March 2025: In
contrast to 2024, March 2025 was a very dry and warm month with above average
sunshine and lights winds. The total rainfall for the month was just 8.9 mm,
14.7% of the 30 year (1991-2020) average for the month. It was the driest of
any month since May 2020 when only 5.8 mm was recorded. It was the 4th driest
March since continuous records started in 1881. The last drier March was in
1961 when 1.5 mm was recorded. With an average temperature of 9.7°C it was
the 2nd warmest March in 173 years of data (one year missing) starting in
1853. The joint warmest were 1998, 2012 and 2017 at 9.8°C. The average
maximum temperature of 14.4°C was the 3rd highest since continuous records
started in 1931 and the highest since 14.8°C in 2012, which is the highest
for the month.
It was the calmest March on record with regard to the average wind speed. It
was the 3rd lightest wind of any month with respect to the daily maximum wind
speed at 6.7 mph. This data started in July 2005. It was the 5th sunniest
March since this data started in 2006. At 44.8% of the maximum possible
sunshine it was 3.9% above the average for the month.
The 24 hour maximum rainfall of 3.0 mm recorded on 21st was the lowest of any
month since April 2017. The maximum daily gust of 26 mph recorded on the 28th
and 30th was the lowest for March data which started in 1996.
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 211.9 mm. The 30 year average for the city is
260.7 mm so 2024/25 winter was 82% of the average. There are 144 years of
rainfall data for Bristol starting in 1882 and it was the 65th driest 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
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).