February 2025: It was
the coolest February since 2021 but the average temperature was still 1.0°C
above the 30 average for Bristol (1990-2020). 2018 was the last
average temperature in February to be below the 30 year average.
Interestingly the average minimum temperature was +1.5°C whilst the average
maximum temperature was only +0.3°C above its 30 year average. The rainfall
for the month of 58.1 mm was 87.5% of the 30 year average for Bristol of
66.4 mm. There were no temperatures below 0.0°C and there was no recorded
snowfall.
It was a dull month especially considering that, due to a data corruption,
there was no sunshine recordings taken for the first 5 days of February.
Winter 20254/25: It
was the 3rd warmest winter in 133 years of data with regard to average
temperature of 7.8°C. Last year, 2023/24, was the 5th warmest winter in the
same period. The 30 year average temperature for Bristol is 5.9°C
(1990-2020) so this winter is 1.9°C above the average.
The winter rainfall total was 311.1 mm. The 30 year average for the city is
260.7 mm so 2024/25 winter was 119% above the average. There are 144 years
of rainfall data for Bristol starting in 1882 and it was the 27th wettest
since this record started. During the winter there were 4 occasions of snow
falling but none was present at 09:00 hours.
Annual 2024:
The annual rainfall for Bristol in 2024 was 1153.4 mm this makes it the 10th
wettest year since this data started in 1853. The wettest year was 2012 with
1315.4 mm. The 30 year average for the city is 913.8 mm so 2024 represents
126% of the average. The annual average temperature for 2024 was 12.4°C.
That made it the equal 4th warmest with 2020, and 0.8°C above the 30 year
average of 11.6°C. Continuous average temperatures for Bristol started in
1891. It was the dullest year from records starting in 2005 with only 37% of
the maximum sunshine recorded.
To
view a full report of the Bristol Annual Weather report 2023 and a discussion of trends
etc click here. This is a Word created .doc document
which is produced annually for a Bristol Naturalist Society
publication. Please acknowledge the source if quoting any of the contents.
Thank you.
The
2024 Annual summary is here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2024annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2025
February.htm
The
Meteorological site is situated in an urban housing area approximately one
mile to the south of the Centre of Bristol.
This area is in a district called Totterdown.
Statistical correlations with the Bristol
Meteorological Office site, that was
less than two miles to the North and was
situated on top of a City Centre office block, were generally good with
rainfall and barometric data particularly close.
The site of the station is approximately 34 metres above sea level with the
manual instruments mounted in a Stevenson screen. The screen is sited
centrally in a small concreted garden area. A Snowdon
rain gauge is mounted correctly in the ground but does not have the full open
space required around it. A Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus automatic weather station (AWS) was
added in May 2005 and this is mounted 4 feet above a concrete shelter. The
wind data is gathered automatically from a Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus anemometer which is
sited 3.3 metres (10 feet) above the house top.
Manual observations are still taken at approximately 09:00 hours GMT every
day for rainfall and cloud cover. Rainfall manually recorded in the Snowdon rain gauge is entered for the previous day. The
wind data is constantly logged and automatically reset at 24:00 hours GMT
every day (in the summer BST -1 hour. The Davis rainfall tipping bucket was recalibrated in November 2005 and is now
consistently under 3% under recording (an improvement from installation in
May 2005 when 10% was more
typically the norm).
Since the arrival of the Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus equipment in May 2005 temperatures, humidity and barometric
pressure are recorded from the new equipment. These figures will be more
accurate and will be taken at exactly 09:00 GMT (in the summer BST -1 hour)
as the data is now logged to a computer.
By default the Davis
equipment records every parameter for the 24 hour period 00:00 to 23:59 BST
or GMT. Data analysis will enable manual data extraction of temperatures and
rainfall to 09:00 GMT (adjusted in the summer). Due to the 0.2 mm (tipping
bucket) measurements of precipitation recorded by the Davis equipment the
Snowdon rain gauge will still be used due to its greater accuracy (see
above).