The mild start to 2016 continued into February with above average temperatures being recorded, without any unusually hot days. The average for the month was 4.5°C, compared to the mean of 3.9°C. Rainfall for the month was slightly above average.
The maximum temperature recorded was 13.6°C at 13.33 on the first day of the month, with the minimum being -3.2°C at 06:38 on the 24th. This was the lowest temperature since -3.5°C was recorded on February 2nd 2015. The average daily maximum temperature was 10.8°C and the average daily minimum was 1.4°C.
The maximum dew point was 10.8°C at 14:36 on the 21st. The minimum dew point was -5.0°C at 13:21 on the 25th and the average dew point for the month was 1.8°C. There was 68.84 sunshine hours in the month, with nine frost days. This was the highest sunshine hours total ever recorded here in February. The lowest wind chill was -3.7°C at 09:42 on the 16th. At 11:28 on the 28th, the U.V. Index reached 1.7, the highest since 2.2 was recorded on October 6th 2015.
Rainfall in the month totalled 40.2 millimetres, with the wettest day being the 6th when 11.2 millimetres fell. There were 15 rain days and no recorded snow. The mean rainfall for February is 36.5 millimetres. As in January, the rainfall throughout the month was light with the highest rain rate being 10.2 mm/hr at 23:06 on the 7th. This was lower than January’s record low of 10.4 mm/hr.
As well as being the warmest day of the month, the 1st was also the windiest day with the highest wind speed being 23 mph at 12:01 and the highest gust speed of 42 mph at 11:54. The average wind speed for the month was 5.8 mph and the average gust speed was 8.4 mph, both slightly higher than the mean. The average wind direction was 213° and the total wind run was 3943.56 miles.
The average barometric pressure was 1007.4 millibars. The highest pressure was 1034.6 millibars on the 16th, and the lowest was 973.0 millibars on the 8th. The average humidity in the month was 83%. The highest humidity was 99% at 06:25 on the 4th, the first time that 100% humidity has not been recorded in February.
