More slow thaw

Note for Sunday 27th
Temperatures stayed above zero again today melting most of the remaining snow. The forecast is for colder nights to return.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 26th
Slow thaw continues
Temperatures remained above 0°C today and the slow thaw which started yesterday continued. I am assuming that the rainfall recorded over the last few days is due to melting snow and ice which covered my rain gauge.


Note for Friday 25th
A very slow thaw begins
Temperatures still below average as the cold spell continues. Despite this, there was a slow thaw through the day.
Note for Thursday 24th
Milder but more snow
A milder day but there was some more overnight snow leaving a scene that I just couldn’t resist photographing.

From 2009 December weather

From 2009 December weather

Note for Wednesday 23rd
More snow
After another cold day we had some more snow which started at 21:00 and lasted for a couple of hours. The weather conditions were calm and the snowfall left a picturesque scene.

From 2009 December weather

Almost un-noticed amidst the freezing weather and chaotic travel news since last weekend the winter solstice has passed. Daylight is now getting longer although it may be a few weeks before we notice any difference.


Note for Tuesday 22nd
Cold spell continues
The temperature has hardly risen above freezing over the last few days and the dusting of snow has turned to a crunchy layer of snow or ice. As we found on a trip to the plot things are no different there.

Note for Monday 21st
Freeze continues
Continuing bitterly cold all day. The forecast is for this to continue until Boxing Day. The temperature had fallen to -4.8°C by midnight which was the lowest this winter for us. By dawn on Tuesday the temperature had fallen further, down to -6.5°C.
Outdoor plants probably wish that they had a nice warm blanket of snow to protect them from the severe frosts. But with only a dusting of snow its not the case.

From 2009 December weather

The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

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More snow showers

Note for Sunday 20th
A cold sunny morning with snow showers in the afternoon. Topcliffe in North Yorkshire had overnight lows of -13.8°C and -13.1°C over the weekend making our -4.1°C seem quite warm.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 19th
Cold again
Friday turned out to be colder than Saturday despite that overnight -4.1°C. It rained / sleeted rather than snowed early evening as the temperature managed 2°C. The rain cleared to allow temperatures to fall sub zero again overnight.
Note for Friday 18th
Coldest day of winter
The maximum temperature today reached 0.3°C giving us the coldest day of winter so far. I’ve added the minimum temperature of -4.1°C recorded for Friday night / Saturday morning to the chart. With a start so cold there’s every indication that Saturday will set a new record for the coldest day.
We had a few flurries of snow during the day.



Note for Thursday 17th
Snow flurries
The forecasts were right. We had a few flurries of snow, enough to give us just a dusting by midnight. An average temperature of just 2°C meant it was our coldest day of winter so far.
Note for Wednesday 16th
Dull, cloudy and wet
A repeat of Tuesday but with a bit more rain. The forecast seems uncertain about any snowfall.
Note for Tuesday 15th
Dull and Cloudy
Remained dull and cloudy all day with light rain at times. The outlook is for colder weather with some snow by the end of the week.
Note for Monday 14th
3 day drought ends
It couldn’t last and today more rain. Will it be snow over the next few days? The forecasts seem to suggest that’s a possibility.

New! The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

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A little more sunshine

Note for Sunday 13th
It’s the first time since the end of October that we’ve had 3 days with no recorded rainfall.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 12th
Mostly cloudy
Cloudy for most of the day although we did get some fleeting wintry sunshine at times.
Note for Friday 11th
Low point
A crisp, sunny and frosty start soon clouding over.

Today marks winter’s first milestone. The long term average temperatures have dropped to 7°C and 3°C which is the lowest they fall. The only way is up now as we head towards the New Year. Unfortunately it’s the end of January before there is any upward movement in long term average temperatures.
Note for Thursday 10th
Pleasant for December
A lovely December day
Note for Wednesday 9th
How long will it last?
A sunny mild day but the forecasters are predicting change as here on Sky Weather.
Note for Tuesday 8th
More of the same
Dull most of the day with just some short glimpses of sunshine.
Note for Monday 7th
Damp and Dreary
Dull all day. Very light drizzle for most of the afternoon.

New! The location of my weather station is in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England.

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HXXBN9V886P2

Wet then sunny

Note for Sunday 6th
Wet early on, clearing with sunny spells late morning and afternoon.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Saturday 5th
Warmer than of late but we didn’t avoid more wet weather.
Note for Friday 4th
A nice sunny morning and early afternoon so we made the trip down to the plot to harvest some vegetables. It was cold and the soil wet and claggy. I wondered about the wisdom of continuing keeping records of harvests from the plot. It was cold on the hands and my parsnips and carrots came out of the ground with lots of wet soil attached. Most of the roots were still in good condition even after all the rain last month. I weighed the produce at home after removing most of the wet soil.
Note for Thursday 3rd
More of the same today. Daytime temperatures just a bit below average.
Note for Wednesday 2nd
Just a short sharp cold spell. Temperatures are back to average for the time of year.
Note for Tuesday 1st
Last night produced our first sub-zero temperature of the winter.
The grass was white and crunchy rather than soggy and the water in the bird bath had turned to ice.

From 2009 December weather

As well as giving the birds some food this morning the bird bath was re-filled with water. Even in cold weather the birds need to have water available for drinking and bathing.
The water butt outside the greenhouse is full from all the rain in November and the overspill was frozen over.

From 2009 December weather

Note for Monday 30th
The last hour of November was the coldest of the month with the temperature falling to 1.4°C.

Summary for November 2009

November 2009 Details
Maximum temperature [warmest day] 15.1°C at 13:30 on 19th November
Lowest maximum temperature [coldest day] 4.9°C at 13:30 on 28th November
Minimum temperature [coldest night] 1.4°C at 23:30 on 30th November
Highest minimum temperature [warmest night] 12.3°C at 02:30 on 19th November
Rainfall in month 118.3mm (long term average 63.7mm)
Wettest day in month 1st November 19.9mm
Most rainfall in 1 hour on 1st November 4.8mm (09:28 to 10:28)
Maximum wind speed 8.6mph at 15:28 on 1st November
Maximum wind gust speed 15.1 mph at 13:28 on 1st November

Notes November
This month will be remembered for the floods in Cumbria when the country had its highest ever 24 hour rainfall of 314mm. It makes our local 118mm this month, almost twice the expected rainfall for us in November, seem miniscule in comparison. We had just 6 completely dry days in November with no recorded rainfall. Temperatures appear above average as we had 15 days where the daily maximum temperature exceeded the long term highs for November. However, we had 16 days where the minimum temperatures were below the seasonal average but strangely little frost.

From 2009 November weather

All Records from 20th October 2009
Maximum temperature [warmest day] 17.7°C at 12:28 on 28th October 2009
Lowest maximum temperature [coldest day] 4.9°C at 13:30 on 28th November 2009
Minimum temperature [coldest night] 1.4°C at 23:30 on 30th November 2009
Highest minimum temperature [warmest night] 12.3°C at 02:30 on 19th November 2009
Wettest month November 2009 118.3mm (long term average 63.7mm)
Wettest day in 1st November 2009 19.9mm
Most rainfall in 1 hour on 1st November2009 4.8mm (09:28 to 10:28)
Maximum wind speed 8.6mph at 15:28 on 1st November 2009
Maximum wind gust speed 15.1 mph at 13:28 on 1st November 2009

Notes 30th November 2009
As we move into the winter months I can only imagine the lowest temperatures, wettest days and windiest days are set to change over the next few months.