The contrast between Tuesday and Wednesday was remarkable. Yesterday we enjoyed 13.44 hours of strong sunshine, which was the greatest number of hours since 15th August. This, combined with lighter winds, pushed the thermometer to a maximum of 18.4C late afternoon, almost 2C above the average. As a result, those of us with solar panels enjoyed the greatest daily solar energy generation since 6th June last year.
Not surprisingly, with much sunshine and a higher temperature, the amount of moisture that evaporated from ground sources and plant life yesterday was equivalent to 4.00mm of rainfall. I have to go back to August 6th last year for a higher amount of daily evaporation.
Overnight the temperature slowly fell away, but thankfully no frost, with a minimum of 5.6C at 05.48. At dawn there was hazy sunshine that shortly afterwards was obscured by thicker cloud although at 08.00 the thermometer had risen to 6.9C, with the sun breaking through more strongly a little later. It is interesting to note that the ambient temperature at 08.00 on each of the last four days has been within 0.1C.
The barometer has been falling away for the last 36 hours to a monthly low of 996.0mb at 08.00. This is due to the anticyclone, which has been influencing our weather most of the month, losing its hold as a low pressure system approaches from the south.
