Azores air mass brings winter warmth
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Analysis of the aggregate of daytime and nocturnal temperature readings revealed it was the mildest February the town has experienced since 1993. Statistics showed the rainfall total was also significantly below the long-term average for the late-winter period.
There were gales at times, however the velocities logged were certainly not remarkable. The spells of strong winds with a westerly component were however compelling evidence that Wick’s weather for the month was, with the exception of the 1st to 3rd (when rather cold and dry continental air held sway) and again briefly on the 19th (when there was a plunge of Arctic air), essentially Atlantic driven.
Wick’s mean temperature for February was 5.76C (42.37F) – this represented a substantial deviation of plus 2.26C from the corresponding established long-term average. The mean in 1993 was 5.65C (42.17F).
The average daytime maximum temperature was 8.1C (46.6F). The long-term average for the town in February is 6C (42.8F).
From the 20th until the end of the month, a large area of high pressure anchored over the Bay of Biscay, coupled with deep, low pressure centred to the south-west of Iceland, created a broad mainly south-westerly airflow across the UK.
These winds steered increasingly moist and very mild subtropical air towards the Far North that, on occasions, could be sourced from regions of the Atlantic far to the south-west of the Azores.
The origins of the air mass affecting the region were betrayed by Wick’s daytime temperatures during this particularly memorable and sustained spell of “warmth in winter”.
Wickers witnessed a sudden and spectacular turnaround in temperatures over the 19th/20th. On the former date the mercury laboured to peak at 3.1C (37.6F) in the cold Arctic air mass but had rocketed to a spring-like high of 12.3C (54.1F) on the latter with the advent of the mild but cloudy Atlantic air.
Between the 20th and 29th inclusive, daytime maxima topped a very mild 10C (50F). This was an impressive number of days for an exposed coastal town such as Wick to realise double figures in Celsius for a winter month that has acquired a notorious reputation for disruptive blizzards and a propensity to exact severe cold.
Wick’s highest daytime air temperature in February since records began in 1914 occurred on the 28th when an impressively warm 15.3C (59.5F) was achieved. This value easily trounced the town’s previous highest maximum temperature for the month – 14.4C (57.9F) recorded on February 27, 1945, and equalled on February 26, 1953.
Maximum readings of 13.8C (56.8F) registered on the 23rd and 27th that would be more typical in May are also worthy of mention.
The month’s lowest air temperature of 3.1C (37.6F) was the best the mercury could make in the rather gusty, moderate west-to-north westerly winds that affected the town on the 19th during a short-lived blast of Arctic air.
Wick’s average overnight minimum temperature came out at 3.42C (38.2F), 2.42C higher than the long-term late-winter norm.
Air frosts were notably scarce and occurred on just three dates. The month’s lowest overnight air temperature was an unremarkable minus 2.1C (28.2F) logged on the 2nd. The town hosted 12 ground frosts. The lowest temperature at a height of 5cm over the grass was minus 7C (19.4F) recorded on the 2nd and 7th respectively.
February’s highest-ever overnight minimum since records began featured on the 28th when, in spite of the absence of the sun as a source of heat, the föhn phenomenon caused the temperature to rise during the early part of the night by compressing and warming up a “moisture robbed” but stable subtropical south-westerly airflow as it descended the lee slopes of the Highlands. Under a cloudless night sky the thermometer reached an astonishing 14.4C (57.9F) at 1am and eased back to no lower than 11.4C (52.5F) before the end of the night-time period (6pm to 6am).
In order to put the remarkable and indeed record-breaking warmth experienced during the early hours of the 28th into appropriate perspective, one must remember the average overnight air minimum for Wick during February is just 1C (33.8F).
The prevalent wind direction in February was west to south-west and it turned out to be less wet than normal because Wick lay in a rain shadow on the sheltered leeward side of the northern Highlands that obstructed the rain-bearing Atlantic winds.
Precipitation was measurable on 22 days and had added up to 42.4mm or 73.1 per cent of the long-term seasonal average by the month’s end. Wick’s wettest day of the month was the 4th when 13.2mm (0.52 of an inch) of rain was logged.
Snow was visible on the grass at dawn on just one date – the 19th.
There were 11 days when winds reached or exceeded gale-force eight (39 mph/33.9 knots).
The burgh’s windiest day was the 24th when a force-eight westerly gusted up to 61 mph/53 knots (storm-force 10 on the Beaufort scale) at 12.30pm.
