Seasonal Averages and Totals for Winter 2018 -19
*Anomaly figures compare values to 30 year averages*
|
|
|
Anomaly |
|
|
Date |
|
Temperatures |
(º C) |
||||
|
Seasonal mean |
5.9 |
+1.4 |
Warmest day |
17.9 |
27/2 |
|
Coldest day |
1.2 |
31/1 |
|||
|
Average maximum |
9.1 |
+1.8 |
Warmest night |
9.3 |
3/12 |
|
Coldest night |
-6.3 |
31/1 |
|||
|
Average minimum |
2.6 |
+0.9 |
Lowest Grass Minimum |
-10.3 |
3/2 |
|
Rainfall |
(mm) |
||||
|
Total |
144.8 |
87% |
|||
|
Rain days > 0.2mm |
46 |
Wettest day |
12.0 |
18/12 |
|
|
Wet days>1.0mm |
29 |
||||
|
Very wet days >5mm |
11 |
Longest dry spell |
10 days |
||
|
|
|||||
|
Sunshine |
(hr) |
||||
|
Total |
240.9 |
121% |
Sunniest day |
9.1 |
26/2 27/2 |
|
Days without sunshine |
19 |
Longest period without sun |
3 days |
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|
|
|||||
|
Days with: |
|||||
|
Air frosts |
21 |
Snowfall |
9 |
||
|
Ground frosts |
45 |
Snow lying |
2 |
||
|
Fog |
3 |
Gales |
0 |
||
|
Thunder |
0 |
Hail |
3 |
Winter 2018-19 in Coventry
Naturally, this is Coventry's coldest season, though with an average temperature of 4.5°C, it cannot be considered cold by continental or northern standards; even at night the average temperature is +1.6°C. Even so, we would expect 33 air frosts in the 90 winter nights - a testimony to the effects of long winter nights.
With an average winter temperature of 5.9C, winter 2018-19 has been the mildest winter in Coventry for three years; with records dating back to 1892, only six winters have been milder than this year in 127 years:
Mildest winters in Coventry since 1892
6.7C2015-16
6.6C1973-74
6.5C1989-90, 2006-07
6.4C1988-89
6.0C1997-98
5.9C1898-99, 2013-14, 2018-19
Since the Millennium, average winter temperatures (4.8C) have been 0.8C higher than in the same period a hundred years ago (4.0C).
This decade (2011-19) so far has averaged 5.2C in Coventry, that is 1.5C warmer than 1892-1900.
Rainfall
Strangely, Winter is not our wettest season, despite an average of 33 wet days; that dubious distinction lies with the summer!
Winter 2018-19 has recorded 13% less rainfall than average in Coventry (144.8mm); this is well below the average Winter rainfall for this decade so far (194.2mm), which has been the wettest winter decade for 100 years (1911-1920= 197.2mm).
Sunshine
Winter is, of course, the dullest time of year, with an average of only 1.7 hours of winter sunshine per day.
This has been the sunniest winter in Coventry since 2014-15.
Only 4 winters have recorded more sunshine than this winter since 1894:
267.0hr2007-08
265.0hr1999-2000
264.1hr2014-15
261.0hr2000-01
240.9hr2018-19
Through the 20th century there was a steady increase in winter sunshine in Coventry; the average winter sunshine so far during the 21st century (2001-2019 = 218.3hr) is 78% higher than one hundred years ago. This is, no doubt, thanks to the Clean Air Act and increased environmental awareness.