Sunny April 2011

The daily weather logWeather log April 2011.

April weather cooled as usual, except that the second week was rather cooler, by day and by night. There were no frosts.
Most days had little cloud. There were six rain days (usually four), with the highest reading 17.4 mm on the 11th.

 Comparing April monthsClimate April 2011.

Mean temperatures were close to average. It was a very sunny month, with only 20% cloudy mornings (>4/8 cloud). April 2005 had been even sunnier, with only one cloudy morning.

The rainfall of 31.6 mm is on the 50th percentile for April: it is on the median – half of all Aprils have been wetter and half have been drier – but below the long-term average (39.3 mm). Rainfall totals for 5, 6, 9, and 12 months remain very high: above the 70th percentile.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

March 2011 still cloudy

The daily weather logWeather log March 2011.

There were two warm spells and two cool spells in March, with no extreme temperatures.
Many mornings were very cloudy: fourteen had 7/8 or 8/8 cloud. In twelve years only six months have had so many. (Last December had sixteen.)
The highest rainfall reading was 17.4 mm on the 18th. In ten rain-days (twice the usual number) the total was 42.0 mm. No rain fell after the 20th.

 Comparing March monthsClimate March 2011.

The mean maximum temperature was a little low and the mean minimum temperature high, making the daily temperature range nearly two degrees narrower than average. Related to this, cloudy mornings (>4/8 cloud) reached a record 61%, equal with June 2010 .
The rainfall of 42 mm is in the 54th percentile for March. While below the long-term average (53 mm), it is far above the most common March total of 11 mm. Rainfall totals for groups of months remain high: above the 70th percentile for all periods up to 15 months.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

2010-11: Summer very cloudy again

Weather log summer 2010-11As in summer 2008-09, day temperatures got steadily warmer. From 8° below normal in mid-December they rose to 5° above normal in early February, and crashed to below normal before recovering. As in 2008-09, the lower temperature in mid-February came with a day of very heavy rain.

As is normal, there were two days over 40° and none below 20°.

The mean daily mean temperature was normal but, due to cloud cover, the mean maximum was rather low (31.6°) and the mean minimum rather high(18.1°), reducing the mean daily temperature range to 13.6° (normally 15.1°).
This summer was the cloudiest in this record, at 54% cloudy mornings (more than four eighths of cloud), just beating the summer of 2007-08 (53%). Given that Manilla summers averaged only 31% cloudy mornings from 1999 to 2008, this is a big change indeed.
The total rainfall of 270 mm is above the long-term summer average of 225 mm. It is in the 68th percentile.Climate summer 2010-11

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

Warm February 2011 with a very wet day

The daily weather logWeather log February 2011.

Several Mondays and Tuesdays this month were cool, while most other days were warm. Nights in the first week were warm, lifting the seven-day average. Three nights in the last week were very cool, at a time of very dry air.
Rain on the 7th (15.4 mm) ended a three-week dry spell, but really heavy rain was recorded on the 14th. That reading of 74.2 mm was the 29th heaviest daily fall in more than a century.

 Comparing February monthsClimate February 2011.

Mean maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures and mean soil temperature were all about a degree above average. The mean Dew Point was average, and cloudiness high (54%).
The rainfall of 102.6 mm is in the 77th percentile for February, far above the long-term average of 67 mm. Rainfall totals for groups of months are very high: above the 70th percentile for all periods up to 15 months, and above the 90th percentile for periods of 4-, 5-, and 6-months.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

January 2011 cool then hot

The daily weather logWeather log January 2011.

In the first part of January cool wet weather continued. On the 5th the temperature reached only 24.4°, and the 11th had 23.4 mm of rain. Suddenly the rain stopped and temperatures became normal. The last week was dry and hot, with the maximum of 42.0° on the 26th making it the second hottest day this century. By month’s end there had been eighteen days without 5 mm of rain.

 Comparing January monthsClimate January 2011.

This month broke the year-long tendency to a cooler, moister climate in Manilla. Mean maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures and mean soil temperature were all near average. The mean Dew Point remained a little high, and cloudiness was a January record 48%.
The rainfall of 53.8 mm is in the 35th percentile for January, far below the long-term average of 87 mm. However, moisture in the landscape must be close to normal. Rainfall totals for groups of months (up to 360 months) now include no extremes, either above the 90th percentile or below the 25th percentile.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.