Weather log September 2024
Key
WW= Willow Warbler
ST = Song Thrush
BB = Blackbird
Sun 1st warm night in many places, minima Pembrey Sands 15.9c, Pershore 15.8c, CL & Trawsgoed 15.4c, Lwn 14.4c, Nott 13.8c, CC 13.0c. Warm/ very warm and humid by day (Wellesbourne max 25.4c, Whitechurch 24.1c) in spite of much cloud. Thunderstorms affected W Mids and NW Wales pm giving over an inch locally. East of Brum mainly escaped along with S of Aberystwyth.
Mon 2nd very warm night many places, minima Pershore 18.3c, Pembrey Sands 17.8c, Coventry 16.8c, Lwn 16.7c, CC & CL 15.8c. Nott 15.7c. A wet night much of WW with over an inch in places (W Pembs escaped); 23.4mm the highest daily total since April here at Lwn. To 2100 Gogerddan near Aberystwyth wettest in the UK with 41mm.
Thu 5th touch of grass frost overnight here at Lwn min +1.9c at 5 feet, coldest spot officially in the UK Trawsgoed 4.5c with no official ground frosts reported. This was the first frost of the Season here. Some rain and thundery showers affected parts of S Wales and Herefordshire today, giving an inch in places (parts of Carms judging by the radar). ROW 15.6mm, just 2mm here at Lwn on the northern edge of the rain.
Fri 6th the thundery low over Biscay/France continues to see spirals of thundery activity moving east to west across S UK throughout today giving large rainfall totals much of the south (over 100mm in 3 days for some) Also the air is now warm and very humid, overnight low here at Lwn 16.1c in contrast to 1.9c 24 hours previously (this only a 1c drop from the maximum yesterday. Other minima Pershore 17.4c, Trawsgoed 17.0c, Coventry 16.7c, Hereford & Pembrey Sands 16.6c, MH & Shawbury 15.2c, Aberdaron 15.1c. A clump of thundery showers tracked west across the southern Cotswolds (around Stroud) early morning then S Wales and a couple of hours later gave TL near Carmarthen. Warm or very warm and humid with sunny spells, maxima Wellesbourne 26.9c, CL 26.6c, Lwn 26.1c, CITE 25.8c, Coventry 25.6c, Trawsgoed 25.9c, Hereford 23.9c, Aberporth 19.6c. Another area of rain and thunderstorms affected S Wales during the evening, particularly Swansea and Gower with local flooding and much TL, radar suggesting over 2 inches; greatest fall NRW gauge Southgate on the Gower over 60mm for 5th/ 6th (much of it during the evening storms). Victoria Park, Swansea a dubious 89mm I have raised doubts over this with Derek Brockway with what with some ridiculously high monthly totals at that site these past 12 months which can be double nearest gauges (one month over 400mm VP, nearest gauges 200 - 250mm.
Sat 7th another warm night generally minima 14 to 17c, Hereford & Shobdon 16.9c, CL & Coventry 16.5c, Aberdaron 15.9c, Lwn & Pembrey Sands 15.3c, Shawbury 13.7c, Mona 13.2c.
Sun 8th rainy much of Wales and the Marches, thundery showers parts of SE Mids. Shropshire had a deluge today, with Monkmoor (EA) gauge in Shrewsbury having 73mm (almost 3 inches) while Shawbury MO a few miles away was the wettest MO station today in the UK having 69.2mm. Feeling very Autumnal across west Wales today with all the rain drizzle and later keen wind, maxima just 15 to 18c (Aberdaron & Aberporth max 15.2c, Lwn 15.6c), in contrast Coventry a rather warm 22.6c with sunny intervals and just a few showers; CL has had just 7mm so far this month hence dodging the really wet weather not so far away.
After a rather warm start a very cool Autumnal spell towards mid month as Arctic air arrived:
Wed 11th cool/ very cool and showery, hail and thunder locally. First thunder since May here at Lwn, nice little storm around 1545 with close L and loud T and a drop in temperature down to 9.5c from earlier maximum of 13.4c. Thunder also reported mid afternoon Stratford upon Avon. Seemed more like an April showers day with the cool clear air and Cumulonimbus clouds. Maxima CC 12.1c, CITE 13.0c, Lwn 13.4c, Aberporth 13.5c, Coleshill 13.5c, Coventry 14.7c, MH 15.7c, Pershore 17.3c.
Thu 12th very cool and showery again, hail in many here at Lwn; thunder more isolated today (reported from CV13 (N Warks) late afternoon). Maxima widely below 15c, here at Llanwnnen it was the coolest day recorded so early on in Autumn (however the coolest September day remains max 10.5c 25/09/2012). Other max: CC 11.9c, Trawsgoed 12.7c, Shawbury 13.2c, Coventry 13.8c, MH 14.4c, Market Bosworth 14.7c, Nott 14.9c, Pershore 15.9c.
Fri 13th widespread unseasonal ground frost and local air frost; here at Llanwnnen min -1.6c was the coldest night so early in Autumn although did not quite beat the September record (-1.9c 29/09/2018). Other minima Llysdinam (Powys) -0.9c, Swyddffynnon (Ceredigion) 0.0c, Tirabad -0.4c, Pershore & Wellesbourne +0.5c, Trawsgoed 0.6c, CITE 0.8c, CL 1.1c, Coventry 3.0c, Nott 3.3c, Aberdaron 8.4c.
First half of September has been rather cool or average temperature-wise; rainfall very variable from dry to very wet; a dull or rather dull month to date.
September rainfall 1st - 0900 16th:
Mona 59.2mm (rather wet), CC 88.4mm (average), Trawsgoed 82.6mm (very wet), Llanwnnen 64.9mm (rather wet), Pembrey Sands 63.4mm (very wet), Milford Haven 38.6mm (average); Nottingham (Watnall) 27.0mm (ave), Shawbury c 113mm (double the whole Sept average), Coleshill 37.4mm (rather wet), Coventry 24.6mm (rather dry), Church Lawford 21.0mm (dry), Pershore 34.6mm (rather wet), Shobdon (Herefordshire) 56.2mm (very wet).
Sunshine 1st - 15th Sept: Aberdaron 57 hours (rather dull), Llanwnnen est 37 hours (dull), Nottingham 52 hrs (rather dull), Coventry 55 hrs (dull), Shobdon 51 hrs (dull).
Just after mid month, in contrast to last week a taste of Summer, in fact here at Lwn it was perhaps the finest spell of the year with several days of warm sunny weather. It has been such a dull year here that until September no spell had exceeded more than a couple of sunny days (over 10 hours daily):
Mon 16th warm and sunny, widely over 10 hours (max possible mid September 12 hours). Maximum Llanwnnen 22.3c above the warmest UK spot officially (Trawsgoed 21.9c). Other maxima CITE & Pershore 20.5c, Coventry 19.5c, Coleshill & Shawbury 18.8c, Aberporth 17.6c. Sunshine Nottingham 11.6 hours, Aberporth & Coventry 11.5 hours, Llanwnnen estimated 11.5 hours (sunniest day of 'Summer' % wise here).
Tue 17th close to a grass frost in places, air minima Tirabad (Sennybridge) 2.5c, Shobdon 2.9c, Llanwnnen 3.1c, Pershore 3.5c, Pembrey Sands 4.8c, Coventry 7.8c, MH 10.6c, though Aberdaron a very mild 13.0c on the Llyn Peninsular. Another fine sunny day (foggy start in places such as Coventry0 and warm, maxima Llanwnnen 22.6c, Whitechurch 22.1c, Trawsgoed 22.0c, MH 20.7c, Pershore 20.4c, CITE 20.2c, CL 19.8c, Nott, Shawbury & Shobdon 19.3c, Aberporth 17.1c. Here at Llanwnnen an unbroken 11.5 hours estimated sun was the only day of 2024 of full sun thus far; Aberdaron 11.7 hrs, Nott 11.5 hrs, Shobdon 11.4 hrs similarly sunny.
Wed 18th Mist or low cloud from the North Sea in places am, down to 3c in places (Shobdon min 3.0c). More cloud, sunny intervals Mids, WW mostly sunny and warm again, maxima Whitechurch (Pembs) 23.4c, MH 22.2c, Lwn 21.5c, Wellesbourne (Warks) 20.9c, CITE & CL 20.3c, Shobdon 18.6c, Aberporth 17.4c. Sunshine: Aberdaron 11.5 hrs, Coventry 4.8 hrs.
Thu 19th North Sea cloud affecting Midlands again with some sun afternoon, warm sunny periods WW. Maxima Whitechurch 24.2c, MH 22.2c, Lwn 21.8c, Market Bosworth & Mona 19.3c, Nott 18.2c.
Fri 20th warm with some sun for most, SW Midlands experienced thunderstorms during the afternoon/ early evening, Gloucester & Cheltenham had one storm after another giving over 3 inches in places (with 2 inches in an hour locally), Herefordshire also caught the storms. These tracked into mid Wales with a few rumbles here at Lwn 1800 but these then died down. Rainfall totals (most of these amounts fell in 3 or 4 hours): Ledbury (Herefordshire EA) 73.2mm, Dowdeswell (EA gauge near Cheltenham) 59mm; PWS at Hucclecote Green (Gloucester) 97mm. There was heavy hail (photos of hail drifts) and localised flooding reported today.
Sat 21st more incredible rainfall today over parts of the Midlands: showery rain in many places today, some places though small amounts only such as much of S Mids. Thunderstorms developed widely across the Midlands afternoon becoming organised north of Coventry and Worcester with successive deluges over N Mids. Very active thunderstorms affected the Black Country, Northants, and then most of the N Mids during the evening. Brief thunderstorms affected Coventry early evening but the worst was Nuneaton north. Hail and localised flooding, radar suggested over an inch widely N Mids with close on 100mm locally.
Daily totals (EA gauges): Longcliffe (edge of Derbyshire Peaks) 67mm all of which fell during the evening in 6 hours; also Evington (Leicester) 42.4mm. Nottingham 36mm wettest MO station in the UK (2100).
Sun 22nd another washout day in some areas with further flooding. Overnight thunderstorms affected E Mids in particular with spectacular lightning. heavy rain and some thunder across much of Warwickshire and Coventry during the morning (12mm 09-10am King's Newnham (near Rugby).
24 hour totals 0900 BST: King's Newnham 31.2mm, Bablake School, Coventry 28.6mm, Church Lawford 24mm. In contrast just 1.8mm here in Llanwnnen, and small amounts only for many other parts of WW.
Further slow moving areas of rain and thunderstorms developed over the E Mids in particular pm, with patchy rain elsewhere. Northants caught these quite a bit but neighbouring Bedfordshire worst hit with up to 150mm recorded by Dunstable PWS's (Flitton Hill 151mm, Houghton Regis 150mm). Woburn 108.8mm (2100) wettest MO station in the UK Sunday. Flitwick (EA) in Beds 117.6mm (midnight) Widely 2 inches across Northants (Wellingborough EA 65mm). Other regional highest falls today at MO stations were Market Bosworth 32.6mm (E Mids) and Coventry 32.0mm (W Mids) in the 24 hours to 2100.
Mon 23rd another day of huge rainfall totals, these affecting the S Midlands along with adjacent parts of southern England throughout the day. An Amber warning issued by the MO yesterday was for the N & W Mids to see over 100mm in places on Monday, however it was obvious with the overnight rainfall distribution that more southern parts of the Midlands would be affected and the Amber warning duly shifted south to cover Bristol, Gloucester and Northampton, while areas such as Birmingham, Derby & Nottingham formerly in the Amber now not expected to see large disruptive falls. Greatest falls today were across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds widely 2 or 3 inches with some locations well above 100mm. Oxford Radcliffe Met station had recorded 77mm in the 24 hours to 0900 making it the wettest day in the city since the infamous floods of July 10th 1968. With further rain all day today it is likely that Oxford will see its greatest ever 48 hour fall (98mm in July 1968 to beat). This was the fourth successive day for notably large daily rainfalls across southern and central England. S Warks joined in with heavy rains later in the day too, with Knightcote (EA) receiving almost an inch in 2 hours (15-1700). Tiddington PWS near Thame (Oxon) shows an astounding 199mm for today (to midnight) and looks ok as a neighbouring PWS on 174mm and supported by radar estimates, numerous Oxfordshire stations over 100mm. Wettest place in UK officially MO station South Newington near Banbury 108mm. Wellesbourne 41.3mm wettest MO station West Mids.
Comparison of EA gauges Staffordshire south to Oxford (24 hours to midnight): Lichfield 3.2mm, Saltley (Brum) 13.2mm, King's Newnham 19.2mm, Warwick 33.4mm, Preston Capes (Northants) 109.4mm, Banbury (Grimsbury) 92.6mm, Chipping Norton (N Cotswolds)) 105.6mm, Wheatley (near Oxford) 123.1mm.
Thu 26th showers or longer spells of rain, hail and thunder in places (Midlands in particular): a convergence zone formed from mid Wales through the central Midlands pm, enhancing the rain and showers with some lively thunderstorms affecting the Midlands (inc Brum and Leicester) giving over an inch in an hour locally, with thunder being heard across most of Warwickshire. Hereford wettest MO station in the Midlands today (28.6mm) although some spots falling between the MO gauge network topped in excess of 2 inches.
Fri 27th EA gauge 24 hour totals to 0900: Solihull 50.4mm, Elmdon airport 50.0mm, Warwick 34.9mm, Hinckley 28.8mm, Braunston 24.4mm, King's Newnham 22.0mm. MO readings Church Lawford 28.8mm, Coventry (Bablake School) 22.2mm, Llanwnnen 15.1mm. N Mids escaped lightly (Watnall, Notts just 5.4mm). Coventry area has now had close on 5 inches for September to date (much of this in the past week).
Nature notes
Plenty of hirundines early month seem to be gathering ready to leave us.
Early month: fall of Copper Beech mast.
Fri 7th another flying Ant day, there was one last weekend too including in our boiler room, they won't learn to climb up to the open window unfortunately and don't seem to know how to fly!
Sun 8th Aberaeron half dozen Starlings singing away merrily sheltering from the wind atop lighting units in the eaves of a harbourside building was unexpected at this time of year.
Speckled Woods in the garden often a feature of September so far, also the occasional Dragonfly and Damsel Fly.
Mon 16th one of the sunniest days of the year (% wise) brought out much insect life. Hornet feeding on Apples the highlight along with a Painted Lady. Also lots of Wasps and Greenbottles and Spiders building their webs.
Tue 17th 2 Hornets on Apples. Snatch of Chiffchaff this morning, not unusual to hear one in Autumn as they move south. Still quite a few Swallows but fewer House Martins.
Holly berries turning with some of last years red ones still on.
Wed 18th Nolton Haven (Pembrokeshire): around 15 hirundines at a farm driving towards Nolton this afternoon. Several Chiffchaff singing in the scrub, also Blackcap subsong. Quite a few Painted Ladies.
Fri 20th A Hornet or 2 been on and off the Apples all week now, Painted Ladies daily.
Mon 23rd Hornet on the Apples again briefly in spite it being a cool cloudy day.
Few Swallows and Martins being seen by month end. Robins singing well past week or so.
Sat 28th Aberystwyth dusk: 4 House Martin flying up to nests (no chicks seen poking out) on the estate opposite Welsh Gvt.
September 2024 summary
Rather cool/ average; rather dull/ dull.
Midlands had a very wet month with over twice the average and 400% for some. Radar estimated accumulations over the whole counties of Leicestershire & Northants 197mm.
WW variable rain from rather dry to very wet.
All locations below average sun.
Rainfall totals Sept 2024
Capel Curig, Snowdonia 176.6mm (rather dry)
Mona, Anglesey 115.4mm (rather wet)
Trawsgoed, Ceredigion 132.0mm (wet)
Aberporth, near Llangrannog c 100mm (rather wet)
Llanwnnen 137.2mm (120%)
Pembrey Sands, Carms 124.6mm (wet)
Milford Haven, Pembs 118.4mm (rather wet)
Nottingham c 155mm (over 250%)
Shawbury, Salop c 185mm (3 times average)
Coleshill c 160mm (over 250%)
Coventry, Bablake School 133.8mm (227%)
CL, Warks 131.6mm (202%)
Pershore, Worc 134.0mm (over 250%)
Hereford c 180mm (well over 300%)
King's Newnham EA gauge (near Rugby) 135.2mm
National Resources Wales (NRW) rain gauges Sept 2024
Llyn Cefni, Ynys Mon 134.8mm (wet)
Bethesda Quarry (Gwynedd) 163.6mm (average)
Cwm Dyli (Snowdonia) 226.2mm (rather dry)
Abersoch (Llyn Peninsular) 108.6mm (rather wet)
Corris (near Machynlleth) 181.4mm (ave)
Bow Street (near Aberystwyth) 105.2mm (rather wet)
Pontrhydfendigaid (near Tregaron, Ceredigion) 123.2mm (ave)
Rhos Ymryson (near Gorscoch and 5 miles NW of Lwn) 124.6mm (average)
Cellan (2 miles NE of Lampeter) 111.6mm (ave)
Pencader (Carms) 123.2mm (ave)
Abergorllech (Brechfa Forest, Carms) 136.2mm (ave)
Rhydargaeau (Carms) 133.2mm (ave)
Garnswllt (near Ammanford, Carms) 138.4mm (ave)
Felinfoel (near Llanelli, Carms) 151.8mm (wet)
Southgate, Gower 220.0mm (twice average)
Ferwig (near Cardigan) 76.2mm (rather dry)
Maenclochog (near Preselis, Pembs) 140.8mm (ave)
Tenby (Pembs) 148.0mm (wet)
Bolton Hill (near Haverfordwest, Pembs) 81.0mm (rather dry)
COL stations rainfall Sept 2024
Llansadwrn 178.3mm (176%)
Ludlow, Salop 123.5mm (193%)
Alvechurch, Worc 169.7mm 259%
Warstock, Brum 178.2mm (270%)
Great Alne (near Alcester, Warks) 209.3mm (411%)
Cosby, Leic 140.3mm (240%)
Hinckley 184.6mm (318%)
Towcester, Northants 194.4mm (318%)
Sunshine totals Sept 2024
Aberdaron 132 hours (rather dull)
Aberporth c 107 hours (dull)
Llanwnnen estimated 93 hours (75%)
Nottingham 107 hrs (rather dull)
Shawbury c78 hrs (very dull)
Coventry, Bablake School 113.8 hrs (91%)
Shobdon, Herefordshire 90 hrs (dull)
COL stations sun:
Ludlow 94.5 hrs (65%)
Alvechurch 85.2 hrs (67%)
Cosby 110.5 hrs (79%)
Towcester 118.2 hrs
