Weather log February 2023
Key:
Mostly dry early February, mild initially:
Fri 3rd very mild maxima Coleshill 13.2c, Coventry 13.0c, MH 11.8c, CL, Hereford & Shawbury 11.6c, Lwn 10.9c, Mona & Trawsgoed 10.8c, CC 9.9c.
Sun 5th first frosty night of the month, minima Lwn & Tirabad -3.2c, Pershore -3.0c, Mona -2.5c, CL -0.7c, Coventry +0.6c, Nottingham 2.1c, Mumbles 4.7c. Intense anticyclone over UK, close to 1050mbars, here at Lwn 1048mbars the highest since Jan 2020 (1050mbars).
Mon 6th (Pippin RIP) sharp frost widely, minima Pershore -7.2c, Shawbury & Tirabad -6.1c, Hereford -5.7c, Lwn -5.6c, Coventry -4.3c, Nottingham -2.6c, Aberdaron +3.5c.
Thu 9th sunny day, totals Valley 8.2 hours, Coventry 8.0 hrs, Lwn est 8 hours, Aberporth 7.9 hrs, Nottingham 7.6 hrs.
Mon 13th very mild parts of WW, and sunny Wales & Marches,, unbroken much of WW, maxima Trawsgoed, CC & Lwn 10.9c, Pershore 10.2c, Nottingham 9.4c, Aberdaron 8.9c; sun Lwn est 9 hours, Aberporth 8.8 hrs, Aberdaron 6.6 hrs, Nottingham 3.9 hrs.
Tue 14th very mild/ exceptionally mild WW with sunny periods, maxima Gogerddan 16.4c (warmest in UK), Trawsgoed 15.9c, Lwn 15.0c, Pershore 14.2c, Aberdaron 11.6c, Nottingham 9.6c. Nothing compared to Feb 2019 when the Welsh record of 20.8c was achieved at Porthmadog..
Very dry and mild first half to February, Parts of the Midlands rainless.
Rainfall totals to 0600 15th:
Pershore 0.0mm,Coventry 0.2mm, Nottingham 0.6mm, Mumbles & Pembrey Sands 2.4mm, Llanwnnen Trawsgoed 3.8mm, CC 8.6mm.
Past month (since mid January) also very dry indeed for example CL just 2.4mm.
Some rain or drizzle at times after mid month, chiefly WW, most of the Midlands seeing hardly any still. Some days during the third week were exceptionally mild in some areas:
Fri 17th Pershore max 17.2c (warmest in UK), Coventry 16.1c, Nottingham 14.1c, Lwn 13.5c, Valley 12.1c, Mumbles 10.1c. We left Llanwnnen early afternoon it was very mild and bright (13c) we encountered sea fog on the way to Aberystwyth which had came 5 miles inland, Aberystwyth being a foggy 10c.
Sat 18th Pershore College max 15.9c (warmest in UK), CL 15.1c, Nottingham 13.6c, Lwn 11.9c, MH 11.6c, Mumbles 10.2c.
Sun 19th parts of the Midlands again topped 15c, nearer average for the Swansea area: Pershore 15.4c, Coleshill & Coventry 15.2c, Shawbury & Shobdon 13.3c, Trawsgoed 12.3c, Lwn 11.c, Mumbles 8.8c.
Wed 22nd appreciable rain for some areas, over an inch for parts of SW Wales and up to 10mm locally E Mids, however some areas missed most of it (under 1mm much of Herefordshire); wettest places officially Whitchurch, Pembs 17.8mm. Rhos Ymryson (NRW) recorded 25.4mm for the day while just 5 miles away Llanwnnen saw just 11mm. One rumble of thunder heard to the SW 1930, (we had just driven through a torrential downpour near Llanybydder).
Turned dry again for the end of the month:
Sat 25th frosty night many areas, minima Lwn -4.7c (colder than lowest official UK site Exeter -3.7c), Trawsgoed -3.7c, Pershore -1.9c, Aberdaron +0.4c, Hereford & Nottingham 2.4c, Mumbles 3.1c.
Sun 26th widespread frost, Trawsgoed -4.2c, Lwn -3.8c, Pershore -2.2c, MH +1.0c, Coventry 1.1c, Hereford 2.3c.Mumbles 2.6c.
Temperatures by day around average at 7 to 10c towards month end.
Mon 27th Hard frost in places, minima Lwn -6.2c (coldest night of the month), Trawsgoed -4.7c, Pershore -3.6c, Pembrey Sands -2.4c, CL -2.1c, MH -0.1c, Coventry +0.1c, Nottingham 1.1c, CC 1.9c.
Nature notes
Snowdrops widely out first week; first Celandine end of garden; a few Song Thrush and Blackbirds in song; Tits calling.
Mon 6th Carmarthen a lot of Daffs out near the castle.
Thu 9th Lampeter Egret seen to fly over by the Coop following the Dulas river. Not seen one around here before. It looked quite large similar to a Heron size (Great White therefore?).
Second week: dawn chorus of several Thrushes even when frosty. Also Mistle Thrushes singing recently. Some primroses flowering back garden.
Sat 18th splendid dusk chorus of Song Thrushes in Lampeter with the odd Blackbird joining in too.
Around this time splendid loud lucid Song Thrush singing from the vicinity of our back garden, especially so at dawn.
Last week: Great Spotted Woodpecker heard drumming a few times.
Month end: Snowdrops mostly still going on, some Daffs out, not great numbers locally yet, first one out in the hedge across the road.
February 2023 summary
Very dry, mild/ very mild; sunshine variable from rather dull to sunny
A notably dry end to Winter, most places under 25% of average Feb rainfall, with under 10% parts of the Midlands.
Temperatures around 2c above average
Rainfall Feb 2023
Mona 24.4mm (very dry)
CC 55.4mm (21%)
Aberdaron 9.9mm (14%)
Trawsgoed c 21mm (very dry)
Aberporth c 17mm (very dry)
Llanwnnen 22.2mm (22%)
Pembrey Sands c 14mm (very dry)
Mumbles c 15mm (very dry)
MH 10.6mm (13%)
Nottingham 7.2mm (14%)
Shawbury 4.0mm (9%)
Coleshill 9.2mm (20%)
Coventry, Bablake School 7.6mm (17%)
CL 6.8mm (17%)
Pershore 3.6mm (9%)
Hereford 5.4mm (11%)
National Resources Wales (NRW) rain gauges Feb 2023
Llyn Cefni, Ynys Mon 31.0mm (very dry)
Bethesda Quarry (Gwynedd) 36.8mm (very dry)
Cwm Dyli (Snowdonia) 107.6mm (very dry)
Corris (near Machynlleth) 73.4mm (very dry)
Bow Street (near Aberystwyth) 20.6mm (very dry)
Pontrhydfendigaid (near Tregaron, Ceredigion) 24.0mm (very dry)
Penuwch (Ceredigion) 24.4mm (very dry)
Rhos Ymryson (near Gorscoch 5 miles NW of Lwn) 28.4mm (very dry)
Cellan (2 miles NE of Lampeter) 18.0mm (very dry)
Pencader (Carms) 28.4mm (very dry)
Abergorllech (Brechfa Forest, Carms) 25.8mm (very dry)
Rhydargaeau (Carms) 35.2mm (very dry)
Garnswllt (near Ammanford, Carms) 33.8mm (very dry)
Felinfoel (near Llanelli, Carms) 30.8mm (very dry)
Maenclochog (near Preselis, Pembs) 44.8mm (very dry)
Tenby (Pembs) 20.0mm (very dry)
Bolton Hill (near Haverfordwest, Pembs) 19.0mm (very dry)
COL stations rainfall
Llansadwrn 28.7mm (32%)
Ludlow, Salop 7.6mm (13%)
Alvechurch, Worc 11.5mm (22%)
Warstock, Brum 7.2mm (13%)
Cosby, Leic 9.0mm (20%)
Hinckley 8.4mm
Towcester, Northants 5.6mm (11%)
Sunshine totals Feb 2023
Aberdaron 67.2 hrs (83%)
Llanwnnen estimated 77 hours (120%)
Nottingham 79.1 hrs (101%)
Shawbury 86.4 hrs (115%)
Coventry, Bablake School 110.5 hours (132%)
Shobdon, Herefordshire 72 hrs (86 %)
COL stations sun:
Ludlow 67.4 hours
Alvechurch 105.5 hrs
Towcester 101.7 hrs
Winter 2022/ 23 summary
Rather dry/ dry and quite sunny; temperatures average or quite mild
A dry Winter for the Midlands, with WW rather dry, locally up to average. Sunshine average or sunny.
December rather cold and rather dry
January average rainfall to rather wet; rather mild and quite sunny
February very dry, mild; rather dull to sunny.
Winter 2022/23 rainfall totals
Aberdaron 217.3mm (rather dry)
Trawsgoed c 311mm (near average)
Aberporth c 187mm (rather dry)
Llanwnnen 361.7mm this being 93% of the historical Lampeter average but only 79% of the 2006 – 2023 average here (illustrating that Winter has became a wetter Season this century).
Pembrey Sands c 232mm (rather dry)
MH c 216mm (dry)
Nottingham c 137mm (dry)
Shawbury c 129mm (dry)
Coleshill 91.6mm (very dry)
Coventry 129.4mm (78%)
CL 103.4mm (68%)
Pershore 109.2mm (dry)
Hereford c 127mm (dry)
Sunshine totals Winter 2022/23
Aberdaron 183.7 hours (average)
Llanwnnen 181 hrs estimated (118%)
Coventry 266.1 hrs (127%)
