire

COL = Climatological Observers Link
PWS = Personal weather station



Rather cool first few days soon warmed up with sunny periods:

Wed 6th widely unbroken sun above 14 hours inc Lwn

Fri 7th isolated thundery showers pm, Cbs late afternoon to SE from Lwn, these produced sferics towards Llandovery; also thunder Birmingham area early evening; Shobdon 7.6mm

Sat 9th peak warmth of this spell maxima Lwn 24.7c, Trawsgoed 23.4c, MH 22.7c, Aberporth 18.0c; Newport, Salop 24.6c, CITE 24.5c, Coventry 22.3c. Thunderstorms with hail and over 50mm rain locally pm, especially parts of Wales & the Marches. Observed the convergence line of storms cycling to Lampeter mid afternoon this stretching from east of Lampeter to Saundersfoot in Pembs...much thunder heard, most L blotted out by intense rain cores...only a few spots of rain here..flooding Carmarthen and Gorseinon (near Swansea)

Sun 10th turned much cooler, it had been a very mild night Midlands and South Wales coasts in particular, widely above 12c until the cold front arrived around dawn for Midlands; min Mumbles 13.9c. Still warm in the morning for south and mid Wales but a cool day for the Midlands, max MH 21.0c,  Lwn 19.8c, Trawsgoed 17.4c, CC 12.6c; Pershore 15.1c, Watnall 10.0c, note many places below 10c during the afternoon

Tue 11th widespread air frost, damaging in many places, here at Llanwnnen min -4.2c was the lowest so far into Spring and the second coldest May night (after -4.3c 5/5/19). Other min St Harmon, Powys -5.2c, Tirabad -4.7c, Trawsgoed -2.7c, Pershore -1.9c, CL -1.4c, Aberporth 2.0c, Mumbles 4.8c

Thu 13th cool frosty spell continues min St Harmon -5.3c, Lwn -3.3c, Pershore -2.5c, CC -2.3c, Pembrey 0.5c, Watnall 0.8c, Aberdaron 3.7c; sunny day if cool max Aberporth 10.9c, Lwn 13.8c, Pembrey 15.2c; Newport, Salop 16.0c, CL 13.7c; Aberdaron 15.0 hrs, Shawbury 14.7 hrs,Lwn 14.5 hrs est

Fri 14th last night of widespread frost, min Lwn -3.4c, Tirabad -2.5c, Shobdon -0.5c, CL 4.0c, Aberporth 6.4c 


Very dry first half to May:

Mona 0.6mm
CC 3.6mm
Aberporth 1.2mm
Llanwnnen 0.6mm
MH 1.4mm

Watnall 3.0mm
Shawbury 8.2mm
Coventry 3.0mm
CL 1.0mm
Pershore 0.4mm
Hereford 2.0mm



Another fine warm spell after mid month:

Tue 19th sunny periods, very wam parts of Midlands, rather cloudy still parts of WW; max Wellesbourne 25.2c, Pershore 25.0c, Shawbury 20.9c, Aberporth 17.4c, Lwn 19.8c, Aberporth 13.4c

Wed 20th very warm widely and sunny - Wellesbourne 26.7c, CL & Coventry 26.3c,  Llysdinam, Powys 25.2c, Lwn 24.9c, Shobdon 24.7c,  Aberporth 22.8c, Aberdaron 17.7c

Thu 21st thundery showers parts of Wales early hours, only small amounts of rain, here at Lwn some bright flashes and loud rumbles around 0230..

Some streams completely dried out such as the one that enters Teifi at Parc-y-Rhos, others are a mere trickle; rivers very low.

Fri 22nd - Sat 23rd some rain or showers but small amounts with parts of the Midlands remaining virtually dry, inc Coventry & CL..

Return of predominantly fine, warm to hot and sunny weather in the final week, virtually a heatwave WW:

Thu 28th warm/ very warm and sunny, locally hot WW, max Lwn 27.3c is one of the highest May readings here, some tar melting on the roads stuck to my bike tyres; East Midlands less warm due to east breeze off N Sea...other max Trawsgoed 25.5c, Shawbury 23.9c, Aberporth 23.0c, CL 22.6c

Fri 29th virtually unbroken sunhine and warmth/ heat max 27.3c again Lwn, other max Gogerddan 26.1c, Aberporth & Trawsgoed 25.5c, MH 21.3c; CITE 25.2c, Pershore 24.9c, Coventry 22.9c; sunshine Lwn est 15.5 hrs cloudless; Shawbury 15.2 hrs, Aberdaron 15.1 hrs, Aberporth 14.3 hrs. Officially today the UK hotspot was 28.0c in the Scottish Highlands.

Sat 30th repeat greatest warmth WW again with the east breeze..max Lwn...27.0c (third successive over 27c has nt happened before although had two 28c in May 2017); other max today Porthmadog 26.2c, Pershore 25.2c, Trawsgoed 24.9c, Coleshill 24.7c, Pembrey 24.6c, Nottingham 23.2c, Mumbles 22.0c

Sun 31st. Porthmadog 28.0c (hottest in UK), Llanwnnen 27.2c, CITE 26.1c, Aberporth & Pershore 25.8c, Watnall 24.1c, Mona 22.7c; another very sunny day (Aberdaron 14.9 hrs, Lwn 14 hrs est)



Nature notes

First Raspberries were forming late April; Cow Parsley coming out late April

Sat 2nd first screaming Swift in the village. Countryside Bluebells peaking magnificently, still a few Celandine along lanes, plenty of Stitchwort and Red Campion; May blossom starting to appear


Tue 5th c 10 Swift screaming above the garden/ village this evening; 4/5 Swift Lampeter being affected by the scaffolding (lockdown means they had to stop work in March) thankfully only a small portion of the building scaffolded and at least some of the nettting removed at my request this week..

Thu 7th Llwyndrissi forestry first Cuckoo heard calling down hillside towards Ty Mawr; also few Whitethroat calling, Wood Warbler heard down lane, many Willow Warbler, some Chiffchaff which are now less vocal than during April...

Sat 9th first Laburnum in flower Maestir

Apple Blossom mostly ended garden by mid month, it did well to stay on 2 to 3 weeks..

Tue 12th frost damage hereabouts to Hydrangea, new Ash leaves and freshly unfurled ferns, sad to see as it also happened in May last year (2019 and 20 are the only years below -3c in May recorded since records began here in 2006)...

Wed 13th Llwyndrissi forestry probable Goshawk flying from me darker than a Buzzard, plentiful WW and Chiffchaff

Thu 14th first Foxgloves in bloom

Thu 14th shocked by extent of frost damage locally, this particularly evident along Neuadd Lane in the village, damage to most hedgerow trees and shrub species inc Ash, Oak, Sycamore, Hazel, Beech, Birch, Ivy and of course ferns, one stretch especially bad with much of the hedgerow affected being, wilted, browned or burnt off for 50 metres or so where a minor side valley ponds against the hedgerow on the north flank of the lane, it must have been a degree or two colder here cf the -4c in our garden the other night and -3c last night. Never seen such damage in May like this. Further along some about to bloom Foxgloves wilted, then on the main road one of the mature Ash burnt almost to the top of the tree..very sad what with dieback disease ravaging these trees too. Earlier cycling today it was evident that most of the frost damage was restricted to below 100/ 150 feet  from the valley bottoms, patches here and there higher up where flatter land. Noticed also the fresh Holly leaves burnt in the garden.

Experienced first grass pollen induced hay fever of the season by mid month, the earliest I have ever had it.

Sat 16th 4 House Martin village this evening; there are often about 10 Swift but not every day.

Countryside Bluebells passing peak mid month, a fantastic showing this Spring!

Tue 19th cycling late afternoon Aberduar chapel, Llanybydder a few Swift, also H Sparrow and Starling nesting in the gap provided (could hear young Starling that will fledge shortly)

Lawns turning brown  after mid month, we do keep them short with weekly cuts though..

Wed 20th lane by forestry to view Labernums, they had barely begun to start flowering so peak must be a fortnight off.

Llwyndrissi forestry Nightjars and Cuckoo! First Nightjars started churring 2140 when getting quite dark, did not see any, but listened until almost dark 2230, usual areas, walking back to car close by Njar within 50m very loud within 100m of car; Cuckoo first heard on arrival SE corner of forestry, then towards dusk down by road just above care home was quite continuous until well after sunset; also the Cuckoo called a few times from forestry just above Njar zone and nearby but kept returning after brief bouts to its favoured area down by main road; surprised then walking back to car at 2215 in near dark that a brief Cuckoo loud and very close (within 30m?) and just before the loud Njar was to be heard few minutes later! Other birds - many Willow Warbler, few Wood Warbler, few Redstart (I think), Skylark, Jay, Garden Warbler, few Chiffchaff...
Driving away end of lane small Fox cub almost ran it over it was on edge of lane car passes within 1 metre, it was below 1 foot long.

Full on hay fever last week of May, dont usually get this until well into June

Still fair few Holly berries remaining on from Winter (as they did last year til end of June).


Wed 28th 10-12 H Martin over the garden

Thankfully most Ash trees have recovered from the frost damage and are readily sprouting fresh leaves!
Bluebells mostly over month end.
Raspberries halted forming by the drought, need a good drop of rain in June to get decent ones.


SWIFT updates late May:

Llanwnnen: 4 eggs smashed on ground, 3 at front of hall, one to rear, likely fighting rivals over nest sites/ females, or less likely by accident; generally most days see around 10-15 birds and screaming activity in the evenings; .Lwn 28th about 15 birds at dusk over the church, one entering hole in SE corner of church.

Llanybydder: chapel, 6 birds late afernoon Mon 25th no entries made (I was cycling and paused to watch for just 5 minutes), however much in and out activity from a pair of Starling and 3 pairs of House Sparrow, the Starling young audible sounding ready to fledge. Hopefully these wont deter the Swifts or make life too difficult! House Sparrows seen using the old station building and Swifts have been seen around it, only a few birds (6 max) seen in the vicinity of the warehouse though so quiet here, though not been there at dusk as yet; 10 Swift RhydyBont chapel.

Lampeter: only been there in the afternoons once or twice weekly, a few birds (up to 4) so  hopefully more to come, will try an evening before month end..then 12 - 15 Swift Uni Wed 27th evening...the scaffolding does nt seem to be unduly concerning them thankfully..H Sparrow chicks seen poking out of one of the Swift boxes they put up last Summer will be interesting if Swifts eventually use them.


May 2020 summary 

Exceptionally dry and sunny; warm by day

Many areas had their driest and sunniest May on record.
Lwn 8.9mm driest on record beating 33.9mm from 2019, Coventry 3.0mm the driest May on record (began 1870) and driest of any month since Feb 1961 (2.0mm). For Wales as a whole this has been the second driest May (overall average 14mm) since records began in 1862.


Rainfall totals May 2020


Valley 7.4mm (15%)
CC 25.6mm (19%)
Aberdaron 9.2mm (18%)
Trawsgoed 6.4mm (9%)
Aberporth 6.6mm (12%)
Llanwnnen 8.9mm (12%)
Pembrey 13.0mm (19%)
MH 10.2mm (16%)
Mumbles 12.2mm (19%)


Watnall, Notts 4.2mm (8%)
Shawbury, Salop 11.4mm (16%)
Coleshill, Warks 2.4mm (5%)
Coventry, Bablake school 3.0mm (5%)
Church Lawford, Warks 1.0mm (2%) 
Pershore, Worc 1.8mm (3%)
Hereford 3.2mm (6%)

Benson, Oxon 0.0mm (0%)!



Sunshine May 2020

Exceptionally sunny, Welsh coasts over 300 hrs!

Valley 312.3 hrs (154%)
Aberdaron 308.3 hrs
Aberporth 306.0 hrs (147%)
Llanwnnen 271 hrs (148%)

Watnall, Notts 259.8 hrs (143%)
Shawbury, Salop 263.1 hrs (160%)
Coventry 288.5 hrs (151%)





Spring 2020 summary

Exceptionally sunny, very dry and warm

Record beater widely for sunshine, one of the driest Springs, warm by day, nights nearer average.
Llanwnnen 139.8mm (59%) rainfall (beating 143.6mm Spring 2011). For Wales as a whole this has been the fifth driest Spring on record since records began, driest was in 1893 see:

https://twitter.com/DerekTheWeather/status/1266337089337032704




Rain totals Spring 2020


Valley 52.2mm
Aberporth 82.2mm
Llanwnnen 139.8mm (59%)
Mumbles, Swansea 132.6mm

Watnall, Notts 54.2mm
Coleshill 63.0mm
Coventry 64.2mm (41%)
Pershore, Worc 52.2mm
Hereford 81.8mm



Sunshine Spring 2020

Lwn sunniest Spring (smashing 491 hrs 2015).
Coventry sunniest Spring on record beating 626.6 hrs 1990



Valley 705.5 hrs
Aberporth, Ceredigion 700.1 hrs
Lwn total est sunshine 607 hrs (143%)

Watnall 630.6 hrs
Shawbury 629.6 hrs
Coventry, Bablake school 687.6 hrs (150%)
Wellesbourne, Warks