Royston (Iceni) Weather Station
February 2000 Weather Review
The February 2000 weather in Royston can be described simply as very mild, very wet, and very sunny!
It was, in fact, the third consecutive very sunny February. This year the February sunshine total was 114.8 hours, which is 166% of the average. Only 2 days registered no sunshine at all, whilst the daily maximum sunshine duration was 9.3 hours on 25th. Other high daily totals were 8.6 hours on both 13th and 20th.
Despite the high sunshine in February it was also a very wet month. The number of "rain days" (0.2 millimetres or more) was 21 and this was the highest such figure in February since at least 1973.
On average February is the driest month of the year in Royston, but this year the rainfall total was 66.5 millimetres (2.62 inches), which is 191% of the 35 Year (1961/1995) average. It was the wettest February since 1995 only, however, but was the 3rd wettest February in the last 25 years.
The wettest day of the month was 24th with 12.7 millimetres (0.50 inches). Rainfall duration in February was 70.3 hours.
A snow shower in the late evening of 16th provided the month’s only snowfall, and this was sufficient to give a light ground cover which quickly disappeared the following morning. This snow appeared to be rather variable in the Royston area, the higher parts such as Hyde Hill having a complete cover whilst lower down on the South Cambridgeshire Plain only a sprinkling was in evidence.
To complement the excesses of sunshine and rainfall the temperature regime responded with a sizeable increase in the mean temperature, although it was not as mild as in the very mild Februarys of 1990 and 1998.
The mean daily maximum temperature in February was 9.7°C (49.5°F), which is 2.9°C above the 25 Year (1973/1997) average. As an illustration of the variability of the weather the equivalent value in February 1986 was only 0.8°C! The mean night minimum temperature was 3.6°C (38.5°F), which is 2.2°C above average.
The highest temperature recorded in February was not exceptional at 13.6°C (56.5°F), this value having been exceeded in February in the last 25 years in 1987, 1989,1990, 1992 and 1998. In contrast, the lowest day maximum temperature was a relatively high 6.5°C (43.7°F) on 16th. This was the only day in the month in which the maximum temperature fell below the 25 Year mean of 6.8°C.
The lowest temperature of the month was also relatively high at only –1.0°C (30.2°F) on 20th. Only 2 other nights in the month registered an air frost, these being 17th and 22nd. Consequently, air frost duration during the month was only 16.2 hours. A total of 10 ground frosts occurred in February.
A significant fact concerning temperatures, highlighting the possibility of movement towards a warmer epoch, is that in the 38 months since January 1997 no less than 30 have had an above average mean temperature.
With regard to the earth temperature at 30 centimetres (1 foot) depth the mean value of the 0900 GMT observations was 5.4°C (41.7°F). The highest earth temperature recorded in the month was 6.6°C (43.9°F) on 7th, whilst the lowest earth temperature was 3.9°C (39.0°F) on 22nd.
The mean wind speed during the whole of February was 7.1 mph. The highest daily (00/00h) mean wind speed was 12.4 mph on 8th and the lowest 0.9 mph on 20th. The maximum wind gust recorded was 48 mph on 10th. Gusts of 46 mph were measured on both 7th and 8th.
Winds with southerly and westerly components dominated the whole month as illustrated by the following wind directions as observed at 0900 GMT: N 1, NE 0, E 0, SE 0, S 4, SW 17, W 6, NW 1, and CALM 0.
The mean MSL air pressure in February was 1016 mb which is close to the average for the month. The highest pressure reading was 1033 mb on 3rd and the lowest 993 mb on 29th.
The mean relative humidity over the whole month was 83.6%. The highest mean daily (00/00h) relative humidity value was 92.2% on 23rd, whilst the lowest daily mean value was 74.4% on 13th. The absolute lowest relative humidity reading in the month was 47% on 12th.
To conclude this review a few facts and figures for Winter (December/February) 1999/2000 are given. In many respects the weather covering the whole winter in Royston was similar to February, that is with temperature, rainfall and sunshine all being above average. The mean day maximum and night minimum temperatures for Winter were 8.2°C (46.8°F) and 3.1°C (37.6°F) respectively, these figures in turn being 1.4°C and 1.0°C above average. Rainfall was 165.1 millimetres (6.50 inches), which is 119% of average. Winter sunshine was exceptionally high, the total of 282.8 hours being 166% of average.
Richard Barker
Richard Barker
6th March 2000
Royston Crow (Corvus Cornix)
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