August 2014 started off warm with temperatures topping 20°C for the first nine days of the month. A high temperature of only 17.6°C on the 10th, ended a run of 25 successive days of above 20°C maximums. The arrival on these shores of ex-hurricane Bertha then signalled lower temperatures with record August high wind speeds. Rainfall was slightly below average for the month.
The maximum temperature in the month was only 22.9°C on the 8th at 13:39, this was the lowest maximum temperature so far in August. The average daily high temperature was also a record low of just 18.7°C. The minimum temperature was 5.3°C on the 20th at 06:21, beaten only by 4.1°C recorded in 2012. This was the coldest since May 3rd when the temperature fell to 0.6°C. The average daily low temperature was 10.3°C, also an August low for the station. The average temperature for the month was 14.2°C, and the mean temperature is now 15.2°C. This was the first below average monthly temperature since November 2013. Despite the low temperatures, August was still a fairly sunny month with 93.2 hours being recorded, 9.4 hours more than 2013. The average sunshine hours for August is 85.7 hours, making it the fifth sunniest month. The average dew point was 11.1°C and the maximum heat index was 25.1°C recorded on the 4th at 14:38.
Rainfall was 49.6 millimetres, slightly below the August average of 52.2 millimetres. The yearly total now stands at 386 millimetres, 28 millimetres higher than normal for the end of August. Rain fell on 19 days, with the wettest day being the 10th when 9.6 millimetres fell. 9.4 millimetres fell on the 8th. Evapotranspiration for the month was 87.3 millimetres, 2.9 millimetres more than 2013.
August was a very windy month with the highest wind speed being 21.9 mph from 270° (W) on the 10th at 19:38. The highest gust speed was 34.5 mph from 270° (W) also on the 10th at 19:36. The average wind speed was 4.4 mph and the average gust speed was 7.1 mph, all four being August records. The total wind run was 3087.7 miles.
The highest barometric pressure was 1019.6 millibars on the 15th at 23:55, with the lowest being 989.6 millibars on the 10th at 13:58, this was the lowest pressure ever recorded in August. The average pressure was also a record low for August at 1009.2 millibars. The average humidity for the month was 82%, with the high 98% on the 28th at 04:44 and the low 47% at 17:04 on the 3rd.
Weather Underground graph for August 2014.