Dry and Rather Warm 

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during May 2019 in Shoreham was 17.3 Celsius (63F), and that was around 2 degrees Celsius (3.5F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 8.2 Celsius (47F), and that was  around  1  degree Celsius (1.5F) below the May normal.    

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 21.8 Celsius (71F) on the 24th, but both the 21st and 25th had maxima above 20 Celsius (68F). There were a further 13 days with highs between 18 and 20 Celsius (64-68F), although only 2 of these warmer days occurred during the first half of the month. There were no particularly cold days during May, but on 5 occasions the temperature failed to rise above 15 Celsius (59F). One of these cooler days occurred as late as the 29th, and on the 17th the temperature only reached 12.8 Celsius (55F). However, there were 3 consecutive cool days beginning on the 4th, and in fact the 4th was the coolest day of the month with a high of 12.2 Celsius (54F).

There were no particularly warm nights during  May, but on 8 occasions, all during the second half of the month,  the temperature stayed above 10 Celsius (50F). On 3 of these nights the temperature stayed above 12 Celsius (54F). On the 25th, a minimum of 14.2 Celsius (58F) was recorded, with 13.6 Celsius (57F) and 13.7 Celsius (57F) measured on the 30th and 31st respectively. All the coldest nights of the month occurred during the early part of May with no minima below 7 Celsius (45F) after the 16th. Prior to that date, there were 13 nights with temperatures dipping below 7 Celsius (45F), including 6 nights with temperatures below 5 Celsius (41F). All these chilly nights occurred between the 4th and 13th, but there were only 2 occasions when the temperature fell below 4 Celsius (39F). On the 4th a low of 3.8 Celsius (39F) was measured, but on the following night the minimum was 2.1 Celsius (36F). 

The sea temperature gradually rose from 12 Celsius (54F) at the beginning of May to 15 Celsius (59F) by the end of the month.

Frost

There were no air frosts during  May and just 1 grass frost. on the night of the 4th/5th the grass temperature fell to minus 1.1 Celsius (30F).    

Rain

There were  19.4  millimetres (0.75 ins.) of rain during May and that was only around 40% of the monthly average. It was the driest May in the area for 8 years. There were 8 days  of measurable rain, and that was about 4 days below normal for May. The first day of the month was dry and rain on the 2nd was negligible. However, heavy showers on the evening of the 3rd gave over 4 millimetres (0.17 ins.) of rain, and further showers occurred on the 4th.  Heavy rain fell early on the 8th, although the 8.8 millimetres (0.35 ins.) that fell was logged for the 7th (rainfall day 0900-0900 UTC). Showers fell on both the 8th  and 11th but less than 1 millimetre (0.04 ins.) was recorded on each day. From the 12th, there were 14 consecutive dry days, and although this was followed by 4 damp days, amounts of rain were small with 2.4 millimetres (0.1 ins.) on the 29th the highest total. The last 2 days of the month were dry.

Hail

No hail was observed in Shoreham during May.

Thunder

No thunder was heard in Shoreham during May.

Snow

There was no sleet or snow observed in Shoreham during May.   

Wind

On balance, May was a ‘westerly’ month,  although almost a week of northeasterlies occurred around mid month, and the prevailing soputhwesterlies were matched in number (10) by winds from a northwesterly direction.  Winds were quite brisk during the first 9 days of the month, and again during the last week of May. However, overall winds were generally lighter than average. At Shoreham Airport  northwesterly gusts of 31 knots (35 mph) occurred on the afternoon of the 4th, and again on the morning of the 8th, but this time from a southwesterly direction. There were no further gusts above 30 knots (34 mph) during the remainder of the month.     

Fog

There was no fog observed in this part of Shoreham during May, 

Statistics for May 2019