Weather log June 2020
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
Fine warm weather lasted into the first couple of days of June then a big change to much cooler, cloudier weather with some rain or showers
Wed 3rd mostly cloudy and cool with some rain in many places though some spots escaped mostly dry still. Maxima generally around 10c lower than yesterday, Lwn from 24.3c yesterday to 14.0c, Aberdaron 23.3c to 13.1c, Pershore 26.5c to 14.9c and Coventry 24.2c down to 14.2c for example. 0.2mm at Church Lawford, Warwickshire was enough to end the 32 day 'official drought' there since a meagre 1.0mm fell May 1st!
Fri 5th showers in places with thunder locally, generally not large amounts of rain though..
Sat 6th cool almost everywhere bar Worcestershire, very cool and wet much of WW, max just 10.3c here in Lwn, the second lowest June reading (after 9.8c last year 11th)...showery Midlands with downpours, hail and thunder in quite a few areas, inc Coventry...locally an inch of rain.. even a report of sleet over the Brecon Beacons..other maxima Libanus, Powys 10.4c, Aberporth 11.0c, Valley 13.8c; CL 14.1c, Hereford 16.7c, Pershore 19.3c; Capel Curg 30.4mm rainfall
Sun 7th decidedly cool day again with a few showers but mostly dry...
Wed 10th significant rain much of Wales, widely over an inch in south and west, locally 3 inches...Mumbles 68.2mm, Aberporth 51.8mm, Llanwnnen 29.3mm
Became warm and showery mid month:
Sat 13th scattered heavy showers and thunder, these affecting Coventry and Rugby areas in the evening, localised torrential downpours and much TL reported, whilelaces adjacent escaped dry; temperatures 25c in places Porthmadog 25.5c highest in UK, Pershore 24.6c, Lwn 22.9c, Shobdon 22.2c, Trawsgoed 22.1c, Mumbles 19.7c
Sun 14th scattered showers with thunder in places again, Shawbury, Salop 31.0mm wettest place in UK
Mon 15th repeat, warm Midlands, showers and thunder in places, less widespread though, max Astwood Bank, Worc 25.4c warmest in UK, Coventry 24.6c, Lwn 19.3c, Valley 15.5c
Tue 16th another day of thundery downpours, more widespread and slow - moving, we caught a decent storm late morning with close-by lightning and quite loud thunder..some severe storms over the Midlands, most places inc Coventry & Rugby catching at least one storm, the radar suggesting 3 inches locally, though as ever in these situations some places escaped largely dry; official rainfall totals Market Bosworth, Leic 49.8mm, Llysdinam, Powys 45.0mm, ROW 22.8mm, Coleshill 19.4mm, Watnall, Notts 0.4mm, Aberdaron 0.0mm
Wed 17th repeat as thundery downpours became widespread pm, thunder at Lwn, Coventry & Rugby afternoon, large falls upwards of 2 inches once more very locally but some places escaped mostly dry. Localised flooding and even a few funnel clouds reported as they have been over recent days
Fri 5th showers in places with thunder locally, generally not large amounts of rain though..
Sat 6th cool almost everywhere bar Worcestershire, very cool and wet much of WW, max just 10.3c here in Lwn, the second lowest June reading (after 9.8c last year 11th)...showery Midlands with downpours, hail and thunder in quite a few areas, inc Coventry...locally an inch of rain.. even a report of sleet over the Brecon Beacons..other maxima Libanus, Powys 10.4c, Aberporth 11.0c, Valley 13.8c; CL 14.1c, Hereford 16.7c, Pershore 19.3c; Capel Curg 30.4mm rainfall
Sun 7th decidedly cool day again with a few showers but mostly dry...
Wed 10th significant rain much of Wales, widely over an inch in south and west, locally 3 inches...Mumbles 68.2mm, Aberporth 51.8mm, Llanwnnen 29.3mm
Became warm and showery mid month:
Sat 13th scattered heavy showers and thunder, these affecting Coventry and Rugby areas in the evening, localised torrential downpours and much TL reported, whilelaces adjacent escaped dry; temperatures 25c in places Porthmadog 25.5c highest in UK, Pershore 24.6c, Lwn 22.9c, Shobdon 22.2c, Trawsgoed 22.1c, Mumbles 19.7c
Sun 14th scattered showers with thunder in places again, Shawbury, Salop 31.0mm wettest place in UK
Mon 15th repeat, warm Midlands, showers and thunder in places, less widespread though, max Astwood Bank, Worc 25.4c warmest in UK, Coventry 24.6c, Lwn 19.3c, Valley 15.5c
Tue 16th another day of thundery downpours, more widespread and slow - moving, we caught a decent storm late morning with close-by lightning and quite loud thunder..some severe storms over the Midlands, most places inc Coventry & Rugby catching at least one storm, the radar suggesting 3 inches locally, though as ever in these situations some places escaped largely dry; official rainfall totals Market Bosworth, Leic 49.8mm, Llysdinam, Powys 45.0mm, ROW 22.8mm, Coleshill 19.4mm, Watnall, Notts 0.4mm, Aberdaron 0.0mm
Wed 17th repeat as thundery downpours became widespread pm, thunder at Lwn, Coventry & Rugby afternoon, large falls upwards of 2 inches once more very locally but some places escaped mostly dry. Localised flooding and even a few funnel clouds reported as they have been over recent days
Thu 18th cool and wet for many, widely around one inch rain today, 2 inches in some spots, cool and generally cloudy, this after a mild night, min 12.7c here at Lwn, the mildest of the 2020 to date; max Porthmadog 17.9c, Lwn 16.5c, CL 16.4c, Watnall 15.7c, Aberporth 13.7c; rainfall Mumbles 46.6mm, Astwood Bank, Worc 40.0mm, Hereford 20.8mm, Lwn 19.3mm, Aberdaron 4.8mm
Sun 21st last day of the unsettled, wet spell which has seen almost 4 inches of rain here at Llanwnnen since 10th so making up the Spring deficit!
Tue 23rd brief hot spell getting going...max Pershore 27.4c, Coventry 26.4c, Lwn, Shawbury & Shobdon 24.9c, Trawsgoed 24.7c, Aberdaron 16.9c (NW Wales only saw sun late in the day)
Wed 24th widely hot and sunny, particularly Midlands...topped 30c in places, hottest day of Summer 2020 to date..maxima Pershore 30.9c, CL 29.5c, Llanwnnen 27.5c (highest of the year to date), Mumbles 27.2c, Aberporth 20.8c..
Thu 25th peak heat day of this spell, very high temperatures for June with many places above 30c, Lwn 31.3c the second highest June reading here (31.4c 26/6/18); other max ROW 31.4c, Gogerddan & Trawsgoed c 31c, CITE 30.1c, Coventry 30.0c, Nottingham 28.9c, MH 25.8c. Thunderstorms affected parts of Wales during the late afternoon and evening, some vivid lightning and loud thunder here towards midnight
Fri 26th warmest night of the year to date for many places, min 15.6c here at Lwn, other min Pershore 18.5c, Coventry 17.6c, Valley 16.9c, Watnall 15.4c. Temperatures barely rose all day for much of WW with a lot of cloud in the cooler air, though one more hot day for the Midlands with thunderstorms for Shropshire in the morning and the Nottingham area afternoon. Here at Lwn max below 17c, Aberdaron 14.9c, Mona 20.8c, Shobdon 25.5c, Coventry 28.6c, Nottingham 28.9c
Cool, dull and sometimes damp end to the month
Nature notes:
Mon 1st first visit to Longwood since late March owing to Covid19 restrictions:
Plentiful Warblers - Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroats, also Redstarts. Ponds that were installed Winter 2018/19 very low indeed after the very dry, sunny Spring. Also plenty of Darters and large Dragonflies around the ponds and Grasshoppers.
Lampeter Uni 12- 15 Swift not seeming to bothered by the scaffolding (hopefully they do not install any more now the roofers are due to resume work here.
Tue 2nd cycling Llanybydder late afternoon, not many Swifts about apart from Rhydybont chapel where 6- 8.
Sat 13th plenty of Warbler activity Longwood this evening also Tree Pipits (I think); ponds still very low in spite of a couple of inches rain so far this month...myriad of Foxgloves!
Mon 15th
10 Swift Aberdaur.
Llwyndrissi forestry: dusk for Nighjars. Nothing until after sunset then first churring close by 2150 (sunset at its latest now at 2139). Then a lull then plenty of Njar activity 2210 to 2300 when it got dark including pairs displaying with wing clapping and some loud close churring! Reckon it was two pairs as they were half mile apart and research has shown that their territories are only 200-400 metres in extent. Second pair seen outside of the usual area as walked back towards car in fading light, alongside lane in conifer regrowth that looks 10+ years old. Even back at car one was churring about 200m away in the vicinity of the main road and this at 2300.
Cuckoo, I was disappointed none to be heard, then at 2210 one briefly called, it did so a few more times until 2225 in near dark. Grasshopper Warbler also snatch of a call in near dark alongside lane.
Sun 21st Longwood it was reported a week or so ago in http://ceredigionbirds33.blogspot.com/ that there was a Nightjar here so went this evening (cool and breezy). Arrived at sunset then a Barn Owl flew past just 30 m away by the visitor centre. It seems to have a nest in the vicinity. Walked up past the new pools to the second area of clear fell/ scrub (cleared 5 - 10 years ago), 10:08 Nighjar appeared churring on dead tree trunk just 30m away, it churred for a couple of minutes then flew down into the scrub, kept returning and churring, then flying down and wing clapping. Really loud at these close quarters and easy to see perched on the side of the trunk near the top.
Sat 13th plenty of Warbler activity Longwood this evening also Tree Pipits (I think); ponds still very low in spite of a couple of inches rain so far this month...myriad of Foxgloves!
Mon 15th
10 Swift Aberdaur.
Llwyndrissi forestry: dusk for Nighjars. Nothing until after sunset then first churring close by 2150 (sunset at its latest now at 2139). Then a lull then plenty of Njar activity 2210 to 2300 when it got dark including pairs displaying with wing clapping and some loud close churring! Reckon it was two pairs as they were half mile apart and research has shown that their territories are only 200-400 metres in extent. Second pair seen outside of the usual area as walked back towards car in fading light, alongside lane in conifer regrowth that looks 10+ years old. Even back at car one was churring about 200m away in the vicinity of the main road and this at 2300.
Cuckoo, I was disappointed none to be heard, then at 2210 one briefly called, it did so a few more times until 2225 in near dark. Grasshopper Warbler also snatch of a call in near dark alongside lane.
Sun 21st Longwood it was reported a week or so ago in http://ceredigionbirds33.blogspot.com/ that there was a Nightjar here so went this evening (cool and breezy). Arrived at sunset then a Barn Owl flew past just 30 m away by the visitor centre. It seems to have a nest in the vicinity. Walked up past the new pools to the second area of clear fell/ scrub (cleared 5 - 10 years ago), 10:08 Nighjar appeared churring on dead tree trunk just 30m away, it churred for a couple of minutes then flew down into the scrub, kept returning and churring, then flying down and wing clapping. Really loud at these close quarters and easy to see perched on the side of the trunk near the top.
Tue 23rd start of a brief hot spell, Swift frenzy today! Lampeter Uni 20-25 screaming parties going mad! Quite a few Swallow too, lots of insects for their food this evening; also flock of c 100 Jackdaw wheeling around for a good while at dusk.
Wed 24th loads of Swifts at Llanybydder this evening after a hot day, c 30 over the car park with 10 at the chapel (where they were aslo screaming over the housing estate and one may have entered a house apex?). A couple of birds audible from within the soffit, I sat direcetly beneath, they were giving mini screams and scuffling about.
From 20th: Swifts chicks audible in the church hall, droppings evidencing at least 4 occupied nests..
Fantastic month for bird song, only starting to tail off with the poor weather month end
Tue 30th watched the bats emerging from the cottage, not seen them much this year, so relieved they are still in there, could well still be over 100.
June 2020 weather summary
Wet and rather dull generally; average to fairly warm temperatures overall
Rainfall totals
Aberdaron 74.0mm (126%)
Aberporth 110.8mm (189%)
Llanwnnen 127.4mm (187%)
Nottingham c 77mm
Shawbury 107.0mm (201%)
Coleshill c 95mm
Coventry Bablake school 85.6mm (144%)
Church Lawford, Warks 84.4mm (151%)
Shobdon, Herefordshire 91.6mm (162%)
Hereford 60.0mm (132%)
PWS rainfall:
Oadby, Leic 82.6mm (161%)
Warstock, Bham 111.0mm (169%)
Alvechurch, Worc 95.9mm (161%)
Daventry, Northants 54.9mm
Towcester, Northants 73.7mm (134%)
Sunshine totals
Valley 151 hrs
Aberdaron 164 hrs
Aberporth 156 hrs
Llanwnnen est 129 hrs (79%)
Nottingham 148 hrs
Shawbury, Salop 143 hrs
Coventry 179.5 hrs (96%)
Wellesbourne, Warks 167.6 hrs
Shobdon 164 hrs
