January 2012 was a little warmer than usual, and the average maximum temperature of 7.9°C was 0.6°C above the Ross average for January of 7.3°C.
There were 18 days on which rain fell, making a total rainfall of 56.4 mm, 70% of the Ross-on-Wye* average for January of 80.7 mm.
February 2012 started with a cold snap and finished with Spring-like weather. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 7.0°C only just under the Ross average for February of 7.7°C.
There were 12 days on which rain fell, and this was light rain at that, making a very dry month with total rainfall of 16.8 mm, 32% of the Ross-on-Wye* average for February of 53.0 mm.
2012 has therefore started with two very dry months: only 55% of the expected (Ross) rain has fallen so far.
March 2012 had very few cold days and only one overnight frost, ending with eight consecutive days of early summer weather. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 12.8°C was 2.5°C above the Ross average for March of 10.3°C.
There were 16 days on which rain fell, and this was often light rain at that, with 12 consecutive dry days at the end of the month. This made it a dry month overall with total rainfall of 28.0 mm, 55% of the Ross-on-Wye* average for March of 51.2 mm.
2012 has therefore started with three very dry months: only 55% of the expected (Ross) rain has fallen so far.
April 2012 was a cold and very wet month. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 10.8°C was 2.1°C below the Ross average for April of 12.9°C and it made April 2.0°C colder than the previous month – a big change.
There were 22 days on which rain fell, and this was often heavy rain at that, with 41.4 mm falling on the 25th, the wettest day since records began (admittedly only a year ago!). This made it an exceptionally wet month overall with total rainfall of 141.4 mm, 292% of the Ross-on-Wye* average for April of 48.4 mm. This is the largest monthly rainfall at Penallt since records began.
2012 started with three very dry months with only 55% of the expected (Ross) rain. However, the wet April has made up for the early deficit and the total rainfall for the first four months is now 4% above the total for Ross in the same period.
May 2012 continued in the same vein as the cool and wet April, with half the normal May rainfall falling on the first day. No rain at all fell on the last 12 days however. Maximum temperatures were well above average during this period, exceeding 20°C on nine days. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 16.5°C was 0.1°C below the Ross average for May of 16.6°C and it made May 5.8°C warmer than the previous month – a big change. The warmest day was May 27th when the temperature peaked at 26.1°C.
There were 12 days on which rain fell, and the total rainfall was 95.8 mm, nearly twice the Ross-on-Wye* average for May of 49.2 mm.
June 2012 continued in the same vein as cool and wet April and May. Up and down the country, it was the wettest June on record and the Penallt total of 248.2 mm was a staggering 4.6 times higher than the Ross* June average of 54.0 mm. There were only 5 days in the month when no rain fell too. June 7th was the wettest day since Penallt records began, with 44.2 mm of rain recorded.
Maximum temperatures were well below average during this period, exceeding 20°C on only four days. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 16.9°C was 2.4°C below the Ross* average for June of 19.3°C
July 2012 was much wetter and cooler than average. The total rainfall of 141.6 mm was over four times the Ross-on-Wye* average for July of 34.8 mm, and the average maximum temperature of 20.0 °C was 2.0 °C below the Ross average for July of 22.0 °C, despite one week of “summer” towards the end of the month when the temperature peaked at 27.7 °C and there were eight consecutive dry days.
August 2012 was much wetter and a good deal cooler than average. The total rainfall of 147.4 mm was 141% above the Ross-on-Wye* average for August of 61.1 mm, and the average maximum temperature of 19.9 °C was 1.6 °C below the Ross average for August of 21.5 °C. There were only 8 rain-free days in the month.
In the three “summer” months of June, July and August, a total of 537.2 mm of rain fell, 3.6 times the average rainfall in these months.
September 2012 was very dry for the first three weeks (8.8 mm), but then the “biggest September storm for 30 years” led to the total rainfall being 117.0 mm, 84% above the Ross-on-Wye* average for September of 63.7 mm. A month’s rain fell overnight on the 23rd/24th and 103.6 mm of rain fell during the period 23rd – 26th September.
The month was cooler than average too, with the average maximum temperature of 17.5 °C being 0.8 °C below the Ross average for September of 18.3 °C.
October 2012 was much cooler and wetter than usual, and the average maximum temperature of 12.3°C was 1.9°C below the Ross average for October of 14.2°C.
There were only three days on which no rain was recorded, and the total rainfall was 126.0 mm, 87% above the Ross-on-Wye* average for October of 67.5 mm.
November 2012 was cooler and very much wetter than usual, the average maximum temperature of 9.0°C was 1.3°C below the Ross average for November of 10.3°C. There were four days of air frost too.
There were 26 days on which rain fell, making a total rainfall of 230.3 mm, 3.57 times the Ross-on-Wye* average for November of 64.5 mm. The 11 month total rainfall for Penallt is 1350 mm, already 644 mm above the mean annual rainfall for Ross.
December 2012 was a little cooler and very much wetter than usual, and the average maximum temperature of 7.5°C was 0.6°C below the Ross average for December of 8.1°C.
There were 25 days on which rain fell, making a total rainfall of 226.6 mm, 2.9 times the Ross-on-Wye* average for December of 78.1 mm.
Click the button below for an Excel file giving daily data for 2012:-
* Ross-on-Wye is the nearest Met Office station for which long term averages (1971-2000) are available.