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January - "the blackest month in all the year"

January is a month of contradictions with alternating mild, wet spells with strong SW winds and cold, frosty periods often dominated by bitter NE winds. Whatever the pattern however, it is Coventry's coldest month, though in the past 30 years the similarity with February is striking.

In recent years the New Year period has been very mild and unsettled, though the month as a whole would normally only have 13 wet days (more than 1mm of rainfall.) According to folk lore at least, the coldest day of the whole year is Saint Hilary's day (14th) during a typical mid-month freeze. The warmest day of the month would normally record 11°C, while -6.0°C is the likely temperature on the coldest night.

Our cold Januarys, like 1940, 1963 and 1979 have resulted from an easterly airflow, while those mild Januarys of 1974, 1983, 1990 and 2007 may have been the result of a westerly wind pattern from the Atlantic.

January is the month with the greatest risk of snowfall in Coventry - we can expect about 6 days of snowfall each year at this time. Amounts of snow lying on the ground however, are usually small.

The 1940's (2.0C) and 1960's (2.6C) were the coldest decades in the past hundred years with 1940, 1942, 1945 and 1962-63 amongst our coldest Januarys. Since then it has been warming up with few cold Januarys in recent years, 1997 and 2001 being recent exceptions.

This current decade (2000-2007) is so far the mildest on record (5.1C), but only 0.6C warmer than the 1920-29 decade. It has also been quite dry during January this century (average 46.0mm), compared with the 1990's (68.8mm).

Once again however, it is the monthly sunshine totals that emerge as the greatest evidence for climate change; the average sunshine total during January so far this century is 73.6 hours, more than double that of a hundred years ago (212%).

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February "shortest and worst of all the months"

By tradition, this is a cold and dark month often commencing stormy, though by the second week it is likely to become calm, frosty and cold. According to folk lore, a mild February is a bad omen, as it is often followed by a cold, frosty May. With February now much milder, and much more sunny than a century ago, we might just have to change our description of a typical February month in Coventry and Warwickshire.

There appeared to be little variation in February's average temperature between 1892 and 1989, apart that is for that dreadfully cold decade in the 1940's. Recent warming is however very evident since 1990, which itself was the mildest February on record; for example, we have enjoyed four of the mildest five months at this time of year since 1997, while the mean February temperature in the 21st century so far (5.8C) is over 2 degrees warmer than a century ago.

It is the shortest and driest month of the year in Coventry - even the wettest day is likely to record less than 10mm of rain, and there are only 8 wet days on average. This century, although only 8 years old, has seen a fall in February's rainfall total by 34% on those of the 1990's. Strange really because our mild February months are usually wet, whilst the driest ones are the cold months.

Once again, thanks to the "Clean Air Acts", the local sunshine records reveal an 86% increase in February's average sunshine total in the past century. The first 8 February months of the 21st century have averaged 73.6 hours, compared to just 38.9 hours between 1910 and 1919. No fewer than 5 Februarys have recorded more than 100 hours of sunshine (1949, 1988, 1998, 2001 and 2003).

The warmest day of the month should on average register 12°C. We would expect 12 air frosts and 4 days with some snowfall. It is usually less windy, with less fog than in January.

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WINTER

Naturally, this is Coventry's coldest season, though with an average temperature of 4°C, it cannot be considered cold by continental or northern standards; even at night the average temperature is 1.2°C. Even so, we would expect 33 air frosts in the 90 winter nights - a testimony to the effects of long winter nights.

Strangely, it is not our wettest season, despite an average of 33 wet days; that dubious distinction lies with the summer!

It is, of course, the dullest time of year, with an average of only 1.7 hours of winter sun per day.

Winters in Coventry have been getting warmer of late; our coldest 20th century winters occured between 1930 and 1969.

The most remarkable winter statistic however, concerns the sunshine levels. Through the 20th century there has been a steady increase in winter sunshine, with a rise of 32% by 1989. This is, no doubt, thanks to the Clean Air Act and increased environmental awareness.

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March - A "month of many weathers"

March is traditionally a month of active weather; after 6 months of continuous winter darkness,the North Pole is at its coldest, while the Equator is at its hottest, with the sun at its strongest.

Squeezed in the centre, the mid-latitudes suffer from potential extremes of weather. Storms are frequent early month, while mid-month may be calm and dry. Night time minima are often as cold as winter, while at the equinox, days can be warm for the first time in the year. Extreme diurnal temperature ranges are therefore quite common.

Winter however, can frequently last well into March; witness years like 1947, 1963 and 1979.

As the days lenghthen, so the temperatures rise accordingly. The warmest day averages 15°C, though 22°C was recorded in 1922. By contrast, the coldest night will usually register -4°C; in 1947 however, the minimum reached as low as -15.6°C!

Only 7 days are usually classified as wet, though rainfall intensities are greater now. The city regularly totals over 100 hours of March sunshine, with the sunniest day likely to record 9.5 hours. March 2003 was the sunniest March on record with 174.1 hours of sunshine, a total more typical of a summer month! By comparison there was just 41.6 hours of sunshine during March 1984 - quite a difference!

Looking at long term trends, March does not conform terribly well to global warming theory! One of the warmest decades of the last century was the 1920's (6.4°C), though the 1990s did average 7.5°C. The first eight years of this century have seen march average just 6.8°C, so has local warming peaked?.

The wettest decade during March in the last century was the 1980s (62.1mm); since 1990, March however has become a drier month with an average of just over 40mm per year.

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April - "April showers bring summer flowers"

April is another changeable month in Coventry. We have a mixture of dry, cool weather with clear skies and northerly winds, allowing plenty of sunshine but frost at night, together with more typical April showers in a milder westerly airflow from the Atlantic.

Being inland, as far as is possible in the UK from the sea, high maximum temperatures are not at all uncommon. In 1893 a staggering 26.7°C must have been a very early heatwave, while as recently as 2003, April's hottest day managed 25.3°C! The more likely figure for the warmest day over the past 30 years in the city is just 18.9°C.

Those setting out bedding plants early are quite likely to be caught by a late frost. An overnight minimum of -2°C is an average expectation at least once during the month. A total of 5 air frosts suggests that April can still experience the chill of winter. This can be confirmed by the 6 inches of April snow as recently as 1981!

April 2007 was a truly amazing month - with tecords dating back to 1892, this was the warmest and sunnieston record, with only April 1938 drier - it was more like summer than spring, especially with all the rain that fell in the wettest summer on record that followed!

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May - "Blossoms in May are not good they say"

Early month can be cold and grey with "anticyclonic gloom" carried inland on NE winds from the still chilly North Sea. In this period, maximum temperatures of just 10°C are common. The coldest May day on record recorded just 4.9°C in 1955 .

By late May however, 26°C is quite likely on at least one day; the warmest such day in 1947 saw temperatures soar to 30.9°C - surprisingly, none of the warmest May days on record have come in recent years despite so called "global warming". We have only recorded maximum temperatures above 30°C twice since 1892 (1944 & 1947).

A good May is traditionally a bad omen however, as " a hot May makes a fat churchyard"; by contrast though, a cold May is considered by folk lore to be a good sign of a promising harvest in the coming summer.

Farmers and growers may be alarmed to hear that we can still suffer from a hard frost during May - in 1938, we recorded an overnight minimum of -5°C, a temperature considered cold in winter these days! As recently as May 2005 we registered 6 ground frosts, with 9 in 1996

Towards the end of the twentieth century, May was showing signs of cooling down with May 1996 one of the coldest on record. However, recent warm Mays would include 1998, 1999 and 2006, none of which however make the top 5 Mays on record. Using 30 year climatological normals as a guide, the early 20th century recorded average temperatures 0.8°C warmer than those of the early 1990's - recent years have witnessed a recovery however.

Strangely for some, May is often Coventry's sunniest month with over 200 hours. 14 hours in a day is quite common in late month. May 1992 recorded the highest May sunshine total on record with 269.2 hours of sunshine; as a complete contrast, May 1932 only managed 87.3 hours all month!

Sunshine levels have increased slightly of late, though only a return to the values typtcal in the early years of this century.

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SPRING

Changes in temperature in spring are slow, as the UK is surrounded by sea; in the Baltic to our east and in the seas south of Greenland, melting sea ice further slows the warming process. Even as the days lengthen and the sun strengthens the still cool sea holds back the rise in temperatures. It is therefore, a long season.

Spring is the driest of our seasons and only summer records more seasonal sunshine.

During the 20th century, springs were getting colder up until the 1980s, but over the past thirty years or so, there has been a two degree rise in average spring temperatures. 1992 and 2007 were the warmest springs on record in Coventry.

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June - "flaming June"

Where Coventry is concerned, this is something of a misnomer! Even nationally, only 10 Junes could be described as warm and sunny in the 20th century. It is rarely our warmest month, despite the long days of daylight, simply because the seas around our coast are still relatively cool.

It is however, our first summer month so we can look forward to average day time temperatures of 19°C, and 26°C at least once during an average June. The hottest June day on record was 32.4°C, recorded on 26th June 1976. Even recently, we recorded 31.1°C in June 2005.

Air frost is rare, though there is still a risk of ground frost in the first week. The only recorded air frost was in 1936.However, there are reporst of snow falling in the region on 2nd June 1975, just ahead of a heatwave!

Records suggest that early June is often dry and settled, though mid-June is likely to become cooler and more unsettled with thunderstorms - remember the cricket ball sized hailstones in Coventry on 12th June 2006 ?

You may also remember June 2007 - it was a remarkable month in Coventry; after 12 consecutive dry days at the start of thhe month, the heavens opened up and we ended up with the wettest June (175.0mm) since rainfall records were first kept in Coventry in 1870 with 18 consecutive 'rain days' to end the month. Not only was it the wettest June on record, only one month has ever recorded more rainfall in the city at any time of year since 1870, and that was October 1875 with 179.7mm.

Climate records for the city suggest that June was cooler by the end of the twentieth century than was the case earlier in the century. " Flaming June" was certainly more appropriate in the period from 1930 to 1949 than it was in the 1980s and 90s. Early years of the 21st Century however seem to suggest that Global warming is belatedly having an impact on June, finally coming into line with most other months of the year. The 2001 to 2007 mean June temperature suggests that this will be the warmest decade at this time of year on record.

The warmer period from 1931 to 1950 in June was also 25% drier than the June months so this far century. Although the 1980's was the wettest decade for June, with an 80% increase on the 1920's, it has been even wetter than this from 2001-2006.

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July - our warmest month

Being at the warm heart of the country, Coventry & Warwickshire suffer more July thunderstorms than surrounding coastal fringes, so July may also be a wet month with intensive rainfall quite common. Despite this it is surprisingly dry on average, only February and April record less monthly rainfall.

Daytime averages of 21°C suggest that it is never cold, though early month is often disappointing, for example a daytime maximum of just 10.8°C in 1971. Even so, we would expect 27°C on at least one day, and that may prove to be our region's warmest day of the year.

We would expect this to be our sunniest month; only rarely would we experience 2 dull days in succession.

Recent Julys have shown a remarkable 1.9°C increase in average temperatures over those of the cool 1960's (average 15.5C). Having said that, this may be more a result of a noticeable cooling 30 years ago, rather than just a result of global warming today. The 1990's was the warmest decade of July in the 20th century (17.6°C); although July 2006 was the hottest month on record locally (20.5C), the trend for July in the 21st century is for slight cooling so far (17.2°C)

July rainfall totals are the most variable of any month in Coventry. The 1940's were particularly dry (48.4mm average per month)for example, compared to the 1930's (with an average of 76.7mm). In recent years, the trend has been for wetter July months since the millennium (2000-2007 average of 71.3mm), with just 49.4mm as the July rainfall mean in the 1990's. As a footnote, July 2007 was our wettest July (139.7mm) since 1936.

The Julys of the 1990's were not only the warmest decade but also the sunniest (220.6hr). By comparison the 1960's were remarkably cool and dull (average sunshine just 147.4hr). Although July 2006 was remarkably hot and sunny, the average sunshine of the 2000's so far is down at 185.6hr.

If your preference is for hot and sunny July months, then the best in our records have been 1911, 1921, 1933, 1959, 1976, 1995 and 2006. By contrast, cloudy wet Julys are just as numerous, namely 1912, 1920, 1946, 1954 and 1988.

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August - my favourite month!

My favourite month because I'm always on holiday in August for the whole month - it also marks the start of the new soccer season in the UK!

Although wetter and cloudier than July, August is often warm and humid. With the seas around the country at their warmest, it is rarely a cool month; 1912, 1924, 1931 and 1946 being the exceptions. Here as a result of cold, wet, slow moving depressions from the west.

More usually the Azores high pressure exerts its influence, though the sun is less powerful now, so by month's end there is an autumnal feel to the weather. It is a potentially thundery month, especially after a hot, dry, sultry first few days. Witness the record heat (35.1°C) on 3rd August 1990. 21°C is a more normal daytime average for August in Coventry, with 26°C the maximum on the month's hottest day. Four of the ten warmest August months have occurred in recent years – 1990, 1995, 1997 and 2003.

It is though, the wettest month of the year in Coventry, though only 8 wet days are expected. Heavy, thundery rain is expected to produce 22mm of rain on at least one day. The 1970’s was the wettest recent decade for August (80mm), with the 1940’s and 1990’s the driest (56mm). The August months between 2000 and 2007 averaged 60.9mm of rain for comparison.

The 1960's must have been a miserable decade temperature-wise, with an average temperature for August of just 15.2C! Once again we find that those years recorded the coldest decadal mean for the city, with a definite recovery by the 1980's (16.3C) back to the levels of the 1930's. By the 1990’s, August saw a further one degree rise in average monthly temperatures, and so far the mean since the Millennium for August has been 17.4C.

The 1960’s was also the dullest August decade (145.8hr), with the 1990’s the sunniest (205.1hr). The first years of the 21st century have only averaged 173.1hr of August sunshine in our region.

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SUMMER

Britain's changeable summers are a result of air masses from the Atlantic dominating over more continental air streams from the east. Summer depressions are less vigorous than those of winter however, so gales in June, July and August are rare. Slow moving summer depressions result in the very worst cool, dull and wet weather persisting for weeks on end like 1912, 1954 and 1956.

Air in summer can hold more water vapour, and so rainfall is more intensive than at any other time of year. Thunderstorms are relatively frequent, featuring on at least 4 days in a typical summer.

For a hot, dry summer like 1911, 1921, 1976, 1995 and 2003, we need anticyclonic conditions to prevail, with an easterly air flow.

Although our warmest season, average temperatures of just 15.5°C reflect the generally cool nature of a typical Coventry summer. We can look forward to at least 1 day with a high of 26°C, but temperatures exceeding 30°C are still newsworthy, though there were 4 such days in 2003, and 5 in 2006, the hottest summer on record.

It is of course, our sunniest season; an average of 5.7 hours of sunshine per day is our normal quota, though 15.9 hours is just possible in late June & early July.

Paradoxically, it is also our wettest season, though in the fewest number of wet days. 18.6mm is the average for our wettest summer day - once again, likely to result from thundery activity.

Of course, Summer 2007 was the wettest Summer on record in Coventry, with records dating back to 1870; surprisingly, we have to go back to 1994 and 1995 to find the last particularly dry summers in our region.

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September - "autumn's May"

September is a transitional month - the early days hang on to summer, so it is not unknown for hot days to occur at this time. Witness 34.2°C in 1906, though 23°C was more usually the hottest day of the month from 1971-2000. 26°C was more typically the warmest September day since the 1980's though - in 2006 the hottest day recorded 28.1°C.

September is often drier than any of the summer months; in fact, there is often a period of settled weather as anticyclones keep the unsettled low pressure systems at bay. This does have its drawbacks however, as the nights are getting longer now, so an early autumn ground frost, perhaps accompanied by mist and fog cannot be ruled out.

The fine, summer pattern of weather is likely to break down mid - month with a period of cooler, windy weather heralding the arrival of autumn.

The 1980's were the warmest decade for September in the 20th century (14.2°C), with only 2 cold months in the last 30 years of the century - 1974 and 1986. Of course September 2006 became the warmest September since before 1659, and the first September month for 50 years to be warmer than the previous August - this had only happened 9 times in over 350 years in Central England! In the first 8 years of the 21st century, the avearge September temperatures has been 15.1°C.

During the 20th century however, September rainfall increased by 34% ; in the same period sunshine levels have also risen - by 20%.

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October - "our golden month"

This our first genuine autumn month, even though it may include a brief "indian summer"; these short lived warm spells are so termed as they originated with the North American Indians, who relied upon a late fine spell to prepare for winter. However, depressions from the west, having crossed still warm seas, are more vigorous now, and heavy rain is more often the result.

Despite an early chill in the air, after a long autumn night, the daily maximum should reach 20°C on at least one day. In 1985 we reached an amazing 27.1°C; the warmest day of the whole year! By the end of the month however, we do well to reach 14°C.

In the twentieth century, there was little sign of warming in October, perhaps just a 0.3C rise in average temperatures, though since 2000, there has been a 1.1C increase on the 1990’s. The driest decade in our records dating back to 1870 was the 1930’s (38.0mm); with the first years of the 21st century averaging 82.3mm in October, this is so far the wettest decade, 34% higher than was normal last century.

All of our coldest Octobers were recorded before 1919, while many of the best have been in recent years; e.g. 1990, 1995, 2005, 2006 and 2001 - the latter being the warmest October in Central England's temperature series since at least 1659. Until 2008, we hadn’t had an air frost in Coventry during October since 2003, nor an October snowfall since 1974.

Just to show however that it is still possible to suffer winter weather even in October, we only need to go back to 2008; there was heavy local snowfall on the afternoon of the 28th, and a hard frost on the korning of the 29th with the air minimum temperature down to -3.4C - cold even by winter standards; there was also lying snoe on that morning for the first time during October since 1909.

Although there was a 59% increase in sunshine levels between 1894 and 1999, the early 21st century has seen a fall in sunshine totals in Coventry back to the levels more common in the 1970s, when the Clean Air Acts were introduced to rid the atmosphere of smoke pollution and smog. Remarkably however, the October sunshine total in 2008 was higher than that of either August or September; this is the first time that that had happened since 1912!

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November -" November's sky is chill and drear"

Although severe cold is unusual at this time of year, as the seas are still quite warm, this is a month of damp, grey, dull days with fog possibly lingering all day, now that the sun is too weak to clear it. Gales are now more frequent, though Coventry is well sheltered from the west and north, and so they are rarely damaging in our region.

This is the first potentially cold month of the coming winter, with 9°C the average as a daily temperature. A brief, late "Indian Summer" may register 15°C on at least one day, though we managed as high as 20.8°C in 1969!

Air frosts though are now much more common, with 6 likely in a normal year. It may well get down to -3°C on the coldest night of the month, with -7°C on the ground. Snowfall is still quite rare however, though a fall of sleet or wet snow is expected 9 years in 10.

November's average temperatures have shown more variation than any other month since the late nineteenth century. The warm series of Novembers at the end of the 20th century was similar to that of the 1890's (6.7°C). In between times however, colder periods have been more common. In the first eight years of the 21st century however, the average November temperature is 1.6° warmer than one hundred years ago, such is the effect of recent warming locally. The coldest decade for us in November was the 1920’s (5.6°).

At the end of the 20th century, Novembers were drier than in the past with a 12% fall in rainfall totals since the middle years of the century, though there has been an increase in November rainfall totals since the turn of the century.

The biggest change however, has been in the average amount of November sunshine. The first eight years of the 21st century has recorded 77% more sunshine than a hundred years ago, with a record 108.5 hours in 2006.

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AUTUMN

Autumn in Coventry is a surprisingly warm season - warmer than spring by at least 2°C. In the past it was renowned as a season of thick fogs, though this is now a thing of the past, thanks to the Clean Air Act. Only spring is drier than autumn, though it does also record more sunshine. There has been considerable warming in the autumn season in the past two decades, with 7 of the 10 warmest autumns on record occuring since 1990. Both 2005 and 2006 have been the warmest autumn season on record in consecutive years, with autumn 2006 eclipsing the previous record by almost a whole degree!

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December - our dullest month

So it may be, but it is not our coldest, despite the long nights and short days; once again thanks to our slowly cooling seas off the UK coastline. December 1981 was the last really cold such month, with a minimum of -16.1°C on the coldest night of the century in Coventry. To highlight the perverse nature of this city's weather, the same month in 1981 also registered December's warmest ever night with a minimum of 12.6°C !

Believe it or not, the average temperature for December so far this decade (4.1°C), is actually lower than it was in the first decade of the twentieth century (4.2°C). Our warmest decade was the 1970's (5.2°C), and the coldest the 1960's (3.1°C). Not much sign of so called global warming at this time of year then!

December 1984 (7.8°C) was our warmest on record, with December 1981 (0.1°C)our coldest just 3 years earlier

Only August is wetter than December in the whole year; the recent trend from 2000 to 2006 however is for lower rainfall (48.1mm) than was the case last century- even in the 1990's the average was 65.5mm, with the wettest decade registering an average of 87.7mm between 1910 and 1919.

The driest December on record was in 1933 with just 6.4mm of rain, with 1876 our wettest with 170.6mm.

The greatest change in December's weather in the past hundred years or so in our region, has been the massive increase in the month's sunshine total. Overall, the average has more than doubled (218%) with 55.7 hours of sunshine from 2000 to 2006, and just 25.5 hours from 1900-1909.

On avearge, there are only 1.4 hours of sunshine per day over the past 30 years, and in 1902 we only had 6.3 hours of sunshine all month! By contrast our sunniest December was in 2001 (85.9hr)

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