January 2022 was a little cooler but much drier than usual and the average maximum temperature of 7.9°C was 0.2°C below the Usk average for January of 8.1°C. The minimum temperature sank below 0°C on nine days. The warmest day was the 1st (max = 13.2°C) and the coldest was the 21st with a low of -2.8°C.
The measured rainfall was 22.2 mm, 17% of the Usk* average for January of 127.6 mm. Rain was measured on 10 days in the month, the wettest being the 2nd when 6.4 mm fell. There was a period of 18 days with no measurable rain between the 12th and the 29th.
February 2022 was much warmer than usual, and was a little wetter than usual also. The month had one frosty morning. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 10.0°C was 1.5°C above the Usk average for February of 8.5°C with a maximum of 13.4°C on the 27th.
There were 13 days on which no significant rain (0.2 mm or less) fell, and a total monthly rainfall of 107.1 mm was 23% above the Usk* average for February of 87.4 mm. The wettest day was the 15th with 18.6 mm.
March 2022 was a little warmer and drier than usual. Overall, the average maximum temperature of 11.7°C was 0.6°C above the Usk average for March of 11.1°C.
The coldest by day was the 31st, with a maximum of 6.2°C, and the warmest was the 22nd with a maximum of 17.5°C, which occurred during a period of 13 consecutive days of above average temperatures ending on the 29th. There was one day when the minimum fell below zero, the 31st (-0.6°C)
There were only 10 days on which rain fell (>0.2 mm), the wettest being the 11th with 20.6 mm. The total rainfall of 68.8 mm was 83% of the Usk* average for March of 83.1 mm.
April 2022 was the 8th driest month since Penallt records began in 2011, the driest being April 2011 when only 5.0 mm rain were recorded. A run of 18 consecutive days with no significant rain qualified as drought conditions.
Overall, the average maximum temperature of 14.2°C was 0.2°C above the Usk average for April of 14.0°C with a peak of 20.3°C on the 15th. The minimum temperature was -1.8°C on the 2nd and there were 5 days of air frost.
There were 26 days when no rain (or a trace) fell, the wettest day being 12th when 8.4 mm fell. It was much drier than usual overall with the total rainfall of 18.8 mm being 28% of the Usk* average for April of 67.5 mm.
May 2022 was drier than usual and kept up the trend for 2022 being a particularly dry year. The month saw 11 days on which significant rain fell. The total rainfall of 35.0 mm was 49% of the Usk* average for May of 71.5 mm.
Maximum temperatures exceeded 20°C on 3 days with a high of 21.7°C on the 17th. Although May ended with some cool days, the average maximum temperature of 17.6°C was just 0.1°C above the Usk average for May of 17.5°C.
June 2022 had a good deal of dry weather in the middle weeks, with a very warm period ending on the 17th, these contrasting with cooler and wetter weather at the end.
The average maximum temperature of 20.0°C was 0.3°C below the Usk* average for June of 20.3°C and there were 15 days when 20°C was exceeded. The maximum was 28.6°C on the 17th.
June had 2 very wet days (> 10mm) and the Penallt total rainfall was 51.6 mm, 86% of the Usk* June average of 60.2 mm. The wettest day was the 30th, with a fall of 11.4 mm. There were 15 days in the month when no measurable rain fell too.
July 2022 was warmer and much drier than usual. The total rainfall of 17.2 mm was 27% of the Usk* average for July of 62.6 mm, making this the driest July since Penallt records began 11 years ago, just beating the 17.4 mm which fell in July 2016. There were 25 days on which no measurable rain fell.
The average maximum temperature of 23.8 °C was 1.5 °C above the Usk average for July of 22.3 °C; there were eleven days when the temperature exceeded 25 °C, the warmest being 34.4 °C on the 18th, the highest temperature recorded in Penallt since records began, exceeding the previous high of 33.2 °C on August 12th 2020. Nights were warm overall, with a mean minimum of 12.9 °C being 1.4 °C above usual.
This July was the third warmest in the past 11 years, being beaten by July 2013 (mean max of 24.9 °C) and July 2018 (mean max of 25.4 °C).
January to July 2022: some parts of the country have had their driest start to the year on record, but this hasn’t been the case for Penallt as 2019 had an even drier first seven months:-
August 2022 was a much warmer and drier than usual. The total rainfall of 27.0 mm was 37% of the Usk* average for August of 73.9 mm and there were 22 days on which no significant rain (>0.2 mm) fell. The wettest day was the 16th when 11.2 mm fell.
The average maximum temperature of 24.2 °C was 2.1 °C above the Usk average for August of 22.1 °C. The warmest day was the 14th (32.9 °C) and there were 5 days on which the temperature reached 30 °C.
September 2022 was the wettest month since March but was still drier than usual, reflecting just how dry 2022 has been so far. The total rainfall was 59.0 mm, 73% of the Usk* average for September of 81.2 mm. There were 18 dry days (rainfall of 0.2 mm or below). The wettest day was the 5th, when 17.0 mm fell.
The month started with 12 consecutive days of maximum temperatures exceeding 20 °C but was thereafter cooler than usual and the mean maximum temperature of 18.6 °C was 0.6 °C below the Usk average for September of 19.2 °C. The highest was 24.1 °C on the 12th and the lowest of 13.1 °C occurred on the 27th.
October 2022 was a little wetter than usual and was remarkably warm overall. The average maximum temperature of 16.0°C was 1.0°C above the Usk average for October of 15.0°C, whilst the average minimum of 9.5°C was a huge 3.1°C above the Usk average for October of 6.4°C
The month ended with 20 consecutive days on which rain was measured and there were only six days on which no significant rain was recorded overall. The total rainfall of 133.2 mm was 5% above the Usk* average for October of 126.3 mm. The wettest day was the 23rd when 20.2mm rain was recorded.
November 2022 was a little warmer and very much wetter than usual. The average maximum temperature of 11.4°C was 0.4°C above the Usk average for November of 11.0°C. There were no air frosts, the lowest temperature recorded being 3.0°C on the 29th. Maximum temperatures ranged between 15.8°C on the 12th and 4.3°C on the 29th.
It was the wettest November since records began in 2011. Measurable rain was recorded on 21 days and there were 7 days when over 10 mm was recorded, the wettest being the 15th when 40.2 mm fell. The total rainfall of 254.4 mm was 2.24 times the Usk* average for November of 113.7 mm.
It was the 5th wettest month since Penallt records began in 2011, the wettest being January 2014 when 302.1 mm was recorded.
December 2022 was much colder than usual and was the coldest in Penallt since records began in 2011 (the next coldest were 2012 and 2017 with an average max of 7.5°C ). The rainfall was a little below average at the same time. The average maximum temperature of 6.2°C was 2.2°C below the Usk average for December of 8.4°C with the first 17 days being particularly cold. Snow lay on the ground for about a week too. The maximum temperature exceeded 10°C on 9 days and there were 13 days of air frost too.
There were 15 days when no significant rain was recorded (<0.2 mm), all but one of these being in the first 17 days of the month. The last two weeks were much wetter and these brought the total rainfall up to 115.0 mm, was 94% of the Usk* average for December of 121.9 mm.
Click the button below for an Excel file giving daily data for 2022:-
* Usk is the nearest Met Office station for which long term averages (1981-2010) are available.