April 2012 was the wettest month ever recorded at Bracken House, and also the coldest April. The rainfall total was a whopping 153.0 millimeters, beating the previous highest of 118.4 millimeters set in November 2009. The record for most precipitation in a day was broken on the 4th, when 36.4 mm of rain, sleet and snow fell, beating the previous best of 35.4 mm set on September 6th 2010. At one point, the snow was lying 4 cms deep, although this soon started to thaw and was gone by the next day. Rain fell on a total of 21 days, with in excess of 10 millimeters being recorded on four occasions. The yearly total at the end of the month stood at 223.2 millimeters, compared to 111.2 in 2011.
Temperatures were very disappointing in April, following the record highs in March. The average temperature for the month was a paltry 6.5°C, 3.7°C lower than the climate average, pushing the mean month temperature down to 9.0°C. We had to wait until 15:44 on the last day of the month to record the highest temperature, 16.3°C. The lowest temperature recorded was -1.0°C at 03:16 on the 16th, making it the lowest April temperature ever recorded at Bracken House. This was the third sub-zero temperature recorded in the month, a station record for April. The average daily maximum high was 10.3°C, 2.3°C lower than March, with the average daily minimum being 3.6°C, the same as March. There were 77.7 hours of sunshine in the month, with the 1st being the sunniest day with 10.8 hours.
Winds were a little above average for the month with the average wind speed being 4.4 mph, and the average gust speed 7.2 mph. The maximum recorded wind speed was 19.6 mph from 090° (E) on the 25th at 13:00. The maximum gust speed was 34.5 mph from 045° (N) at 09:53 on the 29th. The total windrun for the month was 3101.2 miles.
The average barometric pressure for April was 1003.1 millibars, with the highest being 1026.2 millibars at 23:47 on the 15th. The lowest pressure recorded was 977.1 millibars at 15:50 on the 18th.