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MAY 2006 daily and monthly summary

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MAY 2006
June 2006

Note
A total hosepipe and sprinkler ban is in effect in South East Water & Mid Kent Water supply areas until further notice.
1st - 5th
A wet start to the month as low pressure over N England brings the passage of a warm front during the night and early morning of the 1st with moderate rain.  Brightening up with sunny spells and starting to feel warmer. First visiting swifts of 2006 observed on the 3rd. A short lived "hotspot" over Benelux and the UK brings an early summery feel to the weather with prolonged periods of hazy sunshine.
6th - 8th
Becoming more changeable with frontal systems from east and west meeting over the eastern side of the UK. Low pressure in the channel brings moderate to heavy rain early morning 8th.
9th - 13th
Sunny and rather warm with the air being continental in origin and dry. Some thunderstorms in C England and the North West. Thunder heard rumbling here for nearly an hour on the 12th but no precipitation. Further sunny periods on the 13th but increasing cloud leads to light rain late evening.
14th - 17th
Mostly cloudy and rather dull. By the 16th numerous areas of low pressure surround the UK, bringing a couple of hours of moderate/heavy rain. By the 17th the first of a succession of lows are set to cross the UK, bringing a rather unsettled and miserable spell of weather.
18th - 22nd
Increasingly windy and wet with below average daytime temperatures. Heavy rain overnight on the 19th/20th followed by frequent showers. More, heavier showers on the 21st (with some thunder), and 22nd with strong gusts of wind.
23rd - 31st
Slight improvement on the 23rd with sunny periods and just one brief daytime downpour. Still changeable however with spells of rain, mostly overnight, and variable amounts of sunshine. Bank Holiday (29th) was abysmal, very cool with squally showers, thunder and hail. High pressure slowly builds to W and it becomes drier but still cool.
 MAY 2006 - MONTHLY SUMMARY
 TEMPERATURE
 Average Maximum 17.4
ºc 
  (±0.0)*
 Average Minimum 9.1
ºc 
  (+0.9)*
 Monthly Mean 12.7
ºc 
  
 Highest Maximum 27.4
ºc 
  (4th)
 Lowest Minimum 3.8
ºc 
  (2nd)
 Days with Max >=25ºc 1
 
   
 
 AMBIENT TEMPERATURE
 Low Wind Chill 3.9
ºc 
  (2nd)
 Low Heat Index (THW) 3.8
ºc 
  (2nd)
 High Heat Index (THW) 26.7
ºc 
  (4th)
 High Sun Index (THSW) 33.1
ºc 
  (4th)
    
 
 RAINFALL
 Monthly Total 85.5
 mm
  (197%)*
 Rainy Days (=>0.2mm) 16
 (+5)*
 Inc days =>1mm) 14
 
 Dry Days 15
 (-5)*
 Highest Daily Total 14.5
 mm
  (20th)
 Highest Rain Rate 21.8
 mm/hr
  (23rd)
   
 EVAPO-TRANSPIRATION
 Highest Daily 3.7
 mm (5th)
 Monthly Total 71.6
 mm
 WIND
 Monthly Average
2.5
  mph  
 Highest Gust
31
  mph (19th)
 Dominant Directions
SSW
  (47%)
NNW
  ( 8%)
N
  ( 8%)
W
  ( 6%)
     
 SUNSHINE†
 Sunniest Day
8.5
  hrs (11th)
 Monthly Sunshine
110.3
  Hours
 Peak Solar Rad.
1207
  w/m² (31st)
 Total Solar Energy
9471.9
  Langleys
 
   
 DEWPOINT
 Average at 14.00h 8.0 ºc
 Highest Reading 13.8 ºc   (26th)
 Lowest Reading -2.1 ºc   (30th)
 RELATIVE HUMIDITY
 Average at 14.00h 61 %
 Lowest Reading 24 % (11th)
 Monthly Average 73 %
 BAROMETER
 Monthly Mean 1013.0  hPa  
 Highest Reading 1027.2  hPa (31st)
 Lowest Reading 988.0  hPa (22nd)
* = deviation from average since 1984. The monthly mean is calculated from all logged temperatures and is not the simple mean of the daily minimum and maximum.
† Sunshine Hours are approximate only and calculated from the sensor's limited exposure to direct sun, no allowance for visual only observation. As the sensor receives less than 65% of total possible sunshine exposure this month, the figures above can be very significantly less than the actual sunshine duration.
THW = Shaded Heat Index calculated with cooling/warming effect of wind and humidity to give an apparent temperature.
THSW = Unshaded Heat Index calculated with cooling/warming effect of wind, humidity and full direct sunshine to give an apparent temperature.
EVAPO-TRANSPIRATION is drying effect due to sun and wind, and is equivalent to "negative rainfall"
   DAILY STATS MAY 2006
 
TEMPERATURE ºc
HUMIDITY
SUN ‡
PRESSURE
RAINFALL
WIND SPEED
DIRECTION
DATE
Minimum
(21-09h)
Maximum
(09-21h)
RH %
at 14.00
Dewpoint ºc
at 14.00
Bright
sun hrs
hPa †
at 14.00
Day Total
(mm)
Average
(mph)
High Gust
(mph)
Dominant
(Compass)
                   
1st
 7.8 15.2 52 5.1 3.3 1001.1 rs 7.1 3.5 19 SSW
2nd
 3.8 16.5 63 7.5 2.2 1008.2 st 0.0 2.0 17 SSW
3rd
 6.8 20.9 53 9.1 6.3 1014.3 rs 0.0 1.5 13 SSW
4th
 10.9 27.4 38 11.0 7.3 1012.9 fs 0.0 0.9 14 ESE
5th
 12.1 21.1 45 7.8 8.2 1020.8 st 0.0 1.6 12 SSW
6th
 6.3 16.3 56 6.8 0.2 1019.8 fs 2.8 0.3 7 SSW
7th
 10.1 20.0 61 10.3 2.2 1015.7 f  0.0 0.6 12 SE
8th
 10.7 14.7 81 9.8 3.8 1011.0 r  10.4 1.4 13 SSW
9th
 7.7 18.6 64 9.7 4.2 1016.7 st 0.0 0.8 10 N
10th
 10.1 22.6 56 10.8 8.3 1018.0 fs 0.0 0.6 8 N
11th
 6.7 24.7 24 2.1 8.5 1017.5 fs 0.0 0.3 6 NNW
12th
 7.6 24.5 33 6.5 6.2 1014.6 fs 0.0 0.3 7 ESE
13th
 9.7 17.7 60 9.1 6.0 1016.0 rs 0.8 1.5 13 W
14th
 10.0 14.4 72 9.3 0.0 1022.5 fs 0.0 0.6 8 ESE
15th
 8.4 18.7 65 10.6 2.2 1011.3 f  0.0 2.2 21 SSW
16th
 11.6 17.5 61 9.2 0.2 1014.8 st 4.3 1.4 13 SSW
17th
 9.7 17.2 67 10.4 1.0 1015.4 f  1.5 1.7 16 SSW
18th
 11.6 16.3 67 9.3 2.7 1008.9 fs 0.3 6.9 29 SSW
19th
 10.4 15.6 66 8.0 2.0 1005.5 rs 4.3 7.7 31 SSW
20th
 9.3 14.4 61 6.4 1.7 991.3 r  14.5 5.4 25 SSW
21st
 10.6 13.3 87 11.0 0.7 997.7 f  7.6 3.3 21 SSW
22nd
 9.8 13.3 89 9.1 0.2 990.0 rs 4.8 6.0 30 SSW
23rd
 6.2 14.1 57 4.4 7.0 1015.3 rs 2.5 3.8 22 SSW
24th
 8.9 13.8 84 8.5 1.7 1014.9 rs 9.1 5.3 28 SSW
25th
 8.3 18.2 65 8.7 5.3 1016.5 r  4.1 1.5 13 N
26th
 12.1 18.9 85 13.0 2.3 1015.3 st 5.8 3.5 21 SSW
27th
 13.3 16.6 77 11.9 0.0 1019.1 f  0.0 3.8 18 SSW
28th
 10.1 17.4 49 5.5 5.3 1020.6 fs 0.0 1.9 13 SSW
29th
 9.6 13.9 58 4.5 2.7 1013.9 st 5.6 1.6 18 NNW
30th
 4.0 12.9 48 0.8 3.3 1019.7 st 0.0 2.7 17 NNW
31st
 6.4 14.1 46 1.0 5.3 1025.4 rs 0.0 2.8 18 NNW
                     
‡ SUN: Sunshine hours are calculated approximately and solely from solar radiation readings, but note that the solar sensor's exposure to sunshine is rather limited. The sensor receives only 45-55% of total possible sunshine exposure this month, and there is no allowance for sunshine by visual observation only, so the figures above can be very significantly less than the actual daily sunshine duration.
† Barometer trend: f = falling, st = steady, r = rising; q = quickly, s = slowly
'WIND ROSE' PLOT FOR THE MONTH
Wind rose May 2006
 The 'petals' represent wind direction and the length represents frequency, i.e. in this case winds from the SSW were the most common, followed by the NNW then N and W.

The colours represent the strength of the wind, with black being weakest through blue then lighter colours (cyan, light green, yellow, magenta, red) being stronger.

This data excludes 'calm' readings.