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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 635 For   NOVEMBER  2008
ALTERNATING WESTERLIES AND NORTHERLIES. SUNNY IN THE NORTHEAST
Text Box: The month began with almost a week of northeasterly winds, but for the remainder of the month westerlies and northerlies alternated. It was the eighth most northerly November over the British Isles in 136 years of records, and the most northerly since 1971. Pressure was consistently high in mid-Atlantic and often low over the Baltic and the western Mediterranean. The main anomaly centres were +17mbar at 51N 32W, and -8mbar over Finland. A northeasterly airflow covered England and Wales until the 6th bringing cold and dull weather with occasional rain to eastern, central and southern parts of the UK; some places reported six consecutive completely sunless days, the longest such run here since December 2002. By contrast, Scotland and Northern Ireland enjoyed several sunny days although it was frosty at night. Ronaldsway (Isle of Man) recorded 8.0h of sunshine on the 1st, Valley (Anglesey) 8.1h on the 2nd, and Auchincruive (Ayrshire) 7.8h on the 3rd, while Braemar (Aberdeenshire) logged a minimum of -7.0°C on the morning of the 3rd. A very disturbed west to southwesterly airflow held sway from the 7th until the 12th, and during this period all districts experienced unsettled weather with frequent rain, heavy and prolonged at times, strong winds, and only brief sunny intervals. The weather was particularly bad in northern and western districts on the 9th and 10th. with 74mm of rain falling at Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber) in 48h, while the wind gusted to 70kn at Pembrey Sands (Carmarthenshire) and 68kn at Wittering (Cambs). There were also reports of minor tornadoes causing local damage in central and eastern England. From the 13th till the 17th high pressure lay close to southern England with a mild southwesterly flow covering much of Britain, and although the anticyclone retreated to mid-Atlantic between the 18th and 20th and the flow veered northwesterly, temperatures remained above average. Heavy rain returned to the north and west of Scotland during the 13th and 14th with 81mm falling in 48h at Loch Shin (Sutherland), but amounts of rain in southern, central and eastern
Text Box: districts were generally small. The temperature approached 15°C on several afternoons, peaking at 16.0°C at Hawarden (Flintshire) on the 14th, and 15.9°C at Teignmouth (Devon) on the 19th. The night of 13th/14th was abnormally mild, the temperature not falling below 12.4°C at both Church Fenton (near York) and Durham. The last ten days of November were generally cold. A strong northerly flow brought frequent and heavy snow showers to northern and eastern Scotland and eastern England on the 22nd; snow depths were typically between 3 and 7cm, but snow lay 25-30cm deep locally over the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds. The temperature climbed no higher than -1.3°C at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) and fell the following night to -6.1°C at Benson (Oxon). Further snow and freezing rain caused difficulties for traffic over central and eastern England on the 23rd, but a thaw quickly followed, and the next two days were mainly sunny though still rather cold. It became milder but mostly cloudy on the 26th and 27th, but cold air returned for the last three days of the month. There was a good deal of rain in East Anglia and the Southeast, but elsewhere freezing fog was slow to clear. At Braemar the temperature fell to -9.5°C early on the 29th and -12.1°C the next morning, while the day’s maximum on the 29th was -2.6°C at Braemar and on the 30th -3.0°C at Warcop (Cumbria). Given the prevalence of northerly winds it is noteworthy that mean maximum temperatures were generally within 0.5degC of the 1971-2000 normal while mean minima were 0.5-1.0degC above. In spite of the very wet second week rainfall was generally below normal except in parts of the Midlands, the Southeast and in the Northwest Highlands, and it was the driest November for seven years at several sites in southeast Scotland and northeast England. Similarly, there was a general shortage of sunshine except in southeast Scotland and northeast England, with percentages ranging from around or just below 50 in the Hebrides to 140 locally in northeast England. At Stornoway it was (alongside last year) the dullest November since 1956 while at Leuchars it was the sunniest since 1996.
                                                                                                                                             
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL                                                       
                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                     
                                          Highest and lowest totals                     Highest and lowest totals        
                                              on record for month    
Maximum fall in 24 hrs (beginning 09 h)
                    on record for month    
Days with snow or sleet
 
Days with fog (Vis <220 yards at 09 h)
 
                                                                                         
     
Difference from average
   
Difference from average
 
Highest maximum
   
Lowest minimum
   
No. of days with grass minimum below 0ºC
   
Days of no sunshine
 
Maximum duration
       
First year of record
         
Days of no rainfall (0.1 mm or less)
         
First year of record
         
Days with thunder
     
       PLACE  
Mean Maximum
   
Mean minimum
             
No. of air frosts
       
Total for month
                   
Total for month
                   
                               
% of average
                   
% of average
                 
                                                                     
                                   
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
             
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
       
             
Date
   
Date
         
Date
         
Year
         
Date
         
Year
           
                                                                     
      ºC       ºC       ºC       ºC             Hrs     Hrs         Hrs       Hrs       mm       mm         mm     mm          
                                                                                                                                             
  *Hampstead   09.8   0.0   05.2   +1.0   14.4   14   -02.6   23   09   03   08   06.3   25   051   078   1910   109   1989   030   1932   10   13.6   10   049   069   1910   183   2002   05   1945   00   01   01  
  Thorney Island   10.8   -0.3   06.2   +0.7   15.2   20   -02.0   23   06   03   06   07.5   11   047   065   1958   135   2006   038   1994   11   27.4   10   091   111   1941   205   1970   07   1945   00   00   00  
  *Wattisham   09.1   -0.1   04.9   +1.4   13.5   15   -03.8   23   08   02   12   05.9   11   049   075   1968   114   1989   041   1983   07   17.2   10   077   147   1960   156   1970   19   1978   00   02   00  
  *Wittering   09.4   +0.7   04.9   +0.9   14.2   15   -03.5   23   10   03   10   07.2   12   065   098   1950   114   2006   038   1968   13   31.8   01   069   118   1945   131   1970   11   1945   00   01   00  
                                                                     
  Lyneham   09.2   -0.4   04.7   +0.7   13.4   08   -02.5   23   12   04   10   07.6   25   052   073   1952   105   1971   026   1994   03   16.2   01   076   094   1945   145   1951   10   1945   00   01   01  
  Ross-on-Wye   10.4   +0.5   05.0   +0.5   15.0   14   -01.1   01   10   02   08   07.0   25   063   095   1914   108   1923   025   1945   14   19.4   09   075   103   1859   227   1929   11   1945   00   01   02  
  *St Athan   10.4   +0.3   06.5   +1.0   13.2   08   -00.6   30   08   01   07   06.3   25   054   078   1954   106   1971   034   1994   10   15.8   10   070   066   1954   215   1970   32   1956   00   00   00  
  St Mawgan   10.6   -0.4   07.3   +0.5   13.3   04   01.7   01   06   00   08   07.7   25   065   086   1945   115   1989   036   1994   08   12.8   08   070   061   1944   236   2002   34   1945   00   00   00  
                                                                     
  *Edgbaston   08.7   -0.8   05.2   +0.4   14.2   14   -01.1   30   08   03   07   05.9   25   040   062   1887   099   1977   014   1912   14   25.0   09   070   102   1887   198   1951   17   1920   00   01   01  
  *Valley   10.6   -0.1   06.8   +0.1   13.2   14   -01.4   30   03   02   06   08.1   02   065   099   1946   089   1989   032   2004   09   14.4   08   078   073   1941   219   2000   27   1983   00   00   00  
  *Woodford   08.9   +0.1   04.5   +0.8   12.6   08   -03.3   23   13   06   11   07.4   03   053   086   1945   089   1975   024   1946   06   10.6   09   055   069   1942   179   2000   11   1945   00   01   02  
  *Watnall   07.8   -1.2   04.4   +0.4   12.9   08   -03.0   23   10   03   10   05.6   18   052   078   1948   101   2005   031   2002   09   18.8   09   068   115   1942   145   1951   07   1945   00   02   02  
                                                                     
  *Leeming   09.0   -0.2   04.0   +0.3   13.7   14   -06.0   29   14   05   06   06.5   18   075   131   1945   111   1947   027   1946   14   07.2   08   037   059   1944   149   1951   10   1945   00   02   02  
  *Boulmer   09.1   +0.1   04.7   +0.7   13.8   19   -02.5   30   07   03   05   06.0   18   065   089   1945   109   1947   025   1968   10   09.2   24   044   065   1945   163   1984   13   1973   00   03   01  
  *Eskdalemuir   07.3   -0.1   02.9   +1.0   11.4   13   -07.7   30   16   05   10   07.1   02   050   092   1911   089   1925   020   1946   09   24.6   07   125   079   1911   297   1938   18   1945   00   01   02  
  *Bishopton   08.5   -0.5   03.8   +0.6   13.3   14   -03.0   03   15   06   06   07.1   02   055   107   1921   090   1996   023   1941   09   17.4   07   084   078   1921   303   2006   08   1945   00   03   03  
                                                                     
  *Leuchars   08.6   -0.2   02.8   -0.4   13.6   14   -05.2   29   17   09   04   07.5   02   100   136   1922   109   1947   033   1968   15   05.6   06   027   042   1922   194   1963   11   1942   00   02   01  
  *Dyce   08.5   +0.1   02.9   +0.2   14.9   14   -05.7   30   15   10   06   07.7   03   077   120   1941   097   1996   023   1941   07   14.2   23   055   067   1941   268   1984   19   1964   00   04   01  
  *Stornoway   08.8   -0.1   04.9   +0.7   12.4   14   -00.8   28   08   02   15   04.2   04   020   044   1880   073   1968   019   1881   01   11.6   22   147   111   1943   228   1981   24   1945   00   02   00  
  *Aldergrove   08.9   -0.3   04.6   +0.4   13.0   12   -02.3   30   09   02   07   07.6   03   046   083   1927   083   1986   026   1962   09   18.0   23   050   067   1927   158   2002   15   1942   00   01   01  
                                                                     
                                                                                                                                             
  Stations marked with an asterisk record sunshine electronically; comparisons      
  with earlier records are therefore somewhat speculative. Thorney Island's      
  sunshine figures are made at a nearby site.