October 2012

On the edge of Dartmoor near the small village of Scoriton, taken on a bright and breezy October day.
On the edge of Dartmoor near the small village of Scoriton, taken on a bright and breezy October day.
Summary for  October 2012
Mean Max: 15.1ºC (+0.3ºC)
Mean Min: 8.0ºC (+0.3ºC)
Mean: 11.6ºC (+0.3ºC)
     
High Max: 17.9ºC 1st
Low Max: 10.9ºC 27th
High Min: 13.6ºC 11th
Low Min: 0.1ºC 28th
Mean Grass Min: 6.3ºC  
Grass Min: -2.0ºC 28th
     
Rain Total (gauge): 125.7 mm (158%)
Rain Total (tipping bucket): 123.7 mm (155%)
Rain Days >0.2 mm: 21 Days  
Rain Days >1.0 mm: 17 Days  
Max 24 hrs: 26.2 mm 11th
Days without any rain: 10  
     
Air Frost: 0 Days  
Grass Frost: 3 Days  
Snow Falling: 0 Days  
Snow (50%) @ 9am: 0 Days  
Ice Days: 0 Days  
Thunder Heard: 0 Days  
Hail <5 mm: 0 Days  
Hail >5 mm: 0 Days  
Fog @ 9am: 2 Days  
     
Total Monthly Sunshine: 106.9 Hours (84%)
Most Sunshine in a Day: 9.6 Hours 14th
Average Daily Sunshine: 3.4 Hours  
Sunless Days: 4 Days  
Cloudless Days: 1 Day  
Total Possible Sunshine: 331 Hours  
Percentage of Total Sun: 32%  
Maximum UV Index: 3.3 1st
Time of Max UV:   13:45
     
Mean Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 13.6ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 11.8ºC 31st
Max Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 14.8ºC 2nd 
Mean Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 14.6ºC  
Min Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 13.7ºC 31st
Max Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 15.4ºC 1st
     
Mean 10 Min Wind >39 mph: 0.01 Days  
N: 7.66 Days  
NE: 0.61 Days  
E: 1.74 Days  
SE: 0.84 Days  
S: 4.05 Days  
SW: 2.85 Days  
W: 0.49 Days  
NW: 1.98 Days  
Calm: 10.77 Days  
Wind Chill Low: -0.5ºC 28th
Mean Wind: 2.6 mph  
Max Gust: 33 mph 16th
  31.00 Days  
Mean Cloud Cover: 65%  
Mean RH @ 9am: 95%  
Rain Duration >0.1mm/hour: 58.5 Hours  
Frost Duration: 0.0 Hours  
Max Frost Duration in a Day: 0.0 Hours  
     
Mean Sea Temperature: 14.6ºC (-0.8ºC)
Normal for Month: 15.4ºC  
Max Sea Temperature: 15.5ºC 1st
Min Sea Temperature: 13.4ºC 30th
     
Mean Pressure @ 9am: 1010.4 hPa (-4.0 hPa)
Mean Pressure: 1009.9 hPa (-4.5 hPa)
Max Pressure: 1024.9 hPa 23rd 
Min Pressure: 979.9 hPa 31st
Max Change in 24 hours: 21.9 hPa 11th
   
Radiation Daily Mean: 5.43 MJ/m²  
Max Daily Value: 11.46 MJ/m² 6th
Min Daily Value: 1.38 MJ/m² 24th
Number of Days with Data: 31 Days  
1-Hour Maximum: 660 W/m² 13th
Starting Time of the Hour:   13:00
     
Max Dewpoint: 16.7ºC 8th
Min Dewpoint: -1.4ºC 28th
Mean Dewpoint: 9.4ºC  
     
Max Humidity: 99% 4th
Min Humidity: 53% 27th
Mean Humidity: 87% (+2)

 

An unsettled, often cloudy and wet month with temperatures slightly above the long term average.

Mild to warm right until the final week of the month though the temperature did not exceed 20°C on any day, something that would normally be expected during October (especially the first half). A cold night on the 28th nearly led to a rare October air frost.
October is normally a wet month but this October was wetter than the average and follows a trend of wet months set since April this year.
As expected for October, there were no air frosts but there were 3 ground frosts. Unusually, no thunder was heard. It was foggy at 9am on 2 mornings.
Sunshine amounts were lower than the average and continues a trend of duller than normal months set in June this year. There were 3 consecutively sunless days (a rare event) form the 22nd to the 24th.
Soil temperatures slowly declined during the first half of the month, but then the temperatures fell more rapidly as the weather turned cooler.
The wind recording (anemometer and wind vane) readings are incomplete this month due to a mouse chewing through the Ethernet cables. There were no readings from the 19th to the 28th.
Rainfall duration was well above the average with a total of 58.5 hours for the entire month. The only 'prolonged' dry spell was from the 27th to the 30th, though the first half of the month was substantially more wetter than the second half.
Sea surface temperatures stayed reasonably high until the 25th then dropped significantly due to a run of cold nights.
Mean pressure was rather below the average for October and indicative of the unsettled nature of this month.
A new sensor has been added that measures solar irradiance in watts per square metre falling on a horizontal surface.
Dewpoints were slightly below the average.
Relative humidity was a little above normal.
Weather Data for Otter Valley, Devon.  October 2012  
  Temp oC Grass Hum (%) Soil oC DP (oC) Wind (mph) Rain Air (hPa) W/m² UV Sun  
  Min Max Min Min Max 30 100 Min Max Max Ave Run mm Min Max Max Max Hours Observations
1 11.3 17.9 9.3 77 98 14.7 15.4 9.7 14.1 19 3.5 83 3.5 1011 1016 513 3.3 4.7 Sunshine and showers
2 8.8 17.2 7.1 77 98 14.8 15.3 8.1 13.9 26 4.1 99 6.5 1007 1013 578 3.3 1.0 Sunshine and showers
3 9.8 15.1 8.2 73 95 14.7 15.3 8.6 12.5 19 3.2 77 1.4 1006 1008 356 2.5 1.8 Sunny intervals all day
4 3.8 17.5 2.5 65 99 14.4 15.2 3.3 11.1 16 2.3 54 0.5 1006 1011 601 3.2 6.6 Sunny intervals all day
5 11.6 16.3 10.9 81 98 14.3 15.2 10.0 15.4 30 3.8 90 13.8 1001 1011 242 2.1 1.2 Brief sunny ints am, rain pm
6 8.0 16.0 5.4 69 97 14.3 15.1 7.4 11.0 14 1.8 43 16.5 1007 1016 633 3.3 8.9 Sunny intervals all day
7 3.8 15.6 2.3 71 99 14.0 15.1 3.2 11.0 16 1.1 26 0.0 1016 1023 421 3.2 2.2 Sunny ints am, cloudy pm
8 13.4 17.7 12.0 81 98 14.1 15.0 9.9 16.7 16 1.8 44 7.3 1011 1019 256 1.6 0.2 Showers all day
9 12.2 14.0 12.1 95 98 14.5 14.9 11.3 13.4 10 0.6 15 14.9 1013 1016 137 1.2 0.0 Rain all day
10 11.9 13.4 12.1 92 98 14.5 14.9 11.4 12.9 14 1.2 29 1.6 1010 1015 78 1.1 0.0 Cloudy all day
11 13.6 16.8 12.7 93 99 14.7 14.9 12.2 16.6 19 2.9 69 26.2 998 1011 197 2.0 0.3 Heavy rain am, cloudy pm
12 5.9 14.4 3.7 68 98 14.7 14.9 5.0 12.0 19 2.5 60 0.8 1001 1010 541 2.4 5.6 Sunshine and light showers
13 4.9 14.3 2.8 66 99 14.1 14.9 4.4 8.4 18 1.2 29 3.2 1006 1009 660 2.4 7.4 Sunshine and light showers
14 1.2 14.4 -0.3 64 99 13.4 14.9 0.4 9.3 9 1.2 29 0.0 1003 1007 578 2.4 9.6 Sunny intervals all day
15 5.1 15.7 2.6 69 99 12.9 14.7 4.2 11.3 25 2.5 60 3.0 999 1005 620 2.9 5.6 Sunny intervals all day
16 8.2 16.9 4.9 56 98 12.8 14.5 6.2 12.4 33 4.6 111 3.5 995 1005 570 2.5 9.4 Sunny intervals all day
17 11.3 16.4 8.7 68 98 12.8 14.4 9.0 13.6 32 7.9 190 12.7 991 1002 532 2.4 7.3 Sunny intervals all day
18 10.2 16.8 7.7 76 96 13.0 14.3 9.2 13.3 29 8.5 204 4.3 995 1004 488 2.4 5.1 Sunny intervals all day
19 6.9 15.1 5.1 81 99 13.1 14.2 6.2 12.6 5 0.4 11 0.0 1004 1009 312 1.7 1.8 Sunny ints am, cloudy pm
20 3.6 15.5 2.2 80 99 13.0 14.2 3.0 13.0 4 0.0 0 0.0 1009 1018 440 2.0 5.9 Sunny intervals all day
21 9.3 17.4 6.3 72 98 12.9 14.1 8.2 12.5 0 0.0 0 0.3 1017 1018 505 2.4 6.0 Sunny intervals all day
22 11.5 15.2 11.3 91 98 13.2 14.1 10.6 13.9 0 0.0 0 1.1 1017 1022 159 1.3 0.0 Dull all day
23 12.9 15.6 13.0 91 98 13.6 14.1 12.2 14.5 0 0.0 0 0.3 1023 1025 91 0.9 0.0 Dull all day
24 12.8 14.6 11.3 90 96 13.9 14.1 11.4 13.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1015 1023 69 0.7 0.0 Dull all day
25 12.0 16.1 11.9 82 95 13.9 14.2 11.3 13.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 1012 1016 159 1.5 0.9 Sunny ints am, cloudy pm
26 7.2 11.8 5.1 81 95 14.0 14.2 3.5 11.0 0 0.0 0 2.4 1011 1013 218 1.3 0.1 Cloudy am, sunny ints pm
27 1.3 10.9 -1.1 53 90 13.2 14.2 -0.7 3.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 1013 1024 523 1.9 9.4 Sunny all day
28 0.1 11.4 -2.0 74 98 12.2 14.2 -1.4 8.4 14 0.9 21 0.0 1012 1024 349 1.6 0.7 Sunny ints am, light rain pm
29 8.3 13.4 4.3 80 96 11.9 14.1 5.6 10.5 14 2.2 53 0.0 1009 1012 223 1.4 0.9 Brief sunny intervals all day
30 2.3 12.8 1.6 72 99 11.8 13.9 1.9 9.6 9 0.6 16 0.0 1002 1009 490 1.8 3.5 Sunny intervals all day
31 5.8 12.4 1.6 81 98 11.6 13.7 2.8 10.7 27 4.7 114 9.2 980 1002 304 1.3 0.5 Cloudy am, sunny ints pm
8.0 15.1 6.3 76 98 14 14.6 6.7 12.1 14 2.0 1525 124 1006 1013 382 2.1 107  

Graphs for October 2012
Figure 1. Temperature and Rainfall for October 2012.
Figure 2. Sunshine, UV Index and solar irradiance for October 2012.
Figure 3. Wind direction for October 2012.
Figure 4. Soil & Sea surface temperature for October 2012.
Figure 5. Mean wind speed, calm hours and air pressure for October 2012.