The Weather in Combe Raleigh in 2016 - (Published in the Raleigh Rag)

Over 2016, the weather was very mild and the summer was quite warm. A sunny May and August and a dry July provided a good summer for once. If you remember August 2015, it was really wet and less than half of the sunshine of this year. It was nice to enjoy the sunshine in the garden for once !

 The Weather Station worked faultlessly this year, and we managed to re-locate the anemometer to a higher point, so wind indications for 2017 will show a more accurate value, in line with the flag waving on St Nicholas Tower ! There are some additional measurements we would like to make over 2017, including Cloud heights using our Ceiliometer and maybe finally install a Seismograph for earth movements.

 The annual rainfall over 2016 was 891.8 mm, compared with 2015 with 829.8 mm, a small increase. The wettest month by volume was January, with 132.2 mm where it rained ( > 0.2mm) for 28 days, with the wettest day being the 18^th with 22.4 mm. The driest month was July, with 11 rain days and 10.2 mm. Overall the distribution of rainfall was much more in-line with the long-term averages. The Met Office yearly average for England was 852.6 mm.

 Temperatures were down again from last year, with the yearly average temperature dropping to 10.6°C, from 10.8°C in 2015. The Met Office yearly average for England was 10.1°C. Over the year, temperature data recorded 36 days above 22°C, with no days dropping below -5°C. The lowest recorded temperature recorded was -4.3°C on 16^th February, at 6:05am. The highest recorded temperature was 28.7°C on 19^th July at 2:02pm.

 May and August were the peak months for Sunshine hours, with an annual total of 788.8 Hrs. This was down again this year, but could have been affected due to the location move of the station last year, as we enjoyed some long sun days this summer.

 Still no significant snow, and none recorded as accumulated on the ground however it did precipitate snow on the 18^th November at around 9am. Will I ever build a Snowman in Combe Raleigh ? We had 47 ground frosts, with no Ice Days recorded (Days where the temp did not rise above 0°C).

 Comparing with an average across the 5 years we have been recording weather here in Combe Raleigh, the following table shows how 2016 compared;

Recorded weather data

Average temperature     = 10.6°C

Average humidity        = 87%

Average dew point        = 8.5°C

Average barometer       = 1015.8 mb

Average wind speed       = 1.2 mph

Average gust speed       = 2.8 mph

Average direction       = 200° (SSW) 

Rainfall for year       = 891.8 mm

Maximum rain per minute = 1.0 mm/min on day 20^th November at 12:22am

Maximum temperature     = 28.7°C on 19th July at 2:02pm

Minimum temperature     = -4.8°C on 16^th February, at 7:14 am

Maximum pressure        = 1044.5 mb on 2^nd December at 8:49pm

Minimum pressure        = 969.4 mb on day 1^st November at time 12:40pm

Maximum wind speed       = 16.1 mph  208°(SSW) on 28^th March at 1:28am

Maximum gust speed      = 35.7 mph  145°( SE) on 6^th February at 2:29pm

Maximum UV Index             = 8.6 on 27^th June

Maximum Solar                    = 1350 W²m on 3^rd July

Maximum Sunshine Hours             = 10.5 hrs on 19^th July

Total Sunshine Hours                     = 788.8 hrs 

Maximum Radiation Exposure = 14.71 cpm ( 0.13 µSv) on 7^th March

Minimum Radiation Exposure = 7.5 cpm ( 0.06 µSv) on 1^st November