22nd November 2017 – Cloudburst and deluge in Durham
This was a very wet day, but most of the rainfall fell after 8pm on 22nd. We were travelling back home from Ferryhill and had to pull the car over in Tudhoe as we couldn’t make out where the road was! There were also some crazy drivers on the road that night, one white van in particular.
Rainfall became absolutely torrential in the evening and 49.3mm was recorded in about 3 hours by the rain gauge at my house in Gilesgate. The Durham University met station only recorded 39.2mm, which they say is the 50th wettest day ever recorded in Durham since 1850.
From Tim Burt:
November was warmer than average, but not exceptionally so. All three ‘mean’ measures were above average. Even so, the number of ground frosts (17) was also above average. It would have been a dry month too, except for the exceptional downpour on 22nd when a total of 38.2mm was recorded, the equal 58th wettest day on record at Durham since 1850. If we use the ‘meteorological day’ (starting 09:00), then the total was 39.2mm, equal to the total on 28th July 2013, the 50th equal wettest day on record and thereby the equal wettest day since 16th April 2005. There were some exceptional hourly intensities: 9.4mm in the hour ending 20:00 GMT; 9.2mm in the hour ending 22:00 GMT and 7.2mm in the hour ending 23:00 GMT. The number of rain days (12) was well below average (18). It was a sunny month, the sunniest November since 2013 and the 7th sunniest November at Durham since 1882.
Emeritus Professor Tim Burt
Department of Geography
Durham University
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