Mild and Rather Dry 

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during January 2020 in Shoreham was 9.3 Celsius (49F), and that was over 1 Celsius (<2F) above normal for the time of year.  The average minimum temperature was 5.4 Celsius (42F), and that was nearly 2 Celsius (3.5 F)  above the January normal.    

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 11.9 Celsius (54F) on both the 12th and 14th,  but there were 10 other days when the maximum was above 10 Celsius (50F), including 4 days with highs above 11 Celsius (52F).  The first half of the month was mildest, with only 2 of these milder days occurring after the 16th; the 30th and 31st, with highs of 10.4 Celsius (50F) and 10.5 Celsius (52F) respectively.  There were no cold days during January, although 10 days had maxima below 8 Celsius (46F), including 8 consecutive days commencing on the 18th. The other 2  days were the 1st and 10th. Only 3 of these cooler days had highs below 7 Celsius (45F). They were the 21st, 22nd and 24th, with the lowest maximum, 6.7 Celsius (44F), occurring on the 22nd.

Several mild nights occurred, mainly early in the month, and on 2 occasions minimum temperatures were 10 Celsius (50F) or higher. On the 3rd, a low of 10.0 (50F) was recorded, with 10.2 Celsius (50F) measured on the 8th. A further 9 nights had minima above 7 Celsius (45F), including 5 out of 6 nights from the 12th to 17th, and 4 of the last 6 nights of the month. There were a few rather cold nights,  and on 7 mornings minima below 3 Celsius (37F) were measured. On the 4th a low of 2.2 Celsius (36F) occurred, with 1.5 Celsius (34F) logged on the 29th. The other 5 nights were consecutive, beginning on the 18th, and all of them had minima below 1 Celsius (34F). The lowest temperature was minus 1.1 Celsius (30F) on the 19th. 

The sea temperature was mainly 9 Celsius (48F),  but dropped to 8 Celsius (46F) for a while during the third week.

Frost

A total of 2 air frosts were recorded during January. The first was on the 19th, and the second was on the 21st, when minus 0.7 Celsius (31F) was recorded. There were 9 grass frosts during January. Most of them were slight, but grass frosts occurred on 5 consecutive nights, starting on the 18th, and on 4 of these nights grass temperatures were minus 4.4 Celsius (24F) or lower. The lowest temperature was minus 6.1 Celsius (22F) on the 19th.    

Rain

Rainfall in January amounted to 40.4 millimetres (1.6 ins.). This was about 20% below average. However, there were 21 days of measurable rain, and that was 4 days above average. Only 2 completely dry days occurred during the first 17 days of the new year.   Even so, daily amounts were generally small, with just 3 days, the 13th, 14th and 16th, having totals above 2 millimetres (0.08 ins.). The 13th and 16th each had 4.2 millimetres (0.16 ins.). whilst the 14th managed 6.2 millimetres (0.24 ins.) making it the wettest day of the month.  No rain fell between the 18th and 25th as pressure rose to a record high. In Shoreham,  a reading of 1049.2 millibars occurred on the 19th, with the only comparable value occurring at Bexhill in 1882 when 1049.3 millibars were measured. On the same day this year, the pressure exceeded 1050 millibars in parts of Wales, and southwest and central southern England.  The last week of January became unsettled again, and although much of the rain was light, the 26th had 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) of rain, with 4.4 millimetres (0.18 ins.) falling on the 27th. 

Hail

Small hail was observed in Shoreham during squally rain on the afternoon of the 27th and again during a light rain and hail shower on the following afternoon.

Thunder

No thunder was heard in Shoreham in January.

Snow

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

Wind

The generally changeable and mild month led to a predominance of southwesterly winds again, these accounting for more than half the daily readings.  As in December, there were twice as many days with southwesterly winds as compared to those from a northwesterly direction Breezes from other directions were largely absent.  The first half of the month and the last week of January had the strongest winds, and at Shoreham Airport,  there was a gust of 33 knots (38 mph) from the southwest on the morning of the 12th. with 41 knots (46 mph) from a similar direction on the evening of the 13th. The 14th was windy all day,  with gusts peaking at 43 knots (49 mph) in the evening. The windy weather continued into the early hours of the 15th when 40 knots (46 mph) were recorded. A westerly wind gusted to 31 knots (35 mph) early in the afternoon of the 17th. After a break, brisk winds returned on the evening of the 27th when 35 knots (40 mph) occurred,  with 37 knots (42 mph) logged on the afternoon of the 28th.     

Fog

The 1st, 7th, 8th and 9th were very misty at times, as was the 30th, but on the morning of the 31st the mist thickened into fog for a while.

Statistics for January 2020