I didn't get my weather records until today, so no post in the October stats thread.

In any case, Cleadon's stats for October 2008, with deviation from estimated 1971-2000 averages:

Mean Max: 13.3 (+0.2)
Mean Min: 6.0 (-1.0)
Mean Temp: 9.6 (-0.5)

Highest max: 18.8 (10th)
Lowest max: 6.1 (28th)

Highest min: 11.6 (20th)
Lowest min: -1.6 (30th)

Air frosts: 2

Days of thunder: 0
Days of sleet or snow: 0
Days of fog: 0
Days of hail: 3

Precipitation 32mm (57%)


This was a dry sunny month- and the first dry month since May! There was a notable cold snap near the beginning of the month, with a max of just 10.3C on the 3rd, and a minimum of 1.6C on the 4th, while the weather was mostly dry with sunshine. The second week was warm with variable cloud cover, then a fairly mixed third week followed with near-average temperatures.

The cold snap at the end of the month produced the lowest October maximum temperature in records going back to 1993- no previous October day has failed to reach 7C. Although the area missed out on the snowfalls that many other areas had on the 28th and 29th, some dramatic showers overnight 30th/31st produced large hail and a temporary covering of hail- much of this lasted through to dawn on the 31st from about the Tyne Tunnel westwards, but it melted at the coastal strip due to higher temperatures.

Like in the 8/9 November 2001 cold snap I often refer to as a benchmark for dramatic weather in Cleadon, temperatures were all over the place. They would stabilise at 6-7C in clear intervals, but fell abruptly during hail showers, falling as low as 3.3C at one point.

Shame I was down in Norwich and missed it all! But then again Norwich was by far the thunderiest place in the country in August, so you can't win 'em all I suppose!

Edit on 16 November: it is also highly likely to have been the sunniest October since 2003, in common with much of the rest of the country.