Another mild month which over the UK which was the 6th warmest January since 1884, it ended up 2c above average. Lots of low-pressure systems crossed the Atlantic fueled by the very strong jet stream. Which in turn was magnified by the difference in temperature in the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean. The cold has been bottled up in the arctic all winter even places like Moscow haven’t had much cold weather. The Central England Temperature (CET) which is the longest weather series in the world (1665) came out at 6.39c which was 2.6c above normal. It didn’t get to a record but was certainly on course to be 2/3rd through the month.
One other notable weather feature of the month was that we had one of the highest high pressures for some time, in Watford I recorded 1042 mb, highest for 10 years.
UK Stats
15.5 °C was the maximum temperature recorded at Achfary (Sutherland) on the 7th. On the 10th the minimum temperature of -7.9 °C was recorded at Braemar (Aberdeenshire). The wettest place in a 24 hour period ending at 0900 GMT on the 11th was 138.0 mm which fell at Skye Alltdearg House. A wind gust of 87 mph was recorded at South Uist (Western Isles) on the 13th. Not much snow around but a snow depth of 15 cm was recorded at Tulloch Bridge (Inverness-shire) on the 28th.
Watford Stats
Its been once again a mild month with maximum temperature in Watford of 13.4c on the 9th, the minimum was -2.6c on the 20th. Its remarkable how little frost we have been having as once again we only had 5 frosty nights. On the 24th it only got to 7.1c it was the coldest day of the month. It was also an average month for rainfall with 14 wet days giving a total of 49.8mm.
Looking ahead to February
February is looking like a continuation of January with lots of mild periods, it will be Atlantic driven with the odd bursts of northerly winds. If it carries on it will be a record warm winter. We still haven’t seen any snow yet in Watford.
Summary for January 2020 in Watford
Temperature (°C):
Mean (1 minute) 6.6
Mean (min+max) 6.9
Mean Minimum 4.1
Mean Maximum 9.7
Minimum -2.6 day 20
Maximum 13.4 day 09
Highest Minimum 9.0 day 08
Lowest Maximum 7.1 day 24
Air frosts 5
Rainfall (mm):
Total for month 49.8
Wettest day 10.2 day 14
High rain rate 28.8 day 16
Rain days 14
Dry days 16
Wind (mph):
Highest Gust 17.4 day 03
Average Speed 0.4
Wind Run 311.2 miles
Gale days 0
Pressure (mb):
Maximum 1042.5 day 19
Minimum 981.6 day 27
Days with snow falling 0
Days with snow lying at 0900 0
Links
Met Office – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/cet_info_mean.html
Met Office Summary – https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries
Real-time Watford Weather – https://weather.andrewlalchan.co.uk/
Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/alalchan/albums/72157712704080908
Weather Outlook – https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twocommunity/
December – https://blog.andrewlalchan.co.uk/weather-in-december-2019/
