March 2020:
Rainfall for March 2020 was above average but
not by as much as the previous 7 consecutive months and at 70.0 mm was only
105% of the 30 year average.
The average temperature for the month of 8.0°C was close to the 30 year
average but was only 0.1°C above the average for February 2020.
The maximum average temperature was 0.9°C above the average for March but
the minimum temperature was -0.4°C below the long term average. Put together
and the whole month looks quite average temperature wise.
Perhaps the most notable event of the weather in March 2020 was the sunshine
recordings. It was the sunniest March since 2012 when there was 48.5% of the
maximum sunshine. In 2020 it was 46.1% of the maximum possible. All detailed
sunshine records started in 2005 or 2006 depending on the period.
The average pressure of 1015 mb is the joint highest, with 2019, since 1021
mb was recorded for March 2015.
It was the 3rd
highest maximum hour sunshine Wm/2 for March on 29th at 14:00 hours. The
26th March was the 2nd sunniest day of March since the record began in 2006.
The highest mean wind speed of 15.8 mph on 10th was the highest for March
since 16.4 mph was recorded the 10th in 2011.
The maximum daily temperature of 17.9°C recorded on the 24th was the highest
for the month since 18.7°C on March 30th 2017.
Winter 2019/20
The winter of 2019/20 was the 7th wettest on record which is 139 years of
continuous data for the city of Bristol. The total rainfall for the 3 months
was 372.4 mm which represents 159% of the all time average.
It was the 4th warmest winter in 130 years of continuous data for Bristol
with an average temperature of 7.5°C for the 3 winter months. The joint
warmest were 1988/9 and 2015/6 which both recorded an average temperature of
8.0°C.
Annual 2019: In 129 complete
years of Bristol's average temperatures in 2019 it was the joint 5th warmest
with (with 1999, 2002, 2003 & 2015)
with an average temperature of 11.9°C.
The annual rainfall of 984.6 mm for 2019 was 106% of the 30 year average for
the city of 889.9 mm. The first 7 months, January to July,
had a below average rainfall of 83%, whilst the last 5 months, August to
December, had 139% of the 30 year average.
In 2019 49% of all
the wind directions were from the SW or WSW. Annual average pressure of 1014
mb was lowest since 1012 mb in 2014.
2019 was the sunniest complete year of data, with regard to Wm2, since this
parameter started in 2006. In terms of percentage of maximum sunshine it was
the 5th sunniest at 40.7%, since 2010 when 41.2% was recorded.
The
2019 Annual summary is here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2019annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2020Feb.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).