2012 Records 2011 Records 2010 Records 2009 Records
Thursday 21 March 2013 to Friday 29 March 2013
Record Breaking March
Well we’ve just spent a week on holiday in the Midlands staying in a thatched cottage
in the small Worcestershire village of Abbots Morton.
The bad news for us was that the weather wasn’t much better further south than if
we’d stayed at home. It was bitterly cold too with a biting easterly wind blowing
for most of the week we were there.
The media seem to have decided it’s the coldest March since 1962. I know strictly
speaking Ossett isn’t in the Central England Temperature area but it’s the only list
I have to work with. The average temperatures for the ten coldest months of March
are shown in the table below.
|
|
Year
|
March av. Temp °C
|
|
1
|
1785 Average
|
1.19
|
|
2
|
1883 Average
|
1.91
|
|
3
|
1845 Average
|
2.00
|
|
4
|
1789 Average
|
2.05
|
|
5
|
1786 Average
|
2.08
|
|
6
|
1837 Average
|
2.29
|
|
7
|
2013 Average
|
2.60
|
|
8
|
1784 Average
|
2.66
|
|
9
|
1892 Average
|
2.71
|
|
10
|
1962 Average
|
2.80
|
Currently in Ossett we’re lower than the 1962 average temperature with an average
value of just 2.6°C by late afternoon on Good Friday. That puts this March the 7th
coldest on record in this Met Office record going back to 1772 and the coldest in
176 years since March 1837. If nothing else it shows how exceptionally cold this
March has been.
With the forecasters predicting that this weather may continue for a least another
week or maybe longer it’s getting pretty tricky deciding when to start sowing seeds
in any great quantities. The average temperature for January this year was 4.1°C
compared with 2.6°C for March. I can’t convince myself sowing seeds in such cold
temperatures will be worthwhile so I might wait another week and mull over the pros
and cons of seed sowing in these ridiculously cold temperatures.
Saturday 30 March 2013
Lucky
Our holiday to Thatched Cottage in Worcestershire didn’t go entirely to plan due
to the rotten weather, in particular the snowfall. It was touch and go as to whether
we attempted the journey or not. Thankfully being able to scan all the motorway cameras
for the biggest part of our journey was really useful.
Having arrived the problem then was would be able to get out again. As we were self
catering on our first full day in the cottage we needed to find some groceries. Overnight
snow caused us some concern but unlike some parts of the country it wasn’t too deep
where we we staying so a trip to the local farm shop was possible.
The return trip home was uneventful although there was still snow around on the ground
for virtually the whole journey. Looking back though things could certainly have
been a whole lot worse.
Back home today I’ve had a little look around the garden to see how things have changed
in the week we’ve been away. The answer is not a lot. Our Tete a Tete daffodils are
in flower surrounded by the remnants of last weeks snow but looking very pretty.
Outside the greenhouse our Apricot “Flavourcot” is almost ready to burst into flower.
It’s probably going to need to be covered at night to give the flowers some frost
protection. I wonder if there’ll be any insects around during the day to carry out
pollinating duties. Sue may have to get her tickling stick out.
In the greenhouse there is still very little action. Some of our potatoes are now
starting to form shoots or chits. I’m not too worried though as I haven’t got any
ground prepared on the plot for planting them so they could well be spending a few
more weeks “chitting”.
Vales Emerald on the left are still showing virtually no signs of shooting but the
variety Winston on the right is starting to produce some strong looking dark green
shoots. None of the potatoes appear to be frost damaged even though the temperature
in the greenhouse fell to -3.1°C early on Friday morning.
So things are starting to grow very slowly but in the garden we’re still waiting
for spring to show up. It’s gone missing at the moment.
Sunday 31 March 2013
Winter Extended To The End Of March
March has finally come to an end but there’s still no sign of spring as far as the
weather is concerned. This year March has been colder than both January and February
and they were cold months with below average temperatures too. We’ve also had more
nights with temperatures below freezing in March which I wouldn’t expect. The year’s
summary so far is in the table below.
ANNUAL CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY
NAME: Ossett Weather Station CITY: Ossett COUNTY: West Yorkshire
ELEV: 65 m LAT: 53° 40' 39" N LONG: 1° 33' 26" W
TEMPERATURE (°C), HEAT BASE 18.3, COOL BASE 18.3
DEP. HEAT COOL
MEAN MEAN FROM DEG DEG MAX MAX MIN MIN
YR MO MAX MIN MEAN NORM DAYS DAYS HI DATE LOW DATE >=32 <=0 <=0 <=-18
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 1 5.8 2.1 4.1 -0.9 440 0 13.7 29 -5.8 16 0 3 10 0
13 2 6.1 0.6 3.4 -3.1 417 0 10.2 4 -2.8 19 0 0 10 0
13 3 5.2 0.1 2.5 -4.5 487 0 9.9 16 -3.8 31 0 0 14 0
I suppose there will be discussion in the media about this being the coldest March
since 1962. Comparing my temperatures for Ossett with the Met Offices Central England
Temperature record dating back to 1772 then this March takes over in 7th place and
the coldest March since 1883. This isn’t a truly like for like comparison but it’s
the best I can do.
I’ve added a chart below showing the average temperatures for the years in question
and at the end of the day we are talking about fractions of a degree centigrade difference
between the coldest March temperatures in the chart.
Clicking on the chart will open it up in a full size view to see how all the records
converge around a temperature of 2.5°C to 2.8°C. March 2013 in Ossett takes up 7th
position in this rather unenviable spring table.
There now seems to be some tweets amongst meteorologists suggesting that temperatures
may lift into double figures around the middle of April. The forecasts so many days
in advance are always a little bit hit and miss so I’m hoping the milder weather
will arrive sooner rather than later. We’ve now gone through the whole months of
February and March without having a temperature of 10.0°C for more than one hour.
Our warmest day is still the 29 January when we managed a scorching 13.7°C.
Adding to the March miseries for the gardener, the month turned out wetter than average
with 50.4mm of rainfall against an expected average of 41.9mm. That leaves the garden
to dry out and warm up before any serious planting begins.
What a difference a year makes with March 2012 producing a maximum temperature of
21.9°C compared to just 9.9°C this year. Last March I recorded 148.9 hours of sunshine
compared with 44.3 hours this year. In March last year we had just one night where
the temperature fell to below zero centigrade compared to 14 nights this year. To
complete this dismal picture we had 13.0mm of rain last year and 50.4 mm this year.
There’s no wonder it’s a slow start to the gardening year. Let’s hope for better
weather in April
|
|
Year
|
March av. Temp °C
|
|
1
|
1785 Average
|
1.19
|
|
2
|
1883 Average
|
1.91
|
|
3
|
1845 Average
|
2.00
|
|
4
|
1789 Average
|
2.05
|
|
5
|
1786 Average
|
2.08
|
|
6
|
1837 Average
|
2.29
|
|
7
|
2013 Average
|
2.50
|
|
8
|
1784 Average
|
2.66
|
|
9
|
1892 Average
|
2.71
|
|
10
|
1962 Average
|
2.80
|
