The Damage is Done

Friday wasn't as good as the weather forecast had indicated and during the afternoon we had a sort of misting of rain for most of the afternoon. It was enough to wet the ground but not enough to register on my rain gauge.

The perennials have enjoyed the cool wet weather and our tulips have been on flower for ages. They might even last into June. However, the cold temperatures have delayed the sowing of more tender vegetables and I only just got round to sowing our runner beans and climbing French beans on Friday.

As the weather wasn't that good I decided to get my May temperature and rainfall comparison charts from 2010 - 2021 ready. They don't make good reading. The charts are correct up to the 27th of the month.

Temperature & Rainfall Comparisons for May 2010-2021 {updated to 27/5/2021}

The warmest day of meteorological spring this year has been 30th March when the temperature reached 23.5° or 74.3°F. It will be interesting to see if that is beaten in the last few days of May with the forecast for more normal temperatures to end the month. 

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

May Joins the Ton Up Rain Club

May 2021 has become the eighth month since 2010 to have more than 100mm of rain. My weather records stretch back for 137 months and at the moment this May becomes the eighth wettest month with 100.6mm or 4.0in.

This May might still be the coldest May I've recorded since 2010 too. Spring this year has certainly provided some gardening challenges.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

No Allotmenting as May Rainfall Breaks a Couple of Records

The rainfall total for May has reached 93.8mm (3.7in) by Friday morning making it the wettest month this year. January had previously held the record with 85mm or 3.4in. This May also became the wettest May I’ve recorded in the last 12 years taking over from May 2014 when we had 87.8mm or 3.5in.

Wettest Months 2010 - 2021

Parts of the allotment are beginning to get very overgrown as the weather has reduced visits to an absolute minimum in what should be a very busy time of year.

 

I did manage to strim a few paths on our last visit which was to plant out our sweet peas.

 

There's not much we can do to clear any beds and get them dug over as the ground is far too wet and soggy. It's just a case of waiting for some better weather. That looks as though it might be arriving by the middle of next week. Fingers crossed!

Of course this May is also still on track to be one of the coldest Mays I’ve recorded. Our trial potatoes, McCain Royal, planted over a month ago now on the 18th of April are still not pushing through the soil. I’m hoping the tubers haven’t rotted in the cold and wet conditions.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Allotmenting back on hold

Another week has gone by with little or no improvement in the weather. April this year was the coldest for over 30 years and at the moment there’s a possibility that May will be the coldest for more than 20 years.

 

One evening we were treated to heavy rain and hail during a thunderstorm. April was very dry with only 4.0mm (0.2in) of rain. I’d like to say that a wetter May has been advantageous but I’m reckoning that our ground will now be too wet to work properly. We’ve had 66.8mm (2.6in) of rain this month so far which is about double the amount we’d normally expect this month.

We did make a little bit of progress at the allotment this week. On Monday we sowed carrots and parsnips. On Tuesday afternoon we just managed to sow some peas before we were rained off for the remainder of the afternoon. The ground was a bit wet for sowing peas so it will certainly be unworkable now after considerably more rain.

The forecast for the rest of May is not that promising with more rain and cold days expected up to the end of the month. There’s even a suggestion that cold northerly winds will make a return. This year is going to be a test of how late many crops can be planted out and still go on to produce a decent harvest.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

April 2021 - Very Frosty and Dry

There's no getting around it April turned out to be a cold and dry month. We are well behind with our gardening jobs at the end of April with lots of our maincrop potatoes still chitting in the greenhouse rather than them being planted in the ground. 

We planted out some brassicas at the plot early on in April and they looked better plants when they were planted out than they do now. They certainly haven't enjoyed the frosty dry weather.

Our tomato plants are still spending the daytime in the greenhouse but are being brought into the house overnight to avoid the cold conditions in our unheated greenhouse. 

I've delayed sowing our courgettes and squashes until some milder weather eventually arrives.

Although we only had 4.0mm of rainfall in April it isn't the driest month I've recorded since 2010. That record is still held by April 2011 with just 2.4mm.

Driest Months from 2010 - 2021

However, the forecast for Bank Holiday Monday is for lots of wind and rain to sweep across the country which should bring to an end the problems of dry unworkable soil.

Whilst the forecast promises an end to the dry spell, it doesn't show much respite from the cold temperatures. April 2021 is certainly the coldest I've recorded and suggestions are that it's the coldest since the 1980s.

Rainfall & Temperature Records For Aprils 2010-2021

Although the table above shows April as the coldest I've recorded, it doesn't give any real indication of how exceptional the frosty weather has been. In the 11 years from 2010 - 2020, we had a total of 14 days with air frosts when the temperature fell below 0°C or 32°F. In April 2021 alone we had 13 days with an air frost and a total of 26 days with a ground frost with the temperature falling below 3.0°C or 37.4°F.

The average nighttime temperature for April was just 0.7°C (33.3°F) the same as January this year. February's average low temperature was 1.6°C (34.9°F) and March 4.2°C or 39.6°F.

I have the feeling that we are going to fall even further behind at the allotment unless the forecasts turn out to be wrong and we get some improvement in the cold conditions.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett