Year of change for weather in 2005 (From Gazette Series)

Year of change for weather in 2005

AT THE end of September it semmed as though 2005 was going to be an unusually dry year as the total rainfall for nine months of the year had reached only 21.58 inches. However the last three months, October, November and December brought a further 13.21 inches to bring the year's total to 34.79 inches. This is still less than the average rainfall of 39.49 inches for the first five years of this century and even less than the average of 43.05 inches for the last five years of the 20th century.

January January was milder than usual with rain recorded on twenty-one days. There was a maximum temperature of 12?C (54?F) on the 7th. There were ten night frosts and rainfall amounted to 2.39 inches.

February The damp but mild weather continued for the first 15 days of February with rainfall amounting to 1.96 inches. Again there were ten night frosts while the day temperature on the first of the month reached 10?C (50?F). Snow to a depth of a quarter of an inch was measured on the 24th.

March A warm spell from the 18th to the 28th of March coincided with an early Easter when the temperature climbed to 16?C (61?F) on the 23rd. There were two wet days at the end of the month bringing the total month's rainfall to 3.66 inches.

April April was a pleasant spring month with afternoon temperatures reaching at least 15?C (60?F) on 17 occasions and climbing as high as 22?C (73?F) on the last day of the month.

May The early May holiday was warm and sunny and fine weather dominated the month except for the 21st and 24th when hail and thunderstorms occurred. The weather became warm again for the last week and the temperature on the 27th reached 28?C (83?F) while the month's rainfall was 2.24 inches.

June June had rain on the first six days before warm sunny weather returned from the 7th to the 23rd, except for the 15th. Heavy rain, thunder and lightning marred Midsummer's Day, while another thunderstorm on the 29th brought the month's rainfall to 3.17 inches.

July The longest dry spell of the year occurred between the 6th and 23rd of July with temperatures climbing as high as 29?C (85?F) on the 14th. There was rain on the first five days of the month and on six of the last eight days resulting in a total of 2.01 inches.

August August was the driest month of the year, the rainfall being only 1.93 inches, the majority coming between the 22nd and 27th. The temperature reached 21?C (70?F), or above, on twenty eight occasions.

September The rainfall came to virtually the same amount in September as in August, 1.94 inches, with a quarter of an inch or more being measured on three occasions. The last of the summer's hot days came on Sunday, September 4, when the afternoon temperature peaked at 27?C (83?F).

October Wednesday October 12 came as a warning that autumn had arrived, bringing a rainfall of 0.79 onches. The next day 1.05 inches was measured, three quarters of an inch on the 19th and 24th and a further 0.67 inches on the 25th, the heavy thundery rain swelling the total to 5.71 inches, making October the wettest month of the year.

November It continued to rain on each of the first twelve days of November with 1.30 inches on the 6th and half an inch on the 3rd, 8th and 9th. A dry spell followed from the 13th to the 20th. It turned chilly on the 17th and the weather remained cold to the end of the month with 14 night frosts. Rainfall totalled 4.23 inches. Snow to a depth of one inch on the 29th quickly thawed.

December Most of December's rain came between the 1st and the 8th. The wettest day of the year was on the 2nd with a measurement of 1.38 inches. After a mild day on the 16th a cold snap followed. The day temperature did not climb above 0?C (32?F) on the 29th, the previous night having been the coldest night of the year with the temperature dropping to -7?C (20?F). While there were heavy snowfalls in many parts of the country, locally there was very little, which quickly disappeared. December's rainfall amounted to 3.46 inches.