October 2020:
It was a dull and wet month with rainfall
164.7% above the 30 year average with a total of 163.1 mm. The previous
wetter October was in 2000 when 194.2 mm was recorded. Temperatures were
close to the 30 year average with a mean of 11.8°C but the average max
temperature was -0.4°C below average while the average min temperature was
0.5°C above the average.
October 2020 was the
2nd dullest since this data started in 2005 with only 29.6% of the maximum
sunshine. The only previously duller October was
2011 with only 28.3% of the maximum sunshine. The average pressure at 09:00
GMT was 1007mb and is the joint lowest for October since records began in
1995. The joint lowest month was in 2004.
the 24 hour maximum
rainfall of 37.1mm on the 3rd was the highest 24 hour rainfall since 41.5mm
was recorded on 19th October 2001. The highest daily maximum temperature of
17.5°C on the 20th was the lowest for October since 16.8°C was the maximum
on 1st October 1998. The maximum hourly surface energy of 9.74 MJ/m2 on the
6th of October was the lowest since this data started in 2005. The highest
daily mean temperature of 14.7°C on 31st was the lowest since October 2nd
2000..
Summer 2020:
The summer of 2020 was the 12th wettest in 139 years of data for Bristol
with a total of 311.3 mm when the long term average is 201.9 mm.
It was also the 17th warmest summer in 130 years of data. At 17.8°C it was
1.3C above the long term average of 16.5°C.
The
2019 Annual summary is here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2019annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2020October.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).