April was a month of contrasts it started with a warm 1st week and the last week of the month, in the middle it was very cool with some late severe frosts and some places snow. April is usually the month of showers but not the case this year as it was very dry, especially the eastern half of the UK. The winds were mostly in the East with a lot more high pressure than normal, it will more than likely even itself out in May.
UK Stats
25.8c was the maximum temperature on the 19th at Treknow (Cornwall), the lowest was at Braemar (Aberdeenshire) with a minimum temperature -6.8c on the 10th. The highest 24 hourly rainfall was at Buxton (Derbyshire) with 58.2mm on the 28th. Amazingly 13cm of snow fell at Warcop Range (Cumbria) on the 3rd. The highest gust of wind occurred at Aberdaron (Gwynedd) on the 26th with 82mph.
The month was dominated by easterly winds and at this time of the year, it can hold some chill, although the CET(Central England Temperature) ended at 9.1c which is 1.2c above the long term average. This has carried on the above average start to the year in which every month so far has been. If the summer is hot then this could be on course for a record year of heat. The year as a whole is currently 1.61c above the long term average.
The last part of the month the heat started building give us the warmest Easter Sunday ever recorded.
Watford Stats
The highest temperature in Watford occurred on the 20th with 25.7c, the lowest was -2.4c on the 13th. This was not good for the blossom that was blooming early this month. There were 5 air frosts during the month, which is 4 more than March!
It was a very dry month with only 12mm of rain falling, there were 20 dry days (days with no rain).
Looking ahead to May
May is looking like a cool start with some frosts possible in the first week, even in the south of the UK. Beyond mid-month it looks like it will be warming up but it might be a slow process, although high pressure could become more dominant. How warm it gets depends on the position of the high pressure.
Summary for April 2019 in Watford
Temperature (°C):
Mean (1 minute) 9.9
Mean (min+max) 10.5
Mean Minimum 4.3
Mean Maximum 16.6
Minimum -2.4 day 13
Maximum 25.7 day 20
Highest Minimum 10.6 day 22
Lowest Maximum 9.4 day 02
Air frosts 5
Rainfall (mm):
Total for month 12.0
Wettest day 3.6 day 02
High rain rate 7.2 day 08
Rain days 10
Dry days 20
Wind (mph):
Highest Gust 17.4 day 27
Average Speed 0.8
Wind Run 547.1 miles
Gale days 0
Pressure (mb):
Maximum 1025.7 day 19
Minimum 985.7 day 24
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/72157690202684043
Weather Outlook – https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twocommunity/
March – https://blog.andrewlalchan.co.uk/weather-march-2019-statistics/
