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

A warm, but also a wet and windy month

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during July 2017 in Shoreham was 22.5 Celsius (73F), and that was 2 Celsius (3.5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 14.8 Celsius (59F), and that was almost 1 Celsius (2F) above the normal July value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 29.7 Celsius (86F) on the 18th, but there were 4 other warm days when the temperature rose above 25 Celsius (77F). All of the warm weather occurred during the first 18 days of the month, including maxima of 27.3 Celsius (81F) on the 6th and 27.1 Celsius (81F) on the 9th.; after that, the only maximum above 23 Celsius (73F) was the 23.4 Celsius (74F) recorded on the 21st. There were many days when temperatures rose to between 20 and 23 Celsius (68-73F), but there were 4 days when maxima remained below 20 Celsius (68F). The only day when the temperature failed to reach 19 Celsius (66F) was the 26th when a high of 18.6 Celsius occurred.

There were several warm nights during July. and on 13 occasions the temperature remained above 15 Celsius (59F). On 5 of these warmer nights minima were above 17 Celsius (63F), including a low of 18.2 Celsius (65F) on the 6th. There were no particularly cool nights during July, although on 3 nights minima were below 13 Celsius (55F).  On the 4th a low of  11.6 Celsius (53F) occurred, but the coolest night of the month was the 22nd/23rd when a minimum of 10.3 Celsius (50F) was measured..

The sea temperature stayed at 18 or 19 Celsius (64-66F) throughout the month..

Frost

There were no frosts in Shoreham during July. The lowest grass minimum was 7.8 Celsius (46F) on the 4th.

Rain

There were 81.8 millimetres (2.1 ins.) of rain during July, and that was approaching 50% above average. Rain fell on 11 days, close to what one would expect at this time of year, and wet days ( rainfall of 1 millimetre (0.04 ins) or more)  amounted to 9 days, also close to what can be expected in July. No measurable rain fell during the first 10 days of July, but rain set in during the afternoon of the 11th and became heavy at times overnight. The total for the rainfall day* was 26.6 millimetres  (1.05 ins.).  A short dry spell ensued but rain on the evening of the 18th became torrential for a while overnight and resulted in a total of 25.6 millimetres (1 inch) of rain. A changeable period of weather followed, and between the 18th and 29th there was only 1 completely dry day, the 21st. Some heavy bursts of rain occurred, with 7.8 millimetres (0.3 ins.) measured on the 21st, almost 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 22nd, and 9 millimetres (0.35 ins.) on the 29th. The last 2 days of the month were dry.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Hail

There was no hail reported  in Shoreham during July.

Thunder

There were 3 days when thunder was observed in Shoreham. On the evening of the 18th thunderstorms broke out, with these becoming severe in the early hours of the 19th. Continuous thunder and lightning occurred for over an hour before they finally moved away to the north. At one stage, the rain was falling at a rate of almost 90 millimetres (3.5 ins.) per hour.  The  last thunderstorm of the month, on the 22nd, was slight, and produced just 2 rumbles in the middle of the afternoon..

Wind

It was a windy July, especially during the second half of the month. Winds from a southwesterly direction accounted for nearly 60% of the observations,  although breezes from a northeasterly point coincided with some of the warm days. The 28th was the windiest day at the Airport with 34 knots (39 mph) recorded.

Fog

There was no fog observed in Shoreham during July.

Statistics for July 2017

A very warm, but also a rather wet, month

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during June 2017 in Shoreham was 22.1 Celsius (72F), and that was almost 4 Celsius (7F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 13.5 Celsius (56F), and that was over 1 Celsius (2F) above the normal June value.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 31.7 Celsius (89F) on the 21st, but there were several other very warm days between the 17th and 21st, including the 18th with 30.1 Celsius (86F) and 30.4 Celsius (86F) on the 20th. The temperature reached 27.0 Celsius (81F) on the 14th, and in total there were 6 days when the temperature rose above 25 Celsius (77F). There was plenty of fairly warm weather, with a further 13 days when the temperature exceeded 20 Celsius (68F). There were no particularly cool days during June, and although the temperature failed to rise above 18 Celsius (64F) on 3 occasions, the lowest value for the month was 17.0 Celsius (63F), some 6 Celsius (11F) above the record low for June.

There were several warm nights during June. but with most of the warmer nights occurring after mid month. There were 8 nights with minimum temperatures above 15 Celsius (59F), although only 1 of these warmer nights occurred before mid month. On the 11th a minimum of 15.4 Celsius (60F) was measured, although this figure was exceeded on 5 nights between the 19th and 24th. On the night of the 20th/21st a low of 18.1 Celsius (64F), occurred, with the following night 1 Celsius (1.8F) cooler.  There were no especially chilly nights, although on 2 occasions the temperature fell below 10 Celsius (50F),  The coldest night, by a fraction, was the 3rd/4th,  when a minimum of 9.8 Celsius (50F) was measured.
The sea temperature climbed steadily from 13 Celsius (55F) at the beginning of June to a comfortable 18 or 19 Celsius (64-66F) during the third week. Despite lower air temperature, the sea stayed relatively warm until the end of the month.

Frost

There were no frosts in Shoreham during June. The lowest grass minimum was 6.1 Celsius (43F) on the 13th.

Rain

There were 53.0 millimetres (2.1 ins.) of rain during June, and that was about 20% above average. Rain fell on 9 days, close to what one would expect at this time of year, but wet days ( rainfall of 1 millimetre (0.04 ins) or more) only amounted to 4 days, roughly half of what can be expected in June. A little rain fell on the 2nd, but the first high rainfall occurred on the 5th. A total of 21.4 millimetres (0.8 ins.) was measured with a further 6.6 millimetres (0.25 ins.) logged on the 8th.  No measurable rain fell between the 9th and 21st (13 days) and only just over 1 millimetre (0.05 ins.) fell between the 22nd and 26th. However, on the following day, steady rain contributed another 22.2 millimetres  (0.9 ins.) to the monthly total.  Almost 95% of the June rain total fell on just 3 days, the 5th, 8th and 27th. Although it rained on the last 3 days of the month, once again amounts were small.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Hail

There was no hail reported  in Shoreham during June.

Thunder

There were 3 days when thunder was observed in Shoreham. Showery rain on the evening of the 8th produced 1 late flash and rumble. On the morning of the 22nd there was plenty of thunder but most of it stayed to the west and north. On the 27th there were a couple of late morning thunderstorms embedded in the steady rain.
Wind

After a quiet start to the month, it became very windy at the end of the first week with southwesterly gusts at Shoreham Airport reaching 40 and 35 knots (46 and 40 mph) on the 6th and 7th respectively.  Southwesterly winds continued into the second week, but after mid month breezes were generally lighter, except between the 22nd and 26th, and often blowing from between northwest and northeast..

Fog

There was no fog observed in Shoreham during June.

Statistics for June 2017

A warm, but occasionally wet, month

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during May 2017 in Shoreham was 18.8 Celsius (66F), and that was around 2 Celsius (3.5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 10.3 Celsius (50F), and that was nearer 1 Celsius (1.8F) above the normal May value.
The highest temperature recorded during the month was 28.1 Celsius (82F) on the 26th, but there were several other warm days, more especially in the latter part of the month. There were 10 days when the temperature exceeded 20 Celsius (68F), but only 1 of these warmer days occurred before mid month. The temperature reached 22.1 Celsius (72F) on the 11th, but this value was exceeded 5 times during the last 10 days of May, and included highs of 26.3 Celsius (79F) on the 25th and 24.2 Celsius (76F) on the 28th. There were no particularly cool days during May. In fact, the only 3 days with maximum temperatures below 15 Celsius (59F) all occurred before the 9th. These rather cool days were the 1st, 3rd and 8th, with the 3rd having the lowest temperature with a reading of 12.6 Celsius (55F).

There were many mild nights during May. but although there were 16 nights with minima above 10 Celsius (50F), only 4 of these milder nights had lows above 13 Celsius (55F). All of these mildest nights occurred after mid month and included minima of 15.5 Celsius (60F) and an exceptionally mild 17.2 Celsius (63F) on the following night. On the first 11 nights of May minimum temperatures were below 10 Celsius (50F) with only 4 of these cooler nights thereafter. There were only 3 nights when the temperature fell below 7 Celsius (45F). On the 20th a minimum of 6.5 Celsius (44F) was recorded, with 4.7 Celsius (41F) and 3.1 Celsius (37F) measured on the 9th and 10th respectively.
The sea temperature was 11 Celsius (52F) rising to 13 Celsius (55F) towards the end of the month.

Frost

There were no frosts in Shoreham during May, although the grass temperature fell to 0.0 Celsius (32F) on the 10th, and below 3 Celsius (37F) on the 20th.

Rain in Shoreham

There were 64.4 millimetres (2.5 ins.) of rain during May, and that was about 20% above average. Rain fell on 12 days, close to what one would expect at this time of year. Although measurable rain fell on the first 3 days of May, it only amounted to just over 3 millimetres (0.1 ins.). The following week was dry, but then the weather became very unsettled. Between the 11th and 19th, only the 15th had no rain* On the 11th, over 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) of rain fell, and although rainfall was lighter on the following 3 days, the 4 day period 16th to 19th was very wet. A total of nearly 43 millimetres (1.7 ins.) fell in 96 hours and included 3 days with totals above 10 millimetres (0.4 ins.). The wettest day was the 16th with 14.0 millimetres (0.55 ins.). There was plenty of dry weather for the remainder of the month, and only the 28th had measurable rain. On that day 7.4 millimetres (0.3 ins.) was measured.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Hail

There was a report of hail around lunchtime on the 19th, and although the fall was brief in Shoreham, it was heavier and more prolonged over the Downs to the east of the town.

Thunder

There were 3 days when thunder was observed in Shoreham. There was thunder and lightning from high-level cloud in the early hours of the 27th, with another rumble around breakfast time. Very little rain fell during these storms. On the following evening, storms spread north from France, and although the main centres of activity seemed to be southeast of Shoreham, thunder and lightning continued into the early hours of the 29th.
Wind

The wind through the first fortnight of May was often from a northeasterly direction, but apart from the 2 very warm days later in the month, the northeasterly breeze gave way to the more typical southwesterlies. Generally the wind was light or gentle. and only the 4th and 6th had gusts exceeding 15 knots (17 mph). On both these days 17 knots (19 mph) was measured.

Fog

There was no fog observed in Shoreham during May, although visibility was significantly reduced under low cloud cover early on the 27th.

Statistics for May 2017