Weather log July 2022

Weather log July 2022

Key:

WW = West Wales

Lwn = Llanwnnen

AG = Aldermans Green, Coventry

CL = Church Lawford

LL = Long Lawford

ROW = Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire

CC = Capel Curig, Snowdonia

MH = Milford Haven

Carms = Carmarthenshire

Pembs = Pembrokeshire

Mids = Midlands

CITE = Coton-in-the-Elms, Derbyshire

COL = Climatological Observers Link

PWS = Personal weather station

NRW = National Resources Wales

est = estimated

inc = including

cf= compared with

Month initially rather cloudy and some showers about and rather cool to average temperatures. Mostly dry and warm from the end of the first week with temperatures on the rise leading to a prolonged very warm/ hot spell:

Wed 6th start of the warm up - Pershore 25.2c but many places rather cloudy still; other maxima Coleshill 23.0c, CL 22.4c, Pembrey Sands 21.3c, Nottingham 20.6c, Lwn 19.3c, Trawsgoed 17.5c, CC 17.2c.

Fri 8th many area very warm with sunny periods, cooler with some cloud and mist some coasts, maxima Pershore 28.0c, Coleshill 25.9c, Shawbury 24.3c, Lwn 24.1c, MH 24.0c, Aberporth 17.2c.

Sat 9th many places warm or very warm and sunny, maxima ROW 27.0c, Pershore 26.5c, Mumbles 25.0c, CL 24.6c, Shawbury 22.5c, Lwn & Trawsgoed 20.9c, Aberporth 18.2c.

Sun 10th very warm or hot widely and sunny, max CITE 29.3c, Astwood Bank (Worc) 29.2c, Coventry 29.0c, Nottingham 28.8c, Shawbury 27.5c, Lwn 26.1c, Mumbles 25.2c, Aberdaron 19.8c.

Mon 11th hot with sunny periods, maxima Wellesbourne 31.0c, Nottingham 30.7c, Pershore 30.2c, Shawbury 29.9c, CL 29.7c, Shobdon 29.4c, Lwn & Trawsgoed 28.4c, Aberporth 27.9c, Aberdaron 23.4c.

Tue 12th a very warm night for many, minima Nottingham 19.7c, Coventry 19.5c, Pershore 19.3c,  Mumbles 18.4c, Lwn 15.9c, Shobdon 15.8c, Aberdaron 15.7c; rather cloudy but warm/ very warm and humid much of the Midlands, maxima Wellesbourne 27.4c, CL & Coleshill 26.7c, Shawbury 24.6c, Trawsgoed 23.9c, Lwn 22.9c, Aberdaron 19.1c.

Temporary cool down to more average levels towards mid month:

Wed 13th cooled down nearer average WW with sunny periods, Midlands & S Wales still warm/ very warm, max ROW 26.4c, Hereford max 26.2c, CL 24.6c, Mumbles 24.5c, Pembrey Sands 22.5c, Shawbury 21.8c, Lwn & Trawsgoed 19.4c, Aberporth 17.2c).

Thu 14th a cool night for rural areas, minima Lwn 5.3c, Tirabad 5.4c, Pembrey Sands 6.4c, Pershore 6.9c, Nottingham 10.5c, Valley 12.8c; a refreshing north breeze and sunny periods maxima nearer average.

Fri 15th Red Met Office warning for extreme heat with the UK record almost certain to be broken and a possibilty of 40c (note the GFS model first showed 40c on its charts a fortnight ago!). Since then fairly consistent modelling of extreme heat and 40c plus over England from the SE to Yorkshire, the highest temperatures modelled on a few runs being 43c or 44c which if come off would create havoc as it would be 5c above the previous record of 38.7c in July 2019 (Cambridge Botanical Gardens).

First half of July very dry:

Nottingham 2.4mm, Shobdon 2.6mm, Mumbles 3.0mm, Coventry 3.6mm, Aberporth 4.4mm, Lwn 9.6mm, CL 14.0mm, CC 30.0mm; also quite warm after the rather cool start and quite sunny.

Sat 16th start of the heatwave, maxima Pershore 27.5c, Lwn 27.4c, Coventry 26.8c, Shawbury 25.2c, Trawsgoed 24.9c, Aberporth 20.7c.

Sun 17th warm night for coasts and cities, minima MH 17.7c, Coventry 16.4c, CL 15.0c, CC 12.6c, Shobdon 11.4c, Lwn 11.3c; hot/ very hot with periods of hazy sun, maxima Astwood Bank, Worc. 31.8c, Coventry 30.9c, Shawbury 30.8c, Pembrey Sands & Shobdon 29.7c, Trawsgoed 29.6c, Lwn 29.3c, Aberporth 29.2c,  Aberdaron 25.0c.

Mon 18th another warm night for coasts and cities, refreshingly cool for more rural areas, minima Mumbles 18.6c, Coventry 16.5c, Coleshill 16.4c, Trawsgoed 10.3c, Lwn & Shobdon 8.7c; exceptionally hot and for many places record heat! Hawarden, Flintshire max 37.1c smashing the previous Wales record by 2c (from August 1990); Coventry max 37.0c also bettered the old record by almost 2c (was 35.2c in both July 2019 and July 2020) - note that the extreme temperature records keep getting topped here almost on a annual basis which may be of concern? Hopefully the new record will stand for many years? Here at Llanwnnen 34.8c comfortably beat the record from July 2006 (33.6c); other maxima Wellesbourne 37.1c, CL & Nottingham 36.3c, Trawsoed 35.1c, Shobdon 35.0c, Aberporth 33.6c, Mumbles 28.4c.

Tue 19th warm/ very warm night night all over, Aberporth minimum 24.5c was incredible and one of a several locations to top the previous warmest UK night (Brighton 23.9c August 1990); here at Lwn min 17.6c not quite a record (17.8c July 2014); other minima Mumbles 23.5c, Coventry 19.8c, Nottingham 19.5c, CL 18.6c, Trawsgoed 16.4c, CC 15.5c, Shobdon 13.0c. Another day of record breaking and unprecedented heat for the Midlands, with most places east of Birmingham exceeding 38c (100f) something unimaginable to me a kid obsessed with the weather back in the 1970's. This was the day the UK exceeded 40c for the first time with amazingly over 40 Met Office weather stations beating the previous record of 38.7c (Cambridge Botanical Gardens, July 2019). Parts of Wales had thunderstorms but very little rain (as here at Lwn lively storm 1330 BST passed just west with several brilliant lightning forks as close as 2 miles but just 0.1mm rain). Maxima Pitsford (Northants) 40.2c, Nottingham 39.8c, Coventry 38.9c, Coleshill 38.8c, CL 38.7c, Pershore 36.9c, Hereford 34.2c, Mona 32.7c, Trawsgoed 32.0c, Lwn 31.0c, Mumbles 26.7c.

Wed 20th heatwave over but another warm night many places, minima Nottingham 20.3c, Coleshill 20.1c, CL 18.1c,  Mumbles 18.0c, Shawbury 17.5c, Trawsgoed 16.5c, Lwn 14.9c, Mona 14.2c; temperatures by day rather cool to average WW and average to warm Midlands, maxima Nottingham 25.8c, ROW 23.5c, CL & Coventry 23.4c, CITE 23.1c, Shawbury 20.6c,  Pembrey Sands 19.8c, Lwn 17.8c, Aberporth 16.9c.

Fri 22nd thundery showers in places, especially W Mids (Astwood Bank 12.9mm).

Sun 24th a warm night widely 15 to 18c, minima Pershore 18.0c, Coventry 17.5c, Mumbles & Pembrey Sands 17.4c, Lwn 16.4c, MH & Nottingham 16.3c, Aberdaron 15.2c.

Slow-moving frontal system gave a wet and windy weekend for much of Wales, some rain to NW Midlands, rest of Midlands escaped largely dry and warm; several inches of rain on Sunday parts of mid and SW Wales; weekend rainfall totals according to Derek Brockway, Pembrey Sands 41mm, Trawsgoed 31mm, MH 17mm; Lwn had 35mm over the 2 days. NRW rain gauges even more over Carmarthenshire, e.g. Abergorlech in the Brechfa Forest 74mm, Rhydargaeau, near Carmarthen 74mm and Pencader 69mm all over 2 days.

Rather cool then for a few more days WW but around average for Midlands towards the final week of July before some further warm/ very warm days up to month end, these particularly so for the Midlands. In contrast to the extreme 38.9c Coventry saw much more modest Summer conditions after 19th with maxima between 20 and 26c for the rest of July. Here at Lwn  cool down much appreciated with maxima between 17c and 25c from 20th:

Tue 26th coolest day of the month here at Lwn: maxima Aberporth 16.0c,  Lwn 16.9c, Shawbury 19.3c, Mumbles 19.9c, Coventry 20.6c, Pershore 22.6c. 

Sat 30th/ Sun 31st another rather wet weekend parts of WW with 27.6mm in 24 hours at Gogerddan, near Aberyswyth (wettest in the UK), generally only small amounts for the Midlands though still; other rainfall amounts (30th): Trawsgoed 20.8mm, Lwn 15.1mm, Aberporth 14.6mm, Coventry 5.4mm (wettest day of the month here), Nottingham 5.4mm, Mumbles 4.0mm, Shawbury 1.4mm.

Sun 31st another very warm day parts of the Midlands, max Pershore 26.7c, CL 25.6c, CITE 25.5c, Lwn 19.8c, Aberporth 17.0c.

Nature notes

Early month: not so much bird song now apart from Thrushes and Chiffchaffs.

Mon 5th Swift nests in the hall: 5 or more evidenced on the west side and 2 the east side. Unfortunately one dead chick on the east side ground, it was quite well developed (3 or 4 weeks?), the gap above appears too enlarged, weathered and uneven, there was an even more developed fatality last year or the year before from the same nest. Church has 2 or more nests evidenced, egg shell beneath the corner of the body of the church. The church and hall are in quite a state of disrepair which suite the Swifts but means repairs must be due. A house opposite the former Post Office that is currently unoccupied and getting rather delapidated has Swifts entering on the rear (SE side) these were seen also last year for the fist time.

Tue 5th Longwood (first time in several months); plenty of Chiffchaffs singing along with some Whitethroats, Blackcaps and a snatch of Willow Warbler.

c 6th 12- 15 screaming Swifts Llanwnnen, the most seen together so far this Summer.

Wed 6th Fish & Anchor, low flying Swift at dusk ((about 5 feet off the ground passing the caravan opposite), reckon it had exited from a flat roofed extention that has gaps in the delapidated soffits at about 7 feet up.

Sat 9th Llanybydder evening: some Swifts around the warehouse; Aberduar chapel, 12 - 15 screaming party, at least 4 nests evidenced by staining; Rhydybont chapel, c 15 screaming Swifts (perhaps some the same as the ones at Aberduar just half mile away?). Entries to nest holes seen to both apex corners of the west side via gaps in the woodwork, also several H Martin nests under the eaves.

Sat 9th sunset Forestry: a single Nightjar gave a fine performance in the usual territory (400m wide slope clear felled about 10 years ago); often prolonged churring from 50 - 100 metres, and seemed to follow us along the track; closest from a tree just 20 metres and seen to fly off wing clapping and bubbling, performed for over half hour from 2200 (we left 2245). It may not be too many more years until this area has trees too mature for their liking and may explain why there may be just the one pair this year (usually 2 possibly 3).

Sun 10th dead Jay fresh close to the front door no blood, broken neck likely hope it did nt hit the window.

Tue 12th University boiler room Swallow nest empty (first chicks seen 3 weeks ago) lots of droppings so hopefully they fledged succesfully.

Tue 20th 15 - 20 screaming Swift spectacle over the church this dusk. Chicks sounding louder now so will be off soon.

Tue 26th Llanybydder towards dusk, heard several screaming Swifts but did not manage to see them so no real display going on. They have been much less evident over recent days since the weather changed.

Wed 27th Aberaeron 6 to 8 Swift near the harbour, also a fair few H Martin.

Sun 31st very sad to find a dead Swift on the pavement below the eaves of the house opposite the Post Office, appeared fully fledged, no obvious blood or damage apart from one of the eyes not too good. That's 2 fatalities noticed this Summer the other being a chick of about 3 weeks that fell out of it's church hall nest earlier this month.

Month end: very little bird song since mid month when the Thrushes also ceased..still some young Blackbirds in the garden (third brood?). Last Swift seen around 31st perhaps August 1st.

July 2022 Summary

Warm/ very warm; most places dry or very dry; sunshine rather dull to slightly above average

West Wales warm, many places below average rainfall, some very dry but some attained the average; rather dull to average sunshine.

Midlands warm or very warm (especially E Mids); dry or very dry; rather dull Marches, most of Midlands around average sunshine.

Coventry had it's driest July since 1976 (9.0mm) although it was only the warmest July since 2018 (mean temperature 20.1c); July is now a far warmer month than 50 years ago in the city (mean temperature 15.5c in the 1960's cf 17.6c 2011-20. Of course with the city's heat record beaten by almost 4c on July 19th (max 38.9c) when Pitsford (Northants) recorded 40.2c.

July 2022 rainfall totals

CC 71.4mm (45%)

Mona c 31mm

Aberdaron c 27mm

Trawsgoed c 66mm

Aberporth c 33mm

Llanwnnen 59.2mm (66%)

Pembrey Sands c 51mm

MH c 30mm

Mumbles c 20mm

Nottingham c 20mm

Shawbury c 17mm

Coleshill c 10mm

Coventry, Bablake School 14.4mm (23%)

CL 21.0mm (35%)

Pershore 12.8mm (23%)

Hereford 9.2mm (19%)

National Resources Wales (NRW) rain gauges July 2022

Llyn Cefni, Ynys Mon 32.6mm = dry

Bethesda Quarry (Gwynedd) 64.6mm = rather dry

Cwm Dyli (Snowdonia) 146.6mm = rather dry

Bow Street (near Aberystwyth) 51.4mm = rather dry

Frongoch (Devil's Bridge, Ceredigion) 67.8mm = near average

Penuwch (Ceredigion) 64.8mm = rather dry

Rhos Ymryson (near Gorscoch and 5 miles NW of Lwn) 70.2mm = rather dry

Cellan (2 miles NE of Lampeter) 54.2mm = rather dry

Pencader (Carms)  92.2mm = near average

Abergorllech (Brechfa Forest, Carms) 96.8mm near average

Rhydargaeau (Carms) 92.2mm = near average

Garnswllt (near Ammanford, Carms) 79.0mm = near average

Felinfoel (near Llanelli, Carms) 50.4mm = rather dry

Maenclochog (near Preseli's, Pembs) 80.2mm = rather dry

Tenby (Pembs) 40.0mm = rather dry

Bolton Hill (near Haverfordwest, Pembs) 37.2mm = dry

COL stations rainfall July 2022

Llansadwrn 32.3mm (42%)

Ludlow 34.6mm (53%)

Alvechurch, Worc 13.4mm (19%)

Warstock, Brum 25.0mm (37%)

Cosby, Leic 18.1mm (29%)

Hinckley 15.5mm

Towcester, Northants 8.9mm (16%)

Daventry, Northants (PWS) 14.0mm

July 2022 sunshine totals

Aberporth 153.2 hours = rather dull

Llanwnnen estimated  161 hrs (89%)

Nottingham 180.6 hrs (94%)

Shawbury 156.0 hrs (81%)

Coventry, Bablake School 212.6 hours (108%)

Shobdon, Herefordshire 165.1 hrs (77%)

COL stations sun:

Ludlow 142.7 hours

Alvechurch 177.2 hrs

Cosby 202.9 hrs

Towcester 211.0 hrs