Very Warm and Exceptionally Dry

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during June 2018 in Shoreham was 22.1 Celsius (72F), and that was around 4 degrees Celsius (7F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 12.7 Celsius (55F), and that was  about 0.5 degrees Celsius (<1F) above  the June normal. 

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 28.6 Celsius (84F) on the 30th, but there were 3 other days when the temperature rose above 25 Celsius (77F), All the very warm days were at the end of the month,  with highs of  26.9 Celsius (80F), 27.7  Celsius (82F) and 27.4 Celsius (81F) on the 27th, 28th and 29th respectively. It was pleasantly warm on many other days, with a total of 17 days having maximum temperatures between 21 and 25 Celsius (70-77F). There were no particularly cool days during June, although on 4 occasions the temperature failed to reach 19 Celsius (66F). On 2 of these cooler days the temperature stayed below 18 Celsius (64F).  On the 5th a high of 17.9 Celsius (64F) was recorded, but the first day of the month was the coolest with a high of  17.0  Celsius (63F).

Many nights had clear skies and light winds, and this allowed  temperatures to fall steadily. However, there were a few fairly warm nights, but only 1 had a minimum above 15 Celsius (59F). On the night of the 18th/19th a low of 16.1 Celsius (61F) was recorded. On most nights (26), the minimum temperature was between 11 and 15 Celsius (52-59F), but there were a couple of chilly nights. On the 21st/22nd a minimum of 9.9 Celsius (50F) occurred, but the coolest night of the month was the 12th/13th with a low of 9.1 Celsius (48F). 

The sea temperature rose from around 16 Celsius (61F) at the beginning of June, to 18 or 19 Celsius (64-66F) at the end of the month.

Frost

There were no frosts during June. The lowest grass temperature was 5.6 Celsius (42F) on the night of the 12th/13th.   

Rain

There were 1.2  millimetres (0.05 ins.) of rain during June and that was less than 3% of the monthly average. It  was the driest June in the area since 1921, or perhaps since rainfall records began during the 19th Century. In June 1921, there were only a limited number of authenticated measuring sites in Sussex, but at Victoria Park in Worthing a total of 1.8 millimetres (0.07 ins.) fell, and at Balcombe only 0.5 millimetres (0.02 ins.) of rain were recorded. In June 2018, there were only 3 days with measurable rain , and that was 7 days below normal. However, the first of these so-called rain days,  had no conventional precipitation. Overnight sea fog persisted through the morning and 0.2 millimetres of ‘rain’ were deposited in the rain-gauge.  Spots of rain early on the 7th were too few to measure, but rain on the morning of the 14th produced the wettest day of the month with a total of 0.8 millimetres (0.03 ins.). Drizzly rain on the afternoon of the 16th was just heavy enough to give 0.2 millimetres (0.01 ins.) of rain, but the light drizzle  on both the 17th and 19th failed to add to the total for the month, with last 11 days of June staying dry.

Hail

There was no hail observed in this part of Shoreham during June.

Thunder

There was no thunder heard in this part of Shoreham during June.

Wind

The winds during June were fairly evenly balanced between southwesterlies and northeasterlies. Unsurprisingly, the southwest winds were associated with the cooler days at the beginning of June and around mid month. The northeasterly breezes were incidental to the warmer days, especially at the end of the month.    Winds were generally gentle or moderate by day, often falling light at night. There were exceptions, and at Shoreham Airport southwesterly gusts reached 30 knots (34 mph) on the morning of the 14th,  with 28 knots (32 mph) recorded on the 16th, 17th and 18th, again from the southwest.     

Fog

Sea fog occurred on  the morning of the 1st, before lifting into low cloud. However, fog returned for a while during the evening.

Statistics for June 2018

Cold and Wet

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during March 2018 in Shoreham was 8.9 Celsius (48F), and that was around 1 degree Celsius (1.8F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 3.6 Celsius (39F), and that was  also about 1 degree Celsius (3.5F) below  the March normal.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 14.2 Celsius (58F) on the 27th, but there was only 1  other day with a maximum above 13 Celsius (55F), and that was the 11th when 13.1 Celsius (55F) was measured. There was a total of 15 days when the temperature rose above 10 Celsius (50F), with a further 5 days when 9 Celsius (48F) was exceeded. There were 2 notable cold snaps during March. The first, was a continuation of the cold weather experienced at the end of February, and on the 1st a maximum of only 0.5 Celsius (33F) was recorded. This appears to be the coldest March day locally since 1986. The following day was only a shade less cold at 1.1  Celsius (34F), but on the 3rd it was much milder at 8.4 Celsius (47F). The onset of the second cold snap was unusually sudden.  After a maximum  of 12.5 Celsius (55F) on the 16th, the high was only 2.6 Celsius (37F) on the 17th, and even colder at 1.1 Celsius (34F) on the 18th. The chill continued into the 19th, when 1.6 Celsius (35F) was measured, but Spring sunshine on the 20th lifted the temperature to a more seasonable 9.4 Celsius (49F).

There were very few mild nights during March, with the highest temperatures generally occurring between the middle of the second week and mid month. On the night of the 9th/10th the temperature only dropped to 8.3 Celsius (47F), and between the 10th and 16th there were 3 other nights when the temperature stayed above 7 Celsius (45F). The only other night with a minimum above 7 Celsius (45F) was the 24th/25th. On most nights (16) the temperature fell to between 2 and 6 Celsius (36-43F), but the cold snaps unsurprisingly produced some much colder nights. On the first night of the month a minimum of minus 4.3 Celsius (24F) occurred, and on the 20th/21st a low of minus 1.7 Celsius (29F) was measured.

The sea temperature was around  6  Celsius (43F)  for much of the month, rising to 7  Celsius (45F) at the end of March.

Frost

There were 6 air frosts in central  Shoreham during March, about 4 above average. They were confined to 2 short spells, namely the first 2 nights of the month, and the 4 consecutive nights beginning on the 17th/18th. On 3 of the 6 nights the temperature only fell to between minus 1 and 0 Celsius (30-32F), but an often penetrating,  low relative humidity, wind, added to the severity of the frosts. There were 12 grass frosts in March.  The 6 that coincided with the air frosts were joined by 6 others scattered through the month. On 6 of the nights, the grass temperature fell below minus 2 Celsius (28F), but only 2 of these nights had grass minima below minus 3 Celsius (27F). The first night of the month had a low of minus 5.0 Celsius (23F), but the coldest night of the month was the 20th/21st with a grass temperature of minus 6.7 Celsius (20F).  

Rain

There were 81.6 millimetres (3.2 ins.) of rain during March and that was almost double  the monthly average. Rain fell on 25 days, about 9 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 21 days.  Measurable rain fell on the first 12 days of March, but daily totals were fairly small, with the highest being 4.0 millimetres (0.15 ins.) on the 3rd, and 4.8 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 12th. The 13th was dry, but the 14th was the wettest day of the month, with heavy rain in the evening and overnight amounting to 16.6 millimetres (0.65 ins.). There was no measurable precipitation between the 19th and 21st, but then the 25th was the only completely dry day during the remainder of the month. Some of the rain was heavy during the last week, with daily totals of 6.8 millimetres (0.3 ins.), 7.2 millimetres (0.3 ins.) and 5.2 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 28th, 29th and 30th respectively.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Snow

Sleet or snow fell on 5 days during March, with lying snow observed on 5 mornings. There were 2 centimetres (<1 in.) of lying snow on  the morning of the 1st and light snow or snow grains fell for much of the day. In the evening, there was sleet and freezing rain and this continued overnight and through much of the morning of the 2nd . This helped to reduce the snow depth to 1 centimetres (0.5 ins.). Snow late in the morning freshened up the snow cover, and although no further snow fell during this episode, there was still lying snow on the following morning. Sleet fell mid morning on the 17th, this soon turning to snow and then lasting for most of the day. Snow in the early hours of the 18th produced 4 centimetres (<2 ins.) of lying snow by mid morning, with further snow falling late afternoon and during the evening.  Very light snow fell on the morning of the 19th, by which time the snow depth had decreased to 2 centimetres (<1 in.) . No more snow fell during the month, and by the morning of the 20th only a few patches remained, and these quickly thawed.

Hail

There was no hail observed in Shoreham during March.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during March.

Wind

The winds during March were fairly evenly distributed, but with a slight bias towards the southeast. The cyclonic nature of the month was responsible for the variability, and generally breezes were only moderate in strength. However, there were exceptions, and at Shoreham Airport  northeasterly gusts of over 30 knots (34 mph) occurred on the evening of the 1st and the morning of the 2nd. Southwesterly gusts exceeded 30 knots (34 mph) on the morning of the 8th, and a northeasterly gust of 33 knots (38 mph) was recorded on the evening of the 19th. 

Fog

No fog was observed from central Shoreham during March.

Statistics for March 2018

Dry and cold

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during February 2018 in Shoreham was 6.5 Celsius (44F), and that was over 1 degree Celsius (1.8F) below normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 0.9 Celsius (34F), and that was  more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.5F) below  the February normal.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 11.2 Celsius (52F) on the 19th, but there were only 2  other days with maxima above 10 Celsius (50F), the 15th and 18th, with highs of 10.4 and 10.1 Celsius (50F) respectively. On most days  (17) the temperature rose to between 5 and 8 Celsius (41-46F), but there were several cold days. Prior to the 26th, the 6th, with a high of 4.5 Celsius (40F), was the only day when the temperature failed to reach 5 Celsius (41F). However, the last 3 days of the month became steadily colder.  A high of 2.3 Celsius (36F) on the 26th was followed by minus 0.2 Celsius (32F) on the 27th. On the last day of the month a maximum of minus 0.7 Celsius (31F)  was the lowest in February for 24 years, and the lowest so late in the Winter since 1986.

There were very few mild nights during February. In fact, there were only 3 nights when the temperature stayed above 5 Celsius (41F). The 15th and 19th had lows of 6.4 and 6.9 Celsius (44-45F) respectively, but the mildest night of the month was the 20th when the temperature only fell to 9.3 Celsius (49F). On the first 4 nights of February the temperature was 2 Celsius (36F) or higher, and after the 20th there were no minima above 2 Celsius (36F). In between, there was a mixture of cold  and less cold nights. On 4 occasions minima were below minus 2 Celsius (28F), including minus 3.3 Celsius (26F) on the 8th, and minus 3.4 Celsius (26F) on  the 27th. The last complete night of the month was the coldest with a dawn temperature of minus 5.4 Celsius (22F).

The sea temperature was around  8  Celsius (46F) at first, soon falling to 7 Celsius (45F) where it remained for most of the month. However, there was a further drop to 5 or 6 Celsius (41-43F) on the last few days of February.

Frost

There were 12 air frosts in central  Shoreham during February, with 6 of them occurring between the 7th and 16th, and the other 6 on consecutive nights beginning on the 23rd. Most of the air frosts were slight, with 7 of the frosty nights having minimum temperatures between minus 2 and zero Celsius (28-32F) . There were 17 grass frosts during the month,  with 4 of these occurring on consecutive days beginning on the 5th,  and a further 7 confined to the last week of February. The 4 grass frosts during the first week had minim um temperatures above minus 3 Celsius (27F), but on the 8th a ground temperature of minus 7.8 Celsius (18F) was recorded. This temperature was matched on  the 12th, and there were a further 5 nights when the grass minimum dipped below minus 5 Celsius (23F).  

Rain

There were 35.4 millimetres (1.4 ins.) of rain during February and that was less than half the monthly average. Rain fell on 14 days, about 3 days below what one would expect at this time of year, and wet days ( rainfall of 1 millimetre (0.04 ins) or more)  amounted to 7 days.  Although the beginning of the month was unsettled, amounts of rain during the first week were generally small, with the highest total of 1.8 millimetres (0.08 ins.) falling on  the 3rd. On the 8th,  cloud thickened in  the evening and overnight rain produced 6.6 millimetres (0.26 ins.). Another 3.4 millimetres (0.15 ins.) was attributed to the 10th, but it was the end of the second week that produced the wettest weather of the month.   On the 13th a total of 4.6 millimetres (0.2 ins.) fell, but the following day was wetter. On the 14th, rain for much of the day helped to give a total of 13.2 millimetres (0.5 ins.). No more than 4 millimetres (0.15 ins.) fell during the rest of the month, and this included 5 consecutive dry days between the 21st and 25th. The wettest day during this period was the 18th when 1.6 millimetres (0.06 ins) were measured.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Snow

Sleet or snow fell on 6 days during February. A light sleet shower fell late in the morning of the 5th, with a light snow shower falling in the early hours of the 7th. The snow lay in small patches through the morning. On the 12th, there were showers during the evening, one of which fell as sleet. The snowiest weather occurred at the end of the month. Light snow showers fell late on the morning of the 26th, with moderate falls in the evening.  Further snow showers fell on the 27th and 28th, and with the temperature falling below freezing at 1700 hours on the 26th and remaining sub-zero for the remainder of the month, it was inevitable that the snow settled. On the morning of the 27th there were 4 cm (<2 ins.) of snow lying, this decreased to 2 cm (<1 in.) on the 28th    The reduction was mainly due to the powdery nature of the snow, and the dryness of the brisk easterly wind which was accompanied by relative humidity values below 40%.

Hail

There was a  light shower of small hail late evening on the 12th.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during February.

Wind

February broke the train of ‘westerly’ months. The first week had winds varying between northeast and northwest, followed by a week of breezes mainly from the northwest. A trend towards south or southeasterly winds in the third week was followed by increasingly cold winds from between east and northeast for the remainder of the month. The strongest winds mainly occurred during the second and fourth weeks of the month. At Shoreham Airport,  a gust of 33 knots (38 mph) was recorded early on the 9th, with 32 knots (37 mph) on the evening of the 10th. A similar value was logged early in the afternoon on the 12th. On the morning of the 13th there were gusts of 36 and 38 knots (41-43 mph) and the final gusts of the month above 30 knots occurred on the afternoon and evening of the 28th, when 32 knots (37 mph) was measured.

Fog

No fog was observed from central Shoreham during February.

Statistics for February 2018

Very mild and rather dry

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during January 2018 in Shoreham was 8.9 Celsius (48F), and that was over 1 degree Celsius (1.8F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 4.9 Celsius (41F), and that was  approaching 2 degrees Celsius (3.5F) above  the January normal.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 11.8 Celsius (54F) on the 4th, but there were 9  other days with maxima above 10 Celsius (50F), including 2 days with highs above 11 Celsius (52F), namely the 22nd and 24th. There were no particularly cold days during January. In fact, only 3 days had maxima below 7 Celsius (45F). The 6th and 7th had highs of 6.1 Celsius and 6.2 Celsius (43F)  respectively, but the 8th was the coldest day, with the temperature only rising to 4.8 Celsius (41F).

There were several mild nights during January and on 10 occasions the temperature stayed above 7 Celsius (45F). However, only 3 of these milder nights occurred before mid month,  and the 5 nights with lows above 8 Celsius (46F) all occurred during the last 10 nights of January. Included in these were 2 nights with lows above 9 Celsius (48F). The night of the 28th/29th had a low of 9.1 Celsius (48F), but the mildest night was the 23rd/24th when a minimum of 9.6 Celsius (50F) was recorded.  There were a few cold nights during January, with temperatures dipping below 2  Celsius (36F) on 5 nights. The lowest temperature was minus 0.2 Celsius (32F) on the night of the 18th/19th.

The sea temperature was around  9  Celsius (48F) at the turn of the year, but for most of January the temperature was nearer 8 Celsius (46F).

Frost

There was only 1 air frost in central  Shoreham during January, and that was on the 19th. However,  both the 27th and 30th almost had air frosts with night-time temperatures dipping to 0.1 Celsius (32F). There were 7 grass frosts during the month, but only 2 of these occurred before the 19th.  Most of the grass frosts were slight, but on the 18th/19th a grass minimum of minus 5.0 Celsius (23F) occurred, and on  the 26th/27th minus 4.4 Celsius (24F) was recorded.  

Rain

There were 64.4 millimetres (2.5 ins.) of rain during January and that was over 20% below  average. Rain fell on 22 days, about 6 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 16 days.  Although rainfall was below average, the impression was of a wet month. This was because rain was mostly light, even though it frequently fell. Rain fell on each of the first 5 days of the new year, including a total of 5.8 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on the 3rd. The 6th, 7th and 8th were dry, the only such spell of 3 consecutive dry days during the month.  The 9th to 12th were often damp and drizzly, but with very little rain to measure. On the 14th over 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) of rain fell, and on the 21st there were 6.8 millimetres (0.3 ins.). This was the wettest day of the month, and although the weather remained unsettled during the remainder of the month, amounts of rain stayed fairly small with no individual day exceeding 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.).

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Snow

No snow fell in Shoreham during January.

Hail

There was a hail shower late morning on the 31st.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during January.

Wind

January was a ‘westerly’ month, with winds from between southwest and northwest dominating on 24 days. There were a few days with easterly winds, with all of these occurring during the first half of the month. It was often breezy, especially during the first few days of January. At Shoreham Airport,  a gust of 39 knots (44 mph) was recorded late on the 2nd, and 47 knots (54 mph) early on the 3rd. On the morning of the 15th gusts of 38 knots (41 mph) occurred,  with 49 knots (56 mph) logged before dawn on the 18th. On several days during the rest of January there were gusts between 25 and 35 knots (29 and 40 mph).

Fog

No fog was observed from central Shoreham.

Statistics for January 2018