August 2020 Commentary

After a variable start to the month, the second week in August was extremely hot. The temperatures then gradually decreased for the remainder of the month but during that time we experienced torrential rainfall on at least four occasions.

That second week saw temperatures reach above 30C on three separate days and the hot spell actually extended from the 6th until the 13th when the first of the storms arrived. Three more storms arrived over the next fortnight, each depositing nearly 2 inches or 50mm of rainfall which brought various potential flood problems to the local area.

The average temperature for August was 19.4C which is one and a half degrees above the average for the last decade but this was very much influenced by the one very hot week.

The total rainfall for the month was 179.1mm. (7 inches) which is well above the average of around 100mm (4 inches) over the last decade.

Summer temperatures (June, July and August combined) were only a tad above the average while the rainfall total has been a certain amount above the average.

This last month, the village was again fortunate that Andrew Popkin and his helpers were on hand to deal with the heavy rainfall though a few houses in Duck street did experience problems with high groundwater levels.

Philip Spray