October 2013 can generally be described as being wet, windy and mild. It was the wettest October ever recorded at Bracken House, and the temperature was 0.9°C above average.
Starting with the temperature, the maximum was 19.6°C recorded on the 8th at 14:25. This was well below the record October temperature of 27.4°C set in 2011. There was no air frost recorded in the month, the lowest temperature being 3.1°C at 06:03 on the 30th. The average temperature for the month was 11.5°C, and the mean temperature is now 10.6°C. The average dew-point for the month was 10.1°C, a record for October, and the maximum heat index was 19.6°C. There were only 46.9 sunshine hours, well down on 2012’s total of 67.1 hours, and the lowest monthly total of the year.
October was the wettest month of 2013 so far, with a total of 98.8 millimetres. This was the wettest month since June 2012, and the fourth wettest month on record. The average rainfall for October now stands at 55.2 millimetres. Precipitation was recorded on 24 days, with the wettest day being the 21st when 16.0 millimetres was recorded. This was the second wettest day of 2013, beaten only by the 32.4 millimetre downpour on July 23rd. There have now been 398.0 millimetres of rainfall in 2013, 44.4 millimetres less than the average for the end of October. Evapotranspiration for the month was 27.9 millimetres compared to 28.6 millimetres in 2012.
The highest barometric pressure was 1024.9 millibars recorded at 20:05 on the 11th. The lowest barometric pressure was 977.7 millibars at 04:52 on the 28th, when a fierce Atlantic storm wreaked havoc on the South of England. This surpassed the yearly low of 984.3 millibars set on 15th May by -6.6 millibars. The centre of the storm passed over Bracken House which got off lightly with only a moderate wind, and a small amount of rainfall. The average pressure for the month was 1008.8 millibars, equalling the lowest for October.
After three relatively calm months, the Autumn gales set in during October when a gust speed of 36.8 mph from 270° (W) was recorded at 11:32 on the 27th. This was the highest recorded gust speed since April 18th. The highest wind speed recorded was 21.9 mph from 270°(W) on the 27th at 12:07. The average wind speed for the month was 4.7 mph, with the average gust speed being 8.0 mph. The total windrun was 3309.2 miles.
Weather graph for October 2013.
Related articles
- Floods forecast for weekend following one of mildest Octobers on record (independent.co.uk)
- Incessant rain signals Autumn’s arrival (alanrowley.info)
- Weather review – September 2013 (alanrowley.info)
- Best ever Bracken House summer (alanrowley.info)
- What happened to the Great Storm? (alanrowley.info)
