What’s happened to summer!

Wednesday was a day with heavy clouds interspersed with sunny spells and another short burst of heavy rain. A few weeks ago it seemed it would never rain again and now it just can’t stop. We’ve now had  rain for 9 of the last 10 days amounting to double the typical July rainfall.

From 02 Weather 2010

Before the rain came lettuces were just drying out and wilting on the plot. Now they’re just rotting in the rain.

From 02 Weather 2010

Heavy rain

Tuesday produced a dull day with some heavy thundery rain. The video shows the rain around 18:30 on Tuesday - my apologies for including the TV news sound track.

It's hard to remember that the first 11 days of July were dry and that after a dry May and June we badly needed rain for the garden and plot. Since then 80mm of rain have made July the wettest month of 2010.

Those pesky birds have been causing problems again. Not satisfied with pinching any fruit or vegetables that take their fancy this time they left the remnants of my goodies in the rain gauge causing it to block. I noticed during the heavy rain my weather station wasn't recording much rain. At first I thought it had gone faulty but noticed it kept on recording rain when the rain had stopped. I decided to risk a soaking and get my step ladder out to inspect the rain gauge between the showers. It was just as well I did as the rain gauge was almost full of water. The blockage was bird droppings. I unblocked the gauge and the water raced through with the gauge’s tipping mechanism working frantically to record the stored up rainfall. This has given me a ridiculous rain rate which I don’t know how to amend at the moment. We haven’t had a rainfall rate of 768mm/hr the record remains at 144mm/hr. Help!

Summer returns

Monday turned out very pleasant. More sunshine and less breeze than of late and the temperature into the high twenties.

From 02 Weather 2010

We made the most of the good weather on the plot as the forecast for the rest of the week is poor. More lettuce was planted out, spring onions and radish sown. To water or not to water was a tricky decision. The ground looked dry but lots of rain is forecast.

From 02 Weather 2010

The lettuce got some water the spring onions and radish didn't. Time will tell if we made the right decision.

Disappointing for July

Sunday morning was a let down. Rain early morning cleared to leave a dull breezy morning. The afternoon was brighter with a few brief glimpses of sunshine. It was warm in the afternoon too despite the lack of sunshine. 

The forecast varies quite a bit for next week, although both forecasts seem to be from the Met Office.

From 02 Weather 2010

On the left is a forecast for a heat wave whilst our regional forecast on the right looks like a rather cool and wet week ahead. I wonder which forecast will be correct. For full details click on Daily Telegraph and latest local forecast from the Met Office.

On the plot our first batch of lettuce needs to be cleared as its either dried up or rather surprisingly finished up spoilt by the week's rain. Our next row is ready and has some sizeable lettuces of unknown variety as they’ve come from a packet of mixed seeds. I suspect these will soon go over too. Certainly to keep a good supply of lettuce some really needs to be sown every couple of weeks.

From 02 Weather 2010

A dry day

Saturday turned out to be our first dry day for 5 days. It wasn’t too bad a day, a bit breezy with sunny spells but fine for getting jobs done on the plot. The soil on the plot was just right for hoeing following the rather wet week. Just goes to show how dry the soil had become as we received the equivalent of July’s rainfall in the last 5 days yet the ground wasn’t waterlogged.

On the plot the first of our Kaleidoscope Mixed cauliflowers will soon be ready for cutting. Didn’t see any coloured heads forming though so hopefully this means the heads won’t all be ready at the same time.

From 02 Weather 2010

Windy

Friday was most notable for a very windy morning. It did quieten down during the afternoon to allow some short sunny spells with the odd light shower. Not a typical July day at all.

In the greenhouse Jimmy Nardello is on flower. This is one of our sweet peppers which don’t normally do well in the greenhouse but this year I’m making a special effort and also trying some different varieties. I suspect it’s a bit late coming into flower but I’m still hoping for a few peppers by autumn.

From 02 Weather 2010

The cold frame still has plenty of seedlings ready for the plot or trays of seeds yet to germinate. Most of the seeds still to germinate are over wintering brassicas whilst late french beans and lettuce wait to go down to the plot. After this week’s rain preparing the plot ready for them should be a whole lot easier and quicker.

From 02 Weather 2010

Sunny spells and breezy

Thursday wasn’t too bad a day following yesterday’s storms. Ossett seemed particularly badly hit by the storms which left some local roads flooded. By Thursday morning things were generally drying up well. A visit to the plot confirmed just how heavy yesterday’s rain had been and the ground dug a couple of days ago had obviously had standing water on it. The surface will need breaking up before it gets chance to form a concrete like crust.

From 02 Weather 2010

It was a day when rain threatened most of the time. Occasionally the sun shone and it was warm, but a strong breeze kept the clouds moving quickly and showers were always a threat. The sky was a mix from blue to very dark thundery clouds.

From 02 Weather 2010

It was amazing where all that rain went as doing some digging the ground was moist on top but below a few inches still reasonably dry. This area where our crop of early broad beans had been cleared dug well.

From 02 Weather 2010

Hard to believe it had 34mm of rain yesterday between 17:30 and 23:00 that’s around 75% of July’s average rainfall. Yesterday’s rain has ensured that here in Ossett we have already exceeded the expected rainfall total for July.

Wednesday - Torrential rain!
Well Wednesday really made up for the lack of rain with two thunderstorms giving torrential rain. The first storm broke around 17:30 and lasted about an hour, giving around 15mm of rain. At one point in the storm the rainfall was fast enough to give us all July's rainfall in just 20 minutes.

From 02 Weather 2010

The second storm began around 21:30 and deposited another 15mm or so in the next hour. The rainfall for the day was 33.4mm the most since I began keeping records last October. I've noticed that none of the Met Office stations recorded anything like this amount of rainfall. I'm hoping the plot a few miles away got its fair share.
Tuesday - Just like buses!
We had some more rain Tuesday. Having waited for a wet day two come along together. I did a bit of digging on the plot yesterday to prepare a bed ready for winter brassicas. The rain from Monday did no more than wet the surface of the soil. It was bone dry underneath as you can see from photo below.

From 02 Weather 2010

Looking round our plot I thought the dahlias had a lot of growing to do to become the large bushes they usually are by August. I think the dry weather has certainly reduced their growth this year. The photo below shows our dahlia bed in the middle of July this year and last.

From 02 Weather 2010

Monday - Wow Rain!
Monday turned out to be the wettest day for a month. Not that we had much rain but at the moment any rain is good rain. It was just light rain or drizzle for several hours. The hot spell of the last week or so has come to an end with yesterdays high temperature in the mid teens rather than mid twenties.

From 02 Weather 2010

As it was wet I decided to take some bird photos but by the time I had my camera and tripod set up the birds had disappeared. I did manage to snap this chaffinch that hadn't heard about me and my camera.

From 02 Weather 2010

Monthly Temperature Comparisons

The charts below to compare our monthly temperatures this year with those of last year and the coldest and warmest temperatures for each month. The figures are mean temperatures for each day.

Table produced using data from the Met Office Hadley Centre. The data covers the period 1772 to 2009

Greenhouse v Outside Temperatures
I've also added the following spreadsheet tracking my greenhouse v outside temperatures for February and March

Windy morning

Sunday morning was sunny but very windy. In the afternoon the wind eased to give a pleasant end to the day.

Our garden apples are coming on well. The pictures are of a variety which I think is Peasgoods Nonsuch and gave us plentiful supply of excellent cooking apples last autumn. The bottom photo is last years crop in early September 2009 and the top photos as they look today. Another good crop on the way?

From 02 Weather 2010

Saturday - Muggy
Saturday was hot and muggy. It was possible to work up a sweat picking broad beans. There was plenty of cloud about which was probably a good thing keeping the temperature down a little on Friday.

Our cherries are almost ready - can we manage to keep the birds off for another few days?

From 02 Weather 2010

Friday - Hottest of the month
Friday turned out to be the hottest day of the month so far. The records show some rainfall. I must admit when I saw 0.4mm recorded overnight I thought my weather station was faulty. A closer look outside did reveal traces of moisture and closer inspection of the equipment indicated that it had "rained" around 02:00. Then the same thing happened again in the afternoon. Returning from the plot the reading gave another 0.2mm. It hadn't rained on the plot 2 miles away and it was dry again at home. These traces of "rain" are of virtually no use in watering the plot or garden.

Parsley reading for potting on or planting out.

From 02 Weather 2010

Thursday - Cloudy start - sunny afternoon
Thursday started off cloudy and overcast but by the afternoon the cloud was more broken giving some spells of sunshine. It remain warm with temperatures just above normal for the time of year.

Jostaberries ripening in the sunshine

From 02 Weather 2010

Wednesday - Rain - I think!
Wednesday was a cloudy day although it cleared up late afternoon with some sunny periods. We had some light rain /drizzle for around 3 hours which started late morning. In total it amounted to 0.2mm and it never made the soil appear damp although any paved surfaces took on a rather damp appearance.

Mum looking for suitable meal worm for her youngster.

From 02 Weather 2010

Tuesday - Warm
Tuesday was a rather cloudy day but felt warm and muggy in the afternoon. We had a few spots of rain late afternoon but not enough to even wet the ground. The good spell of weather continues to ripen our fruit. These gooseberries are ready for picking. Not sure about the variety but they do taste sweet.

From 02 Weather 2010

Monday - Less sunshine
The weather deteriorated a little more on Monday with only short glimpses of sunshine and the temperature didn't manage 20°C. Can't complain too much though as we've had a good spell of fine summer weather.

From 02 Weather 2010

On the plot we've taken the opportunity to lift our winter onions and store them in the greenhouse to keep them dry. (I'm sure it will rain soon) They should keep in the greenhouse until our main crop is ready.

From 02 Weather 2010

Monthly Temperature Comparisons

The charts below to compare our monthly temperatures this year with those of last year and the coldest and warmest temperatures for each month. The figures are mean temperatures for each day.

Table produced using data from the Met Office Hadley Centre. The data covers the period 1772 to 2009

Greenhouse v Outside Temperatures
I've also added the following spreadsheet tracking my greenhouse v outside temperatures for February and March