March 2022:
The March mean temperature at 9.5°C was 1.5°C
above the 30 year average for the city. It was the 5th warmest, with 1957,
1997 and 2000, since data was recorded from 1853 (with 1890 missing). It was
however the average maximum temperature that was the most notable for March
2022 as it was 2.2°C above the 30 year average (1991-2020). With regard to
average maximum temperatures it was the 4th warmest, after 2012, 2003 and
1948, since data started 122 years ago.
The month's total rainfall was 51.1 mm which is 84.3% of the 30 year average
(1991-2020). Interestingly the first three months of 2022 have been the
driest since 2012 which in fact became the wettest year on record from data
starting in 1853!
The March 2022 mean wind speed of 3.3 mph was the 2nd joint lowest wind
speed for the month since data started in 2006. Also of note was the low
incidents of South Westerly winds in March 2022 and in fact not since April
2019 have there been as few SW and more SE winds. The monthly solar
radiation for March was 3.5% above the average for the month with regard to
the maximum percentage possible at 45.1%. This was mainly due to a very
sunny spell toward the end of the month.
The maximum wind gust of 32 mph on the 12th was the joint 2nd lowest (with
2001) since data started in 2006. The highest daily temperature of 20.3°C on
the 23rd of the month was the 10th highest in 86 years of data for Bristol.
The highest pressure of the month of 1041.9 mb on the 18th was the highest
March pressure for this site since data started in 1994.
Winter 2021/22 With
an average winter temperature of 7.4°C it was 5th warmest in Bristol in 132
years of data. It was 1.5°C above the 30 year average for the city
The total rainfall for the 3 winter months was 189.7 mm. The 30 year average
(1991-2020) for the city is 260.7mm. This total makes 2021/22 the 47th
driest winter out of 141 in the city.
Annual 2021:
In 131 complete years of Bristol's average temperatures in 2021 it was the
joint 10th warmest with (with 1999 & 2015) with an average temperature of
11.9°C. The 2nd warmest month, after July, was September.
The annual rainfall of 891.1 mm for 2021 was 97.5% of the 30 year average
(1991-2020) for the city of 913.8 mm. The wettest month was October with
145.6 mm (145.6%) of rainfall whilst the driest was November with only 14.1
mm (14.0%) of rain.
In 2021 the predominate wind direction was from the SW or WSW accounting for
42.7% of all the wind directions. The annual average pressure of 1017 mb
was the equal 3rd highest in 27 years of data at this site. It was the least
windy year since data began in 2005 with regard to the average wind speed.
There were no wind gusts over 50 mph for the 1st time in 4 years. Thunder
was only heard on 1 occasion. In 2021 there were only 4 occasions when
snowfall was observed to fall and only 1 had any snow lying at 09:00 hours.
To
view a full report of the Bristol Annual Weather 2020 and a discussion of trends
etc click here. This is a Word created .doc document
which is produced annually for a couple of Bristol Naturalist Society
publications. Please acknowledge the source if quoting any of the contents.
Thank you.
The
2021 Annual summary is here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2021annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2022
March.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).