Autumn 2008

Moonlight reflections in Lyme Bay, Sidmouth on a still, clear July evening.
Moonlight reflections off the sea looking south towards Start Point.

A very disappointing summer overall though June was dry and reasonably sunny. July & August were very wet and often cloudy. There were only a few brief settled spells in what was a very unsettled summer.

Summary for  Autumn 2008
Mean Max: 14.5ºC  
Mean Min: 7.6ºC  
Mean: 11.0ºC  
     
High Max: 21.3ºC 19th Sep
Low Max: 3.3ºC 29th Nov
High Min: 13.6ºC 9th Sep
Low Min: -1.9ºC 29th Nov
Mean Grass Min: 5.2ºC  
Grass Min: -4.0ºC 29th Nov
     
Rain Total (gauge): 286.2 mm  
Rain Total (tipping bucket): 374.9 mm  
Rain Days >0.2 mm: 48 Days  
Rain Days >1.0 mm: 32 Days  
Max 24 hrs: 70.8 mm 30th Oct
Days without any rain: 43  
     
Air Frost: 4 Days  
Ground Frost: 8 Days  
Snow Falling: 0 Days  
Snow (50%) @ 9am: 0 Days  
Thunder Heard: 3 Days  
Hail <5 mm: 1 Days  
Hail >5 mm: 0 Days  
Fog @ 9am: 2 Days  
     
Total Monthly Sunshine: 361h:52m  
Total Monthly Sunshine: 361.9 Hours  
Most Sunshine in a Day: 11h:34m 20th Sep
Average Daily Sunshine: 03h:58m  
Sunless Days: 13 Days  
Cloudless Days: 9 Days  
Total Possible Sunshine: 977h:19m  
Percentage of Total Sun: 37%  
     
Mean Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 11.0ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 4.8ºC 30th Nov
Max Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 15.2ºC 7th Sep
Mean Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 11.8ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 7.4ºC 30th Nov
Max Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 15.2ºC 1st Sep
     
Mean 10 Min Wind >39 mph: 0.5 Days  
N: 12.04 Days  
NE: 6.17 Days  
E: 4.40 Days  
SE: 7.34 Days  
S: 14.82 Days  
SW: 11.56 Days  
W: 16.96 Days  
NW: 9.08 Days  
Calm: 8.63 Days  
Mean Wind: 4 mph  
Max Gust: 41 mph 7th Oct
     
Mean Cloud Cover: 62%  
Rain Duration >0.1mm/hour: 136.8 Hours  
Frost Duration: 21.0 Hours  
Max Frost Duration in a Day: 7.5 Hours 29th Nov
     
Mean Sea Temperature: 14.3ºC  
Normal for Month:    
Max Sea Temperature: 17.3ºC 13th Sep
Min Sea Temperature: 10.2ºC 30th Nov
     
Mean Pressure: 1015.2 hPa  
Max Pressure: 1034.7 hPa 26th Sep
Min Pressure: 983.2 hPa 5th Sep
     
Max Dewpoint: 16.8ºC 6th Sep
Min Dewpoint: -4.2ºC 29th Nov
Mean Dewpoint: 7.1ºC  
     
Max Humidity: 94% 7th Oct
Min Humidity: 47% 20th Sep
Mean Humidity: 79%  

This summer ended up slightly above average temperature wise despite the often cool and cloudy conditions. The warmest days came in the 2nd half of July but the hottest day of the summer was in June. The hottest day of the year did not occur in summer but back in spring during May with a maximum temperature of 27.9°C on the 11th.

June was a drier than average month (30.9 mm) but July and August both had very high rainfall with 113 & 127 mm of rain respectively.
There were only 3 days when thunder was heard. As expected during the summer months there were no grass or air frosts.
Sunshine levels were above normal in June and below normal in July. August was a very dull month with a daily average of only 3.9 hours' sunshine. This represents about half the amount of sunshine that would normally be expected making this August one of the dullest since 1912.
Soil temperatures were variable due to the high rainfall and unsettled nature of this summer.
Westerly winds were dominant for much of the summer with only brief anticyclonic spells. It was also very windy at times, especially during the first two weeks of July.
The lack of sunshine for this summer is shown by the high amount of cloud cover (63%).
Sea temperatures remained around average for much of the summer but ended up slightly below during the latter part of August.
Mean pressure was below normal and indicative of the very unsettled nature of this summer, especially during July & August.
Dewpoints did not reach levels normally expected during summer and show the lack of any really warm, humid days.
Relative humidity was slightly below normal.
Graphs for Summer 2008
 

Figure 1. Temperature and Rainfall for Summer 2008.
Figure 2. Sunshine, air pressure and mean wind speed for Summer 2008.
Figure 3. Wind direction for Summer 2008.
Figure 4. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for Lyme Bay for Summer 2008.
Figure 5. Wind run, gusts and air pressure for Summer 2008.