A wet month, but a fine and warm Bank Holiday weekend

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during August 2017 in Shoreham was 21.5 Celsius (70F), and that was less than 1 Celsius (1.8F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 13.4 Celsius (56F), and that was almost 1 Celsius (2F) below the normal August value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 26.3 Celsius (79F) on the 27th, but the 29th was only 0.1 Celsius (0.2F) less warm. These were the only 2 days with temperatures above 25 Celsius (77F), but during the last week of August there were a further 3 days with maxima above 23 Celsius (73F). The 14th and 15th were the only other days with highs above 23 Celsius (73F). On most days (18) the temperature rose to between 20 and 23 Celsius (68-73F), but there were 6 occasions when the maxima failed to reach 20 Celsius (68F). On 4 of these days, the temperature was only a fraction of a degree below 20 Celsius (68F), but on the 2nd the high was only 18.4 Celsius (65F), and on the 30th it was decidedly cool. The temperature only reached 15.1 Celsius (59F), making it the coolest August day for 14 years..

There were several warm nights during August,  and on 10 occasions the temperature remained above 15 Celsius (59F). However, only 1 of these warmer nights had minima  above 17 Celsius (63F), namely the 23rd when 17.7 Celsius (64F) was recorded. There were 3 fairly cool nights in August and on these occasions minimum temperatures were below 10 Celsius (50F). On the 20th the temperature fell fractionally below 10 Celsius (50F), but on both the 14th and 31st minima were below 9 Celsius (48F). The lowest reading was 8.1 Celsius (46F) on the 31st.

The sea temperature stayed around 19 Celsius (66F) throughout the month.

Frost

There were no frosts in Shoreham during August. The lowest grass minimum was 5.6 Celsius (42F) on both the 20th and 31st.

Rain

There were 84.4 millimetres (3.3 ins.) of rain during August, and that was approaching 50% above average. Rain fell on 13 days, a couple of days above what one would expect at this time of year, and wet days ( rainfall of 1 millimetre (0.04 ins) or more)  amounted to 10 days, also slightly above what can be expected in August. No measurable rain fell on the first day of the month, but the 2nd was very wet with 28 millimetres (1.1 ins. falling). The weather stayed changeable, although amounts of rain were small until the 8th. On the 8th, over 3 millimetres (0.1 ins.) of rain fell, with a further 11.6 millimetres (0.5 ins.) recorded on the 9th. Although the day was fine, overnight rain produced nearly 8 millimetres (0.3 ins.) on the 16th,  and over 16 millimetres  (0.6 ins.) fell on the 20th. There was a run of 6 dry days between the 23rd and 28th but there was an unsettled end to the month with almost 7 millimetres (0.3 ins.) of rain falling on the 31st.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Hail

There was no hail reported  in Shoreham during August.

Thunder

There were 4 days when thunder was observed in Shoreham.  Early in the afternoon on the 5th a storm occurred over the Downs but with no rain in central Shoreham. A rumble of thunder occurred late in the morning of the 8th and there was lightning and a few distant thunderclaps late on the evening of the 22nd. The last thunder of the month was noted mid afternoon on the 31st.

Wind

August was a ‘westerly’ month with around two thirds of winds blowing from between southwest and northwest. The first half of August was often quite breezy but it became generally calmer after the 20th. At Shoreham Airport a gust of 37 knots (42 mph) occurred on the morning of the 3rd, with 36 knots (41 mph) recorded on the afternoon of the 18th.

Fog

There was no fog observed in Shoreham during August.

Statistics for August 2017