DRY JANUARY, MUCH WARMER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE
Armagh Observatory, 8th February 2022: Armagh Observatory reports that January 2022 was drier than average. This was the driest January at Armagh for two years, the warmest January at Armagh for 10 years, and the sunniest for seven years.
Total precipitation was 42.65 mm (1.68 inches) including 5 trace values, that is, 42.40 mm if trace values are ignored. This is just 59% of the average January precipitation at Armagh. The wettest day was the 1st with 8.5 mm of rainfall, followed by the 3rd and 8th with 7.3 mm and 6.4 mm respectively.
Snow fell on three days, namely the 4th, 5th, and 7th, with sleet and hail on the 8th and some snow lying on the 5th and 8th. A rainbow was noted on the morning of the 21st.
The mean temperature, conventionally defined as the average of the daily maximum and minimum temperatures, was 6.18 degrees Celsius (43.1 Fahrenheit). This was much warmer than the 225-year long-term (1796–2020) average January at Armagh (4.17 C) and nearly 1.2 C warmer than the most recent (1991–2020) 30-year average (5.00 C). January 2022 was the warmest January at Armagh for ten years, that is, since an average temperature of 6.29 C was recorded in January 2012.
The highest maximum daily air temperature was 13.3 C on the 1st, followed by 12.1 C on the 10th. The lowest maximum daily air temperature was 4.4 C on the 4th followed by 5.6 C on the 5th. The highest minimum daily air temperature was 11.7 C. Although this is conventionally attributed to the day it was measured, that is, the 1st of January, this highest minimum air temperature in fact occurred during the evening of the previous day, at approximately 8.50pm on the 31st of December 2021. The lowest minimum daily air temperature was – 1.2 C on the 17th. There were just three nights when the minimum daily air temperature fell to less than or equal to zero Celsius and 19 nights with ground frost, that is, when the grass temperature fell to less than or equal to 0.0 C. The hardest ground frost was -7.3 C on the 17th, followed by -5.9 C on the 4th.
It is interesting to note that atmospheric pressure waves from the Tonga volcanic eruption were observed at Armagh on three separate days, namely the 15th, 16th, and 17th, as they circled around the globe multiple times. A daylight meteor was reported as having been seen from near Armagh at approximately 07:50 GMT on the 24th.
This January was largely dominated by relatively high pressure. The two named storms of the month, namely Storm Malik on the 29th and Storm Corrie on the 30th, produced a strong breeze at Armagh in the case of Malik, and occasionally stronger winds in the case of Corrie. These storms significantly affected Scotland and parts of northern England but there were no gales at Armagh.
The observer also notes that gulls were seen over the Observatory on most days this
month, with noticeably larger groups on the 21st, 24th and 25th. The frequency with which these birds are now seen on a regular basis suggests that they have now established permanent colonies inland far from the coast.
With 52.6 hours of strong sunshine January 2022 at Armagh was sunnier than average. This was nearly 14% more than the 140-year long-term (1881–2020) January average at Armagh (46.2 hours) and 11% more than the most recent (1991–2020) 30-year average (47.4 hours). This was the sunniest January at Armagh for seven years, that is, since January 2015 (67.5 hours). The sunniest day was the 17th with 7.2 hours of strong sunshine, followed by the 24th with 5.4 hours.
These data refer to observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording
the weather at Armagh since 1795.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Mark Bailey at the Armagh Observatory,
College Hill,
Armagh, BT61 9DG.
Tel.: 028-3752-3689
mark.bailey@armagh.ac.uk;
http://climate.armagh.ac.uk/.
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