September 2022 Weather in Durham – Wetter than normal

September banner : an apple and a pencil

The Weather at Gilesgate, Durham September 2022 The first days of September 2022 continued in the same vein as the Summer of 2022. The temperature reached 20 degC for the first seven days and for ten of the first thirteen. After that, it cooled slightly, but not markedly so. It still finished as a top 13 September though (reported by …

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August 2022 Weather in Durham – Hot and Dry. Another record breaking month

August banner : books and crayons

August 2022 According to Tim Burt at the Durham University Observatory, August 2022 was the 2nd hottest August in Durham since 1843 (when the record began). It was beaten only by August 1975, a month I remember vividly too. There were 23 days over 20 degC. The average for the month was 17.5 degC at my station in Gilesgate, whilst …

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July 2022 Weather in Durham – Record Breaking Heat

The weir on The Wear and Durham Cathedral from Millburngate Bridge

Into the furnace we went! The start of July 2022 was relatively cool and mainly cloudy, with short periods of rainfall being typical in the first week, although quantities were small. The 6th was a windy day for July. Temperatures then began to rise after the first week, with some forecasts indicating a spell of very hot weather around 17th. …

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New Book – Durham Weather and Climate Since 1841

Durham Weather and Climate since 1841 Front Cover

The British have always been obsessed by the weather. Astronomers at Durham Observatory began weather observations in 1841; weather records continue unbroken to this day, one of the longest continuous series of single-site weather records in Europe. Durham Weather and Climate since 1841 represents the first full publication of this newly digitised record of English weather, which will be of lasting …

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May 2022 Weather in Durham – On the warm side

Temperature The warmer than normal theme in 2022 continued into May, with a mean of 12.8 degC being +1.8 degC above the long term 1991-2020 normal. May 2022 was a full 3.0 degC warmer than May last year. The peak of the temperature was a modest 22.5 degC reached in mid-month. The thermometer only passed 20 degC on four occasions …

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April 2022 Weather in Durham – Average Temperatures, Continuing Dry

April Flowers

Temperature April 2022 was a very unremarkable month, temperature-wise. The mean came in at 8.7 degC, which is only very slightly above the 1991-2020 average (8.3). After hitting 20 degC in March 2022, the top temp for April could only reach 18.9 degC on 17th. This is modest. Early in the month, so often the case for April, there was …

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March 2022 Weather in Durham – Continuing Mild and Dry

Bright sunshine in Durham Botanical Gardens March 2022

Temperature Once again, the temperature finishes above average. March 2022 came in at 7.3 degC, which is +1.1 degC up on the 1991-2020 average of 6.2 degC. Like February, there was a single air frost, under the influence of high pressure, on March 7th.  The minimum of -2.2 was unremarkable for March in Durham. The 20 degC mark was breached …

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Feb 2022 Weather in Durham – Mainly Mild, Few Frosts

Durham Cathedral Sunset

Temperature In continuation from January, February 2022 was mainly mild. The mean temperature was 6.0 degC, which is 1.4 degC above the 1991-2020 climatic mean.  The month was still well behind the mildest ever February in Durham though, this being in 1998 (7.6). There was only one recorded air frost, on February 11th, when the thermometer dropped to -1.7 degC. …

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Mammatus Cloud in Durham on 6th February 2022

Mammatus Cloud in Durham

The following was observed just after the passage of a very potent shower on 6th February 2022. The ‘cows udder’ appearance of Mammatus Cloud is due to intense updraughts in the base of the cloud, effectively throwing precipitation back upwards, against gravity. They can be intensely turbulent, and aircraft are best advised to avoid them if they are on a …

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January 2022 Weather in Durham – Mild, mainly dry and very sunny

Storm damage from Storm Malik

The new climate means for 1991-2020 have just been published and that is what I will be comparing to going forward. January 2022 was a mild and very dry month in Durham. Temperature wise, the mean temperature came in at 4.7 degC, which is about 0.6 degC above the new normal for January. As can be seen by the graph, …

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