Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Lockdown Day 37 - Some Rain Arrives

Early on Tuesday evening, we had what seems like our first rain in ages. The drizzly rain continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning. It wasn’t a great amount moving our monthly total up from 0.8 to 4.4mm or 0.17in.
Temperature & Rainfall Records for April 2020
However, it was enough to ensure that April 2011 holds on to the record of the driest month with just 2.4mm (0.09in) of rainfall. The next lowest amount occurred in March 2011 with 7.2mm or 0.28in of rainfall.

I wonder how we got on at the allotment that year.

April 2011 turned out to be a record breaking month. It will go into the record books as the warmest April on Record since 1659. Many days in the month were like summer days as the temperatures climbed into the low twenties with clear blue skies and almost no breeze. 
March was very dry and April even drier again breaking into the record books as we had just 2.4mm of rain. That gives us only 9.6mm in total for the last 2 months when we would normally expect 100mm of rainfall. The result is that the plot is very dry and young plants and seedlings need constant watering for them to survive.
From April 2011 post click here to read full post 



The forecast is for more rain before the month is out, and the weather models are suggesting a cool and changeable May.





I don’t think we’ve had enough rain yet to make digging over the allotment any easier but it's probably enough to keep the surface moist enough to avoid us having to make a trip to water the carrot and parsnip seeds which haven't germinated yet.

5 comments:

  1. Edinburgh only got a mere smattering and is waiting until tonight before the weather fronts bring rain our way (at last). Also the night temperatures are set to hold at 8 degrees after this weekend. Positively balmy!

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    1. We didn't get all that much rain in the end. It amounted to 7.0mm over the last couple of days. Doesn't look to be that much in the forecast either for the next 10 days. Nights don't look too cold so I might get some seeds sown in the greenhouse.

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  2. Yay for you guys! Yay for the rain! Don't mind me, it's called Covid , i.e., fever.

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  3. Oops, not even thinking straight. I meant Covid fever like cabin fever.

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    1. We just got a few showers in the end rather than a decent amount of rain. Still it's better than nothing. Lockdown is getting very boring now although I'm not sure how much things will change once the lockdown restrictions are eased. I'm not expecting a return to the old normal anytime soon.

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