colweather.org.uk

I agree Martin.
Sad indeed.
It is a great shame that his clear love for weather and climate cannot override his illness.

I always found his thorough analysis and knowledge impressive.
He always gave a level-headed judgement on climate change which I admired.

So far to 23rd, my April mean temperature is 9.3°C. Although below average (10°C), this is only the 5th coldest in the April record from 2001. Here are the colder ones: 2001 8.9°C 2008 8.9°C 2012 8.5°C 2013 7.9°C There is much talk of how cold it is for late April and it being linked to the anomalou...

I have heard from a few people that their perception is that Springs are getting colder.

I assume they mean over the last few years, but the attached graph for Plymouth over a rather longer period does not bear that out.

Average max 11.2C (spot on 2001-2010 average)
Average min 3.7C (-0.5 degC below 2001-2010 average)

So cold nights brought the mean temp for the month to 7.5C (0.3 degC below the average)

Rain total was 88.1 mm, 108% of average.

A funny old month with a pleasant 2 week dry spell in the middle.

I have looked at the Plymouth record going back to 1874 and I counted 10 years when March was colder than the winter Dec, Jan, Feb months.

2013
1962
1958
1937
1925
1922
1916
1898
1892
1883

They have become rare in the last 50 years.

March 1st-16th

Mean max 11.1°C
Mean min 3.5°C

Last year for same period:

Mean max 10.2°C
mean min 4.5°C.

So it has been warmer by day but cooler by night this March.

Just had 9 consecutive dry days.
Total up to 18th is 40.6 mm. About 50% of average for March.

With the blocking slowly moving west of UK, I am sure the total will be added to.
Let's hope the Easter holidays at the end of the month are not ruined.

Looking at Wembury's winter rainfall there is a increasing trend of magnitude 74 mm 1985 to 2016.
The standard deviation (expected variation about the average) is 105 mm.
As the trend is less than the standard deviation I assume the trend is not statistically significant.

The Met Office are certainly expecting a cold spell due to Sudden Stratospheric Warming.

See their blog:

http://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/

March 2013 was certainly a cold one with an average of 5.39°C at Plymouth. Looking at the long term Plymouth record 1874-2015 though, it was only 11th equal coldest. Here are the 19 coldest which were one standard deviation or more below the long term average: 1883 4.15 1892 4.35 1962 4.50 1888 4.65...