Disclaimer
This weather site is operated as an amateur weather station site and should not be used as official data. I make every effort to ensure my data is as accurate as possible but I cannot guarantee that the data meets the requirements of the Meteorological Office or other professional weather monitoring organisations.
Sunday 22 November 2015
Nothing to Get Excited about
After a below freezing start to the day Sunday didn't warm up that much. We didn't have any rain and only a little bit of sunshine. For once it wasn't windy either. In the last 6 years we haven’t managed to get through November without the temperature falling below 0°C or 32°F.
At lunchtime I had a little walk up the garden to see whether the frost had left us any salad leaves to pick for our lunchtime sandwiches. Surprisingly they looked in remarkable good condition considering the frosty weather and I managed to pick a few leaves for lunch.
I normally move the tree into the greenhouse for winter. Whilst this manages to keep the tree through winter it does have one major drawback in that the plant starts to grow too early in the spring in the warmth of the greenhouse. The new leaves soon hit the greenhouse roof but the problem is it's far too cold to move the plant outside. By the time the conditions are satisfactory to move it outside the new leaves are already badly damaged. So I'm contemplating leaving the plant where it is and seeing if it survives winter. I’ll move the tray from underneath the pot to avoid the banana tree from standing in water. I might try to lift one of the small shoots from the base and put this in a pot for winter to see if it survives better. A sort of insurance policy.
I'd like to be able to say that our banana tree was in the same sort of condition but unfortunately a frosty night has taken its toll.
Monday to Wednesday 23-25 November 2015
Apples and Honeysuckle
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday haven't been that bad for the end of November. The wind has been much calmer, we've had a few sunny spells mixed in with a smattering of showers. We've had no more frosts since the weekend.
Although we haven't been down to the plot to do any harvesting I did manage to collect a nice bowl of apples from the summerhouse. They were a mixture of Egremont Russet and Fiesta. I noticed a few were starting to rot and these will need to be thrown away.
I couldn't help noticing that one of our honeysuckles is in flower. It hasn't got lots of flowers just one or two.
It set me thinking that before I began writing a blog I probably wouldn't have taken too much notice of this. Now I'm blogging and digital photography has come along l don't think twice about taking a photo and adding a photo and comment to a blog post. Our poor plants don't have any chance of doing something a little bit out of the ordinary without being photographed and blogged about.
Thursday 26 November 2015
Winter Salad Bar Update
Thursday wasn't too bad a day again. Dry and reasonably mild for the end of November. A little bit of sunshine brightened up the day.
I thought it was about time I updated how our indoor (greenhouse) winter salad bar was doing. Unfortunately the answer is not very well. It certainly is not a success story at the minute and I can’t see things improving much as we head into winter.
Our row of spinach is looking the best of the rest and so far is growing better than the other salad leaves. I will leave them until early spring and if they're not looking any better replace them with some fresh sowings.
We've sown three large salad bags only one of those looks like producing any worthwhile leaves at the moment. Our Winter Density lettuce plants seem to be growing better than the mixed varieties of salad leaves, radishes and spring onions.
From top to bottom - Spring Onions, Spicy Mixed, Mesculan, Mizuna and Radish
All sown on 01 October 2015
From left to right - Spinach, Mustard and Wild Rocket
All sown on 21 October 2015
Friday 27 November 2015
Lucky Banana, I've Chickened Out
Friday was another decent day. There were some dark threatening clouds about first thing in the morning but they didn't bring any rain with them. Rain was forecast for the middle of the afternoon but it arrived rather later than expected more towards tea time as it was getting dark.
I had planned to leave our banana tree outside to fend for itself over winter. It looked worse for wear after a couple of light frosts. It's saucer was full of water and I was guessing that it was already a bit waterlogged.
It's now alongside other pot plants moved into the greenhouse for some winter protection. If some really cold nights are forecast I'll cover them with a few layers of fleece.
There was a little bit more space left in the greenhouse so I decided to do the decent thing and move it inside. The main stems were cut back as these were already damaged by the frost. The banana was waterlogged as I thought making the pot heavy and it was moved to the greenhouse using a combination of lifting and rolling the pot.
|
|
Month
|
Rainfall (mm)
|
Rainfall (in)
|
|
1
|
Jun-15
|
131.5
|
5.18
|
|
2
|
Apr-15
|
120.0
|
4.72
|
|
3
|
Jul-15
|
106.4
|
4.19
|
|
4
|
Aug-15
|
106.0
|
4.17
|
|
5
|
Nov-15
|
98.8
|
3.89
|
|
6
|
Jul-15
|
90.0
|
3.54
|
|
7
|
Dec-15
|
88.0
|
3.46
|
|
8
|
May 14
|
87.8
|
3.46
|
|
9
|
Nov-15
|
87.4
|
3.44
|
|
10
|
Aug-15
|
84.6
|
3.33
|
2010- 2015 Wettest Months
Saturday 28 November 2015
Wet and Windy
Couldn’t complain about the forecast for Saturday as after a reasonably dry early morning it became wet and windy for the remainder of the day as predicted. By the end of the day we’d had 12.4mm (0.49”)of rainfall giving us a monthly total of 90.0mm (3.54”) making it the wettest November of the last six years. Another record to add to it being the windiest over the same period.
It’s also become the fifth wettest month of the last six years. Overnight into Sunday has brought the total up to 98.8mm or 3.89”.
There’s a chance it could become the mildest November too but that won’t be decided before the end of the month.
Sunday 29 November 2015
Another Unwelcome November Record
Sunday afternoon must be one of the worst afternoons we've had for some time. It was very wet and very windy.
Temperature, Rainfall & Hi Wind Speed Records for 29 November 2015
In the worst of the gale, my weather station record was broken with a wind gust speed of 43 mph at 14:35 breaking the previous record set on 05 December 2013 with 42 mph. As you can see from the chart below it’s been unusually windy this month.
I seem to be continually blogging about how this month is breaking one record or another. So here's a recap of the monthly records to date.
- The highest wind speed in six years of 43mph
- It's the windiest November over the last six years.
- It's the wettest November over the last six years.
- The mildest November day over the last six years with a temperature of 17.9°C or 64.2°F.
- It may well turn out to be the mildest November of the last six years.
I don’t think I've forgotten any but it's definitely been a month to forget weather wise. Mild certainly isn't everything when it comes to autumn weather.
The actual rainfall for the three days comes to 35.4mm or 1.39".
There was a warning for strong winds in the forecast but I think it underestimated the strength of the wind.
Monday 30 November 2015
Rain Keeps Falling
Monday was yet another wet and windy day although it certainly wasn't as windy or as wet as Sunday. We had a further 7.2mm of rainfall on Monday bringing our monthly total up to 113mm or 4.45" and moving this November into third place in the wettest months of the last six years.
It was mild again for the end of November with the temperature reaching 12.2°C or 54.0°F in the afternoon.
Last week I posted a weather forecast showing how much rainfall we could expect over the weekend and into the early part of this week.
Last week I posted a weather forecast showing how much rainfall we could expect over the weekend and into the early part of this week.
Well so far this forecast is proving very accurate. I've added our actual rainfall figures for Saturday, Sunday and Monday to the picture below.
