The first day of December marks the start of meteorological winter. To be honest it seemed like it arrived a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately for us we just managed to get our winter digging done at the allotment and most of our beds are as prepared for spring as we can manage.
We had a very mild last few days to the month which ensured that the average temperature for November was ever so slightly above average at 7.7 C (45.8°F) compared to a recent average of 7.4°C or 45.3°F over the last eight years.
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| Novembers 2010 - 2018 Average Temperatures and Rainfall |
Rainfall was surprisingly a bit below average considering that we had some precipitation on 23 of the 30 days in the month. It was, without doubt, the dullest November I’ve recorded in 8 years. Although I wouldn’t claim my sunshine records are super accurate due to the positioning of the sensor but the values this year are far lower than any previous years.
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| Potteric Carr Nature Reserve |
Of course as November brings autumn 2018 to a close we can compare this autumn with the previous eight autumns.
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| Autumn 2010 - 2018 Average Temperatures and Rainfall |
After a summer that hit the number one position, temperature wise it was a little bit disappointing for autumn to finish a lowly seventh out of nine years. Autumn this year has turned out a little bit wetter than normal so I can't say we've managed to get our winter digging done because of the dry weather.
We've still some jobs to do at the allotment over winter but the weather over the next couple of weeks looks like it's going to remain unsettled with more wet weather to come so it might be that we just make a quick trip or two to the plot to harvest some fresh vegetables rather than get any other jobs done.
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Yes, for us, too, winter's here. Right on time. We're having our coldest nights and a rain storm about once a week. For us, it is wonderful to clean the plants and to refresh the ground water that our trees depend upon, not so much for you. Keep posting about your weather. I love reading about it.
ReplyDeleteI’ll have to keep blogging about the weather as the dull damp days have brought allotmenting to a stop. I’ve noticed a few suggestions that there might be another stratospheric warming event taking place towards the end of December or into the new year. That caused us some odd weather the last time it happened. Suggestions are that we might be in for a colder than average winter.
DeleteShould we wish for extremes??? I am reassured that autumn has been 'average' after that extreme summer.
ReplyDeleteI’m more for extreme summers than winters although I’m not entirely sure what classes as extreme these days. The predictions I’ve seen so far for winter are colder than average but not extremely. It will probably turn out to be very mild.
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