March 2024: It was a
wet and dull month. Despite this, the average temperature of 9.3°C was still
1.3°C above the 30 year average of 8.0°C for the city. It was the 8th equal
warmest March since records began in 1853, (1890 missing).
The monthly total rainfall of 130.6 mm was 215.6% of the 60.6 mm 30 year
average (1990-2020) for March. It was the 5th wettest March since continuous
records for Bristol began in 1881. The wettest was 2023.
The monthly average maximum sunshine was 35.2%. The long term average before
this year's data is added was 41.0%.
Monthly pressure was low but there was a notable absence of high winds for
this area. The average pressure for the month, of 1004 mb, was the 2nd
lowest after 1001 mb in 2018. The 973 mb at 09:00 GMT on the 2nd was the
lowest for March since the data began in 1994.
Winter 2023/24: With
a total rainfall for the last 3 months of 464.2 mm it was the 2nd wettest
winter since continuous records for Bristol began in 1881. The wettest was
the winter of 2013/14 with a total rainfall of 493.4 mm. The 30 year average
for Bristol is 260.7 mm so 2023/24 was 178% of the average and 203.5 mm
above the same 30 average (1991-2020). The average temperature for 2023/24
was 7.7°C when the 30 year average is 5.9°C. This makes last winter the 4th
warmest in 133 of continuous data starting in 1890. The warmest were jointly
1989/90 and 2015/16 with an average temperature of 8.0°C.
Annual 2023:
The The annual rainfall for Bristol in 2023 was 1247.6 mm This makes it the
2nd wettest year since this data started in 1853 for the city.
The wettest year was 1315.4 mm in 2012. The 30 year average for the city is
913.8 mm so 2023 represents 137% of the average
The annual average temperature for 2023 was 12.6°C. That was the second
warmest. 2022, with an annual average temperature of 12.7°C, was the warmest
since continuous records started in 1891. The 30 year average temperature
(1991-2020) for the city was 11.6°.
To
view a full report of the Bristol Annual Weather 2022 and a discussion of trends
etc click here. This is a Word created .doc document
which is produced annually for a couple of Bristol Naturalist Society
publications. Please acknowledge the source if quoting any of the contents.
Thank you.
The
2023 Annual summary is here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2023annual.htm
For the full monthly summary please go here:
http://www.bristolweather.org/weather2024
March.htm
The
Meteorological site is situated in an urban housing area approximately one
mile to the south of the Centre of Bristol.
This area is in a district called Totterdown.
Statistical correlations with the Bristol
Meteorological Office site, that was
less than two miles to the North and was
situated on top of a City Centre office block, were generally good with
rainfall and barometric data particularly close.
The site of the station is approximately 34 metres above sea level with the
manual instruments mounted in a Stevenson screen. The screen is sited
centrally in a small concreted garden area. A Snowdon
rain gauge is mounted correctly in the ground but does not have the full open
space required around it. A Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus automatic weather station (AWS) was
added in May 2005 and this is mounted 4 feet above a concrete shelter. The
wind data is gathered automatically from a Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus anemometer which is
sited 3.3 metres (10 feet) above the house top.
Manual observations are still taken at approximately 09:00 hours GMT every
day for rainfall and cloud cover. Rainfall manually recorded in the Snowdon rain gauge is entered for the previous day. The
wind data is constantly logged and automatically reset at 24:00 hours GMT
every day (in the summer BST -1 hour. The Davis rainfall tipping bucket was recalibrated in November 2005 and is now
consistently under 3% under recording (an improvement from installation in
May 2005 when 10% was more
typically the norm).
Since the arrival of the Davis
Vantage Pro2 Plus equipment in May 2005 temperatures, humidity and barometric
pressure are recorded from the new equipment. These figures will be more
accurate and will be taken at exactly 09:00 GMT (in the summer BST -1 hour)
as the data is now logged to a computer.
By default the Davis
equipment records every parameter for the 24 hour period 00:00 to 23:59 BST
or GMT. Data analysis will enable manual data extraction of temperatures and
rainfall to 09:00 GMT (adjusted in the summer). Due to the 0.2 mm (tipping
bucket) measurements of precipitation recorded by the Davis equipment the
Snowdon rain gauge will still be used due to its greater accuracy (see
above).