Royston (Iceni) Weather Station
Daily Weather Observations - February 2007
February 2007 Weather Review
It was a mild and wet February in Royston, with near average sunshine.
Despite a 7 day frosty period from 3rd/9th inclusive the February mean temperature was still 2.0°C above average. It was the mildest February since 2002 and completed a remarkably mild Winter (see below).
The mean daily maximum temperature in February was 9.1°C, which is 1.9°C above average. The mean night minimum temperature was 2.0°C above average at 3.8°C. The highest and lowest temperatures recorded in the month were 12.4°C and –4.9°C on 23rd and 7th respectively.
On 8th the day maximum temperature reached 1.4°C only, the lowest such value of the month. In contrast the highest night minimum temperature in the month was 7.7°C on 28th. As indicated above air and ground frost occurred every day from 3rd to 9th; thereafter no more air frost was recorded although a further 3 ground frosts were noted by the end of the month. This gave totals of 7 air frosts and 10 ground frosts in the month. Air frost duration in February was 64.5 hours.
The mean earth temperature at 30 cms depth as recorded at 0900 GMT daily was 5.7°C. Highest and lowest earth temperatures in February were 7.9°C on 25th and 26th and 3.0°C on 9th and 10th.
On average February is the driest month of the year in Royston but that distinction is unlikely to apply this year as the rainfall total of 61.8 millimetres was 77% above the 30 Year (1971/2000) normal.
The wettest day of the month was 10th with 10.9 millimetres rainfall, but 24th was almost as wet with 10.8 millimetres rainfall. The number of "rain days" (0.2 millimetres or more) in February was 17, whilst on 11 of these days rainfall exceeded 1.0 millimetre. It was the wettest February since 2001. Rainfall duration in February was 83.6 hours.
Only one snowfall ‘event’ occurred in February when snow fell in the early morning of 8th giving a level depth of 9 cm by 0900 GMT. A snow covering of 8 cm was still in evidence at 0900 GMT on 9th but this then rapidly thawed and no further snow fell in the month. Unusually for February thunder was heard in the month (at 0738 GMT on 21st). This was the first thunder heard in February since 1997, and was only the 6th day with thunder in February since 1972.
Total sunshine in February was 80.4 hours, which is 111% of the 1971/2000 average. This total was achieved despite 7 days in the month which were completely sunless. The sunniest day of the month was 3rd with 8.0 hours sunshine. It was the sunniest February since 2003.
After the strong winds in January the first 10 days of February experienced very light winds with a mean wind speed of 0.0 mph (to nearest 1 decimal place) being recorded on 5 days in this period.. Thereafter it was a little more breezy with the windiest day of the month occurring on 28th when a maximum gust speed of 53 mph was recorded. The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean wind speed of 13.8 mph also occurred on this date. The mean wind speed over the whole month was 2.9 mph.
Wind directions between S and W dominated much of the month as the following analysis of daily wind directions at 0900 GMT shows: NORTH 0 days, NE 1, E 1, SE 2, S 8, SW 3, W 7, NW 2, and CALM 4.
The mean MSL air pressure in February was 1005.2 mB, which is 12 mB below the 30 Year (1976/2005) average. The highest and lowest pressure values recorded in February were 1039 mB and 976 mB on 3rd and 12th respectively.
The mean relative humidity in February was 91.3%. The highest daily (00/00 GMT) mean relative humidity was 99.0% on 5th, whilst the lowest daily mean was 78.5% on 28th. The absolute lowest relative humidity reading in the month was 59% at 1520 GMT on 26th.
Fog (visibility < 1000 metres @ 0900 GMT) was observed on only 1 day (9th) in February.
WINTER (December/February) 2006/2007: It was the equal mildest winter (with 1989/1990) since at least 1972 in Royston, and the wettest Winter since 2002/2003. The mean daily maximum temperature in Winter was 9.3°C (+2.3) and the mean daily minimum temperature was 4.5°C (+2.2). Totals of 16 air frosts and 24 ground frosts were recorded. Total rainfall was 195.4 millimetres (141% of normal) and total sunshine was 29% above normal at 226.0 hours.
Richard Barker
Richard Barker
Met Observer, Royston (Iceni) Weather Station
6th March 2007
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