Still no real rainfall in your area?

[Terminal Moraine]

The year so far still stands as the driest since 1976 here but it would take only 3.4 mm of rain in the remainder of June to take the total above that of 1996 which had recorded 352.9 mm by June 30th.

18.6 mm would take the total to the end of June above that of 2005 which recorded 368.1 mm by that point.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

So far this year, we've had just 235mm of rain, which is 51% of our average rainfall to this date. In fact, January 2005 was wetter than the whole of this year so far!

[snowlover2009]

So far this year, we've had just 235mm of rain, which is 51% of our average rainfall to this date. In fact, January 2005 was wetter than the whole of this year so far!

its bloody amazing when you compare it to france, which is further south and has had 300mm from just one week of bloody rain! this year, like yourself, many parts have had 3 times less than places like france. because it has been quite wet there especially after the 300 and odd MM of rain they had this week, plus adding it to the rest of the years totals as well.

[Terminal Moraine]

So far this year, we've had just 235mm of rain, which is 51% of our average rainfall to this date. In fact, January 2005 was wetter than the whole of this year so far!

51% of average rainfall to date is extraordinarily low. I know there's a long way to go yet but 60% of average rainfall for a whole year is generally thought to be approaching the lower limit, as in large areas of south east England and central southern England in 1921. In fact parts of Kent had less than 50% of average rainfall that year.

I'm not sure what the lower limit is for the first half of a year but I would think that 51% must be approaching it and this only emphasises what an anomalous year this has been so far with regard to the general circulation and the absence of westerly driven weather.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

The previous driest first half of the year was 69% of the rolling 10yr average....if that makes sense?

I don't know if it's relevent, but out of the past 10 years, we've had wetter second halves to the year on seven occaisions, normally by quite some distance. 2001 was one of the exceptions, but only just as the first six months yielded 464.4mm whilst the second half totalled just 464.2mm.

Edited June 19, 2010 by Osbourne One-Nil

[Guest]

The latest update to the Met-O records shows that May 2010 was the driest month since May 1994 and the 17th driest month since 1959 at their weather station in Paisley:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/stationdata/paisleydata.txt

[damianslaw]

The previous driest first half of the year was 69% of the rolling 10yr average....if that makes sense?

I don't know if it's relevent, but out of the past 10 years, we've had wetter second halves to the year on seven occaisions, normally by quite some distance. 2001 was one of the exceptions, but only just as the first six months yielded 464.4mm whilst the second half totalled just 464.2mm.

On average the second half of the year is wetter than the first, this is to be expected as spring is generally on average the driest season and also when the atlantic is at its quietest. Don't rule out a particularly wet second half, and as we know here in Cumbria it only takes one very month to bring the totals up i.e. remember November last year... I believe we are in for a particularly wet autumn with some very heavy downpours courtesy of slow moving fronts..

[Osbourne One-Nil]

The 2nd half of the year averages 690mm, so it'll only take a slightly wetter than average 2nd half to ensure I maintain my record of exceeding 1000mm of rain every year.

[Thundery wintry showers]

What about 2001? 464.4 + 464.2 < 1000.

Interesting stats though!

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Ah - well that wasn't where I live now; I moved 15 miles in 2003, so it doesn't count!

[reef]

51% of average rainfall to date is extraordinarily low. I know there's a long way to go yet but 60% of average rainfall for a whole year is generally thought to be approaching the lower limit, as in large areas of south east England and central southern England in 1921. In fact parts of Kent had less than 50% of average rainfall that year.

I'm not sure what the lower limit is for the first half of a year but I would think that 51% must be approaching it and this only emphasises what an anomalous year this has been so far with regard to the general circulation and the absence of westerly driven weather.

Meanwhile here in the east I only need 26mm more this month to reach the 1971-2000 average for the first half of the year. There has been 244.6mm so far. Very unusual for this area to be wetter than OON's!

Winter months with high westerliness tend to be drier here due to us being rather sheltered (January 2005 and 2007 were both drier than average). This meant however that January and February this year came in at 153% and 172%. March - May were more anticyclonic so we remained drier.

Strangely the first six months of 2009 were drier than this year, at only 218mm. 132.2mm in July 2009 sorted that though! Similarly in 2002, the first 6 months had just 218mm but then July had over 150% of average then too. Hopefully no repeat this year!

[osmposm]

To be fair I dont think a lack of rain should directly anyone, unless you run a horiticultural business for humid loving plants, or an industry that demand alot of water. Otherwise, why do we need water yet unless things get very bad, which will not happen yet (and most likely will never happen)

Um...you're obviously not a gardener with a water meter, Stephen - or a trout fisherman who likes to fish the upland, rain-dependent rivers of Wales & the West Country.

I'm both. It's been too dry.

EDIT: just seen your other post, sorry - I see you are a gardener. But cacti? That's cheating!

Edited June 20, 2010 by osmposm

[osmposm]

sorry but that is pathetic what you just said. you quote this, 'most parts need the rain', then put this 'well in this part of kent we dont need anymore.' that is stupid, you can already see the from the first quote that it says 'most' as in many areas of the country!!!! it doesn't mean everywhere. kent may have had more rain, but most of the country needs the rain. why can you not even see what this means?!....

SL09, you seem to have misunderstood Neil's second post, and/or not read his original one. "Most parts need the rain" was what he was suggesting that the forecasters should say. What they actually said was "We do need the rain", and that was a perfectly reasonable starting-point for his comment and this interesting thread.

Oh, and words like "pathetic" and "stupid" are not friendly or helpful whatever the circumstances - even less so when you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick!

[Argyllcraig]

Living in the west of scotland (Argyll), we usually get an abundance of rain even when the rest of the uk is quite dry mainly as a result of low systems brushing to the northwest of the UK around high pressure.

Im not sure of actual figures for this area but it does appear to have been very dry for a very long time. Even in the midst of the long winter we have had, the problem then was cold and ice as opposed to ongoing snowfall. As we went through spring to the present i can barely recall any days that have been totally washed out. Indeed, on friday i was climbing in the mamores mountains south of fort william and was shocked to see how low the lochs, reservoirs and rivers were. The water of nevis in glen nevis could be walked across as it was pretty much just a sandy river bed instead of the usual 20-30foot wide river it normally is.

Underfoot in the mountains themselves, the bogs have all but largely dried out and can easily be walked on while the incidence of upland fires and heather fires seems to be quite high.

So while im not complaining as to how nice its been, it certainly seems a bit unusual but in saying that we certainly have enough summer left for it to feel a washed out one if the rains come back.

[Guest]

Living in the west of scotland (Argyll), we usually get an abundance of rain even when the rest of the uk is quite dry mainly as a result of low systems brushing to the northwest of the UK around high pressure.

Im not sure of actual figures for this area but it does appear to have been very dry for a very long time. Even in the midst of the long winter we have had, the problem then was cold and ice as opposed to ongoing snowfall. As we went through spring to the present i can barely recall any days that have been totally washed out. Indeed, on friday i was climbing in the mamores mountains south of fort william and was shocked to see how low the lochs, reservoirs and rivers were. The water of nevis in glen nevis could be walked across as it was pretty much just a sandy river bed instead of the usual 20-30foot wide river it normally is.

Underfoot in the mountains themselves, the bogs have all but largely dried out and can easily be walked on while the incidence of upland fires and heather fires seems to be quite high.

So while im not complaining as to how nice its been, it certainly seems a bit unusual but in saying that we certainly have enough summer left for it to feel a washed out one if the rains come back.

This drier period has been quite something. I was walking back down the road from my parents' house today and the normally fast flowing burn that runs beside the path and then down through Kilmacolm is trickling like a slightly on tap. I then remembered that the two houses at the top of the burn use septic tanks which discharge into the burn and this explained the fact that what water is in the burn is milky brown in colour. Lovely! I have never seen the burn so low to the point it is almost dry and I've been up and down past it almost every day in the last 18 years. Weirdly enough it was frozen solid in winter time which was a first too...

[SP1986]

Um...you're obviously not a gardener with a water meter, Stephen - or a trout fisherman who likes to fish the upland, rain-dependent rivers of Wales & the West Country.

I'm both. It's been too dry. B)

EDIT: just seen your other post, sorry - I see you are a gardener. But cacti? That's cheating!

Indeed, I've been caught out there :lol:

Its been such an agreeable year that they're attempting to flower.

To be fair a normal annual rainfall here as about 650mm... so not too wet, conversely not too dry either.

This year is quite dry with only 198mm of rain so far, this is a little less than the same time last year.

However I am pretty sure I'll finish somewhere near 600mm by the end of the year.

[Nights King]

Indeed, I've been caught out there

Its been such an agreeable year that they're attempting to flower.

To be fair a normal annual rainfall here as about 650mm... so not too wet, conversely not too dry either.

This year is quite dry with only 198mm of rain so far, this is a little less than the same time last year.

However I am pretty sure I'll finish somewhere near 600mm by the end of the year.

This year has been a breath of fresh air really, we have had some very wet spring and summers in recent years.

Cant be all that bad this year though because ground is still moist and no need for sprinklers outside although since moving from southeast 12 yrs ago i have never seen the grass go brown once like it used to back then.

I am not sure how much rain I have received this year so far however our average is around 1500mm a year.

[damianslaw]

On BBC North West News they stated that Haweswater Reservoir is running very low and hospipe bans could be imminent in the region. They said it has been the driest start to the year since records began at Haweswater - not sure whether this fact is valid, but must say it has been very dry across the whole of the Lake District so wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. I think we need to learn a lesson and that is how best to conserve our rain, all the excessive rain we saw in November could have been stored up for potential drought conditions in the summer, instead most simply ran off into the sea as the ground simply couldn't store any more. Better conservation of water in the future could prevent drought conditions, its not like we live in the tropics!..

[Guest]

On BBC North West News they stated that Haweswater Reservoir is running very low and hospipe bans could be imminent in the region. They said it has been the driest start to the year since records began at Haweswater - not sure whether this fact is valid, but must say it has been very dry across the whole of the Lake District so wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. I think we need to learn a lesson and that is how best to conserve our rain, all the excessive rain we saw in November could have been stored up for potential drought conditions in the summer, instead most simply ran off into the sea as the ground simply couldn't store any more. Better conservation of water in the future could prevent drought conditions, its not like we live in the tropics!..

You make a very valid point about water conservation but the drier period we've had is fairly unusual and will probably be reversed in the next month or two. Also, is it really a hardship to have a hosepipe ban? We're not even into a period of having hosepipe bans anywhere in the UK and nowhere near water shortages for drinking. If it stays quite dry for the next couple of months we may start to see problems but until then I don't think there is much to worry about.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Hard to believe after the past few months, but there are men in the river outside the office wearing wetsuit, reparing some undercutting to the road bridge following Novermber's flooding.

[AderynCoch]

Has Cumbria been the driest part of the country so far this year in terms of proportional deficit? I doubt most of the county has had as much rain as it received last November in the months which have followed hitherto. Even some of the 24 hour totals from that incredibly wet month could probably give the current 2010 total a run for its money.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

So far this year, we've had 234.4mm of rain. Individual months which exceed (or get very close to) that 6 month total are:-

November 2009 - 421.8mm

October 2008 - 228.8mm

December 2006 - 247.4mm

January 2005 - 251.6mm

[damianslaw]

So far this year, we've had 234.4mm of rain. Individual months which exceed (or get very close to) that 6 month total are:-

November 2009 - 421.8mm

October 2008 - 228.8mm

December 2006 - 247.4mm

January 2005 - 251.6mm

Yes we have had some very wet months in recent years as shown above which give this year a run for its money. The very dry weather is quite a turnaround after the excessive rain last November - its been a very unusual spell of weather for rainfall - all courtesy of the very odd synoptics that have persisted since mid Dec and the synpotics in Nov were very odd in terms of the static trough laid directly over us..

Only a matter of time I feel before normal order is resumed..

[Chris D]

Yup we definately need the rain in the North West. If you read The Environment Agency's report on the "drought", then it says it has been the driest start since 1929.

In Southport I have only recorded 185mm from Jan-May, compared to the average of ~300mm, that's only 60% of what we should have.

[OldGreggsTundraBoy]

very hot and dry week on the way for most of us, droughts for crops im guessing.