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

Rather wet with a typical mix of winter weather

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during December 2017 in Shoreham was 8.4 Celsius (47F), and that was very close to normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 3.8 Celsius (39F), and that was  also very close to the December normal.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 12.6 Celsius (55F) on the 30th. There were no other days with maxima above 12 Celsius (54F), but there were 3 more days with highs above 11 Celsius (52F), and a further 6 days when the temperature exceeded 10 Celsius (50F). The mildest weather was generally during the first week and final fortnight of December, although there  were no especially cold days during the remainder of the month. However, the temperature failed to rise above 5 Celsius (41F) on 3 days. The 9th had a high of 4.2 Celsius (40F) and the 11th had a maximum of 3.3 Celsius (38F). This was the coldest day of the month, but the windy 27th, with a high of 3.9 Celsius (39F), felt just as cold.

There were several mild nights during December and on 6 occasions the temperature stayed above 8 Celsius (46F). Only 1 of these mild nights occurred before the 20th,  and that was on the 6th/7th when a minimum  of 8.8 Celsius (48F) was recorded.  Apart from the 30th/31st, when a low of 8.6 Celsius (48F) was measured, the remainder of the mild nights occurred between the 21st and 25th. This included 3 nights when the temperature kept above 9 Celsius (48F). The highest minimum was 9.3 Celsius (49F) on Christmas Eve night. There were many chilly nights during December, and on 16 occasions the minimum temperature was below 3 Celsius (37F). The coldest nights generally occurred during the second and third weeks of December, with 11 nights between the 8th and 19th having minima below 3 Celsius (37F). The lowest temperature recorded was minus 2.4 Celsius (28F) on the night of the 11th/12th.

The sea temperature was mostly between 9 and 10 Celsius (48-50F).

Frost

There were 6 air frosts in Shoreham during December, but all of these were slight. On the 8th/9th a temperature of minus 1.7 Celsius (29F) occurred, with minus 1.4 Celsius (30F) and minus 1.0 Celsius (30F) on the nights of 16th/17th and 18th/19th respectively.  Consecutive air frosts were logged on the 27th/28th and 28th/29th but the temperatures fell no lower than minus 1.4 Celsius (30F). There were 12  grass frosts during December, with 9 of them occurring between the 9th and 19th. On 3 occasions during this frosty spell the grass temperature fell below minus 5 Celsius (23F), including a low of minus 6.1 Celsius (21F) on the 8th/9th. This grass temperature was matched on the night of the 28th/29th.  

Rain

There were 103.2 millimetres (1.25 ins.) of rain during December and that was over 30% above  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 15 days.  High pressure was prominent during the first few days of the month, and although the weather was often cloudy and damp, amounts of rain during this period were mostly small. This changed on the 9th when rain in the evening became persistent and heavy overnight amounting to 22 millimetres (0.9 ins.) by morning. A further 8 millimetres (0.3 ins.) were measured on the 10th, with a further 15 millimetres accumulating over the following 5 days. Once again, pressure rose, and although occasional rain or drizzle occurred, the period between the 16th and 23rd only produced 4 millimetres (0.15 ins.) of rain. Showers, merging into longer spells of rain, occurred on Boxing Day afternoon, with the rain lasting overnight. A total of 21 millimetres   (0.8 ins.) was measured on the 26th, with a further 25 millimetres (1 in.) of rain falling during the rest of the month. This included over 5 millimetres (0.2 ins.) on 3 consecutive days, the 28th, 29th and 30th.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Snow

Snow fell on 2 days during December. On  the morning of the 11th rain turned to sleet and wet snow for a while in the morning and  settled on some vegetation before quickly thawing.  On the 27th, early rain turned to sleet, then wet snow, around mid morning. It settled for a while, but further rain brought about a steady thaw by late morning.

Hail

There was no hail reported  in Shoreham during December.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during December.

Wind

December was another ‘north-westerly’ month with winds from that direction dominating on a remarkably high 19 days. On most other days the wind blew from between southeast and southwest. It was frequently windy, especially during the second and last weeks of the month. At Shoreham Airport,  a gust of 38 knots (43 mph) was recorded on the 7th,  53 knots (60 mph) on  the 10th,  35 knots (40 mph) on the 14th,  42 knots (48 mph) on the 25th,  35 knots (40 mph) on the 26th,  40 knots (46 mph) on the 27th, 42 knots (48 mph) on the 29th, and  43 knots (49 mph) on the 31st.

Fog

Fog over the Downs, descended to lower levels at times during the mornings of the 20th and 21st.

Statistics for December 2017

A dry and mild month

Temperatures

The average maximum temperature during October 2017 in Shoreham was 16.3 Celsius (61F), and that was over 1 Celsius (1.8F) above normal for the time of year. The average minimum temperature was 10.9 Celsius (52F), and that was  also more than 1 Celsius (1.8F) above  the normal October value.

The highest temperature recorded during the month was 19.8 Celsius (68F) on the 16th. This was the day of the orange sun and day darkness caused by Saharan dust and smoke from Iberian forest fires spreading north in the southerly airstream.  The 16th was the only day with a maximum temperature above 19 Celsius (66F), however, there were 6 other days when maxima  exceeded  18 Celsius (64F). On most days (20) the temperature rose to between 15 and 18 Celsius (59-64F), but there were a few cooler days later in the month. The 22nd was the first of these less mild days with a high of 13.8 Celsius (57F). This was the second coolest day of the month. There were  3 other days when the temperature failed to reach 15 Celsius (59F), but only 1 of those days had a maximum below 14 Celsius (57F), that was the 30th, with a high of 11.4 Celsius (52F), the coolest day of the month.

There were many mild nights during October, and on 10 nights the temperature remained above 13 Celsius (55F). On 7 of these milder nights the minima were 14 Celsius (57F) or higher. The mildest nights were both the 14th  and 19th when lows of 14.8 Celsius (59F) were recorded.  There were 12 nights when the temperature fell below 10 Celsius (50F), but only 3 of these cooler nights had minima under 7 Celsius (45F). The end of the month was coolest with 3 out of the last 4 nights recording temperatures below 5 Celsius (41F). The coolest night was the 30th with a reading of 3.2 Celsius (38F).

The sea temperature,  around 17 Celsius (63F) at the beginning of October,  fell slowly to 14 or 15 Celsius (57-59F) by the end of the month.

Frost

There were no frosts in Shoreham during October. The lowest grass minimum was 0.0 Celsius (32F) on the 28th.

Rain

There were 30.4 millimetres (1.2 ins.) of rain during October, and that was less than 50% of the  average. Rain fell on 15 days, about 2 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 9 days. The first half of the month was generally dry, and although measurable rain fell on 6 days, the total was only 6.8 millimetres  (0.3 ins.) between the 1st and 16th. Rain then fell on the following 9 days with 9.2 millimetres  (0.36 ins.) recorded on  the 19th and 5.6 millimetres  (0.22 ins.) collected on the 20th. Most of the rain was then light, and during the last 6 days of October there was no measurable rain.

*A rain day is from 0900-0900 UTC

Hail

There was no hail reported  in Shoreham during October.

Thunder

There was no thunder reported in Shoreham during October.

Wind

October was another ‘westerly’ month with well over half of winds blowing from between southwest and northwest.  It  was often quite breezy early in the month, and again  during the unsettled spell,  but it became generally less windy towards the end of October. At Shoreham Airport,   a gust of 42 knots (48 mph) was recorded in the early hours of the 20th,  with 45 knots (51 mph) measured during the afternoon on the following day.

Fog

There was no fog observed in this part of Shoreham during October except for a while in the evening and overnight on the 25th/26th.

Statistics for October 2017