APRIL DRIER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE WITH ROUGHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
Armagh Observatory reports that April 2022 was drier and sunnier than average and with roughly average temperature. This was the fourth April in a row with average or lower-than-average precipitation. Although sunnier than average it was much less sunny than the previous two Aprils.
Total precipitation was 45.1 mm (1.78 inches) including 2 trace values (that is, 45.0 mm if trace values are ignored). This is approximately 85% of the 183-year (1838-2020) long-term average April precipitation at Armagh (52.8 mm) and nearly 81% of the most recent (1991-2020) 30-year April average (55.9 mm).
The wettest days were the 17th with 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) of rainfall and the 12th with 7.6 mm (0.30 inches). These were followed by an extended dry spell lasting ten days from the 19th to the 28th.
A rainbow was observed on the afternoon of the 6th, and hail later that afternoon and hail again around midday on the 7th. What was described as a slight shower of freezing rain occurred on the morning of the 8th, with snow pellets in the afternoon.
Among birds seen this month were a dove on the sunshine tower on the 12th and a kestrel overhead on the 14th.
The mean monthly temperature was 8.9 degrees Celsius (48.0 Fahrenheit), which is approximately 1.0 C warmer than the 225-year (1796-2020) long-term average April temperature at Armagh (7.9 C) but only 0.1 C warmer than the most recent (1991-2020) 30-year April average (8.8 C).
The warmest day (highest maximum air temperature) was just 17.3 C on the 23rd preceded by 17.0 C on the 22nd. The coolest day (lowest maximum air temperature) was a relatively mild 8.1 C on the 1st followed by 8.8 C on the 8th. The highest minimum air temperature, which usually corresponds to the warmest night, was a mild 9.6 C. This occurred both on the evening of the 14th and during early morning on the 17th. The third warmest night was 9.0 C, which occurred in the small hours of the 5th. The three coldest nights, corresponding to lowest minimum air temperatures, were -2.5 C on the 1st followed by -0.9 C on the 3rd and -0.4 C on the 8th.
There were several quite sharp ground frosts among the 17 nights with recorded ground frosts (minimum grass temperature less than or equal to zero), the coldest three of which were -11.9 C on the 1st, -8.1 C on the 3rd, and -7.9 C on the 29th. There were five days, namely the 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th, and 29th, with night-time air frosts.
With 164.7 hours of strong sunshine, April 2022 was approximately 13% sunnier than the 140-year (1881-2020) long-term average number of hours of strong sunshine at Armagh (145.5 hours) and 10% sunnier than the most recent (1991-2020) 30-year average (149.9 hours). Still, this was less sunny than the two previous Aprils. The three sunniest days were the 24th and 29th, with 13.3 hours of strong sunshine, and the 20th with 12.9 hours.
These data refer to observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the weather at Armagh since 1795.
For further information, please contact:
Professor Mark E. Bailey
Emeritus Director of Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
College Hill
Armagh
BT61 9DG
Tel: 028-3752-2928
E-mail: mark.bailey@armagh.ac.uk
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