November 2017 Commentary

After six consecutive months with below average rainfall, November broke the trend in quite a big way. Over the last decade, November and January have been the two wettest months in Cerne Abbas but this year we experienced the wettest November since 2009.

November was also relatively mild with the third week being the only spell of cold weather and then again, during that week, there was only one night that the temperature dropped to zero.

The milder weeks also tended to coincide with the wetter weather and on three separate days, the 6th, 9th and 27th, totals of at least 25mm were experienced, representing extremely wet days while the last day of the month nearly reached that figure as well.

The average temperature for November was 9.3C nearly one degree above a figure of 8.5C averaged over the last decade of Novembers. The rainfall total of 226.7mm (around 9 inches) compares with an average of 146.1mm (just under 6 inches) over the last ten years.

Despite the heavy rainfall, the river and the drainage system around the village seems to have coped pretty well so far.

Philip Spray