July 2013 surprised us all with turning out to be the
warmest July since the exceptional month in 2006, and nationally it was the third warmest recorded -1983 is in second place. After such an extended cold and often wet spell, which started in April 2012, this was made doubly amazing, and in my book, welcome! In my sheltered location the thermometer reached 30C on five days-as in 2006. The warmest of
these five was 33C on the 13th. This surpassed the previous highest temperature I had recorded on 19th July 2006 at 32.6C. The overall mean temperature of 18.35C was about 0.4C lower than in 2006 largely due to the nights being slightly cooler this year than seven years ago. Altogether it was more than 3C warmer than last year and more than 2.5C warmer than all years since 2006, with the exception of 2010. After an inauspicious start with a high of just 16C on the 2nd, one of our classical low cloud and drizzle days with the wind blowing in off the still cold sea, conditions warmed and dried out during the first week of the month. Temperatures started to rise significantly on the 7th (the anniversary of the 2012 flooding event) There was a slight cooling around the 11th which led to the coolest overnight minimum of 5.8C on the 12th. Then came the warmest week of the month.
The weather turned thundery on the night of the 21st with the first of eight days with rain. After the small fall of 0.8mm on the 2nd, the intervening dry spell was the most continuous since certainly March 18- April 2 inclusive in 2012. The last ten days of July helped the month’s total rainfall to 40.1mm with one signifacnt fall over over 10mm on 24th. The total for the month was thus just 1/4 of that in 2012. But overall the month was less dry than 2011; a summer that tended to be cool and dry.
The month concluded as it started with the 31st being
similar to the 2nd. The temperature for the day hovered around 18-19C, but this figure in itself shows how much the sea temperature has warmed during the month. Any comparison I have made hitherto with 1962 has now been overturned.
Peter at Pottlelake.
