After the strange happenings of recent months, a return to more “normal” summer weather was welcome. Measurable rain fell in Formby on 14 days – about average for July. However, it was often cool and breezy, with a short-lived heatwave on 31st.
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife notes June 2020
“Surely June can’t be as dry as this” I wrote at the end of the May notes. Fortunately it wasn’t. Thanks to a shift in the North Atlantic Jet Stream, measureable rain fell on about 18 days, mostly in small to moderate amounts. The online weather radar showed we missed some torrential thundery downpours by...
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife notes May 2020
The spring drought continued and intensified during May, which was the sunniest and driest in England since records began in 1929. By the end of the month, water companies were requesting cutbacks in the rate of water use, while some TV weather presenters were reluctantly admitting that “We might need some rain.” Meanwhile, vegetation on...
Dr Phil Smith: Wildlife notes April 2020
Since they began in 2007, these notes have repeatedly described spring droughts but this year’s was a real humdinger! For 40 days, from 18th March to 27th April inclusive, no measureable rain fell in Formby. It was also the sunniest and fifth warmest April on record. Climatologists have shown that these droughts are associated with...