A dry and mild August with about average sunshine – that was Armagh Observatory’s take on ‘our August’.
It was, indeed, the warmest since 2013 and a lot drier than average, with just two-thirds of the normal August
rainfall at Armagh.
It was also slightly warmer than average, with a mean monthly temperature nearly 0.5 C higher than the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year average.
The number of hours of strong sunshine was close to average, the Observatory reported today (Friday).
Total precipitation was 52.65 mm (2.1 inches) including three trace values, which is approximately 64% of the long-term (1838-2010) average August precipitation at Armagh and 69% of the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year average.
This was the driest August at Armagh for three years.
The wettest day was the 20th, with 11.4 mm (0.45 inches) of rainfall.
The mean monthly temperature was 15.8 degrees Celsius (60.5 F), approximately 1.2 degrees C warmer than the long-term (1796-2010) August average at Armagh, and nearly 0.5 C warmer than the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year August average.
This was also the warmest August since 2013.
The warmest day (highest maximum air temperature) was 23.2 degrees C, which occurred on the 16th.
The coolest day (lowest maximum air temperature) was 16.0 C on the 10th.
The coolest night (lowest minimum air temperature) was 7.6 C, occurring on the 29th.
The warmest night (highest minimum air temperature) was 15.5 C on the 17th.
There was no ground frost, the lowest minimum grass temperature
being 1.3 C on the 29th.
Meteors, or shooting stars, from the predicted Perseid meteor outburst were seen on the night of the 11th/12th, a day before the normal maximum of this regular annual shower; and the observer noted a sporadic meteor around 11pm (BST) on the 28th.
Gulls were seen during the early evening on both the 3rd and 21st.
There was a total of 134.6 hours of strong sunshine. This is slightly more than the long-term (1881-2010) August average at Armagh, but nearly identical to the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year average for strong sunshine at Armagh (133.4 hours). The sunniest day was the 15th, with a total of 13.6 hours of strong sunshine.
August marks the end of the meteorological summer – June, July and August – which this year was mild, approximately 0.6 degrees warmer than the Armagh average, and the warmest since 2013.
It was also rather duller than average and with approximately
average rainfall.
These data refer to observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the weather at Armagh since 1795.
