North coast weather: the highs and lows of 2019
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Any notion that the drought which dominated north coast weather in 2018 would return the following year was quickly dispelled with virtually every month of 2019 returning above-average rainfall. The only exceptions were April which, with a mere 32.1 millimetres, was among the four driest in the preceding 75 years, and February, which was the eighth driest in that same period.
July, with 123.7 millimetres, was the second wettest since 1956, beaten only by 2007 when 145 millimetres descended.
This moisture, together with warmth, contributed to excellent growing conditions but it wasn’t all good news for farmers and crofters as, while high-intensity rainfall was largely absent on the north coast, there were few of those spells of dry weather which can make harvesting a pleasure.
August, with slightly more than double its rainfall average of 69.5 millimetres, had only seven days without rainfall and September had only nine dry days, including one five-day spell from the 18th to the 22nd. Those whose harvest was postponed until October had only one three-day dry interlude and anyone left with standing crops as November loomed could look forward to just two consecutive days without rain in which to attempt to rescue matters.
Total rainfall for the year amounted to 1071.7 millimetres at Strathy and 1221 at Croick on Halladale, each around 200 millimetres above the long-term average.
The whole-year average temperature of 8.6C was in line with post-millennium figures which show an increase in overall temperature of approximately 0.8C compared with the decade from 1976-1985 during which an annual average of 7.9C pertained.
The only outstanding months were the exceptionally mild February which, with an average of 6.4C, was the warmest since the local record began in 1976, and April which, at 8.4C, was a tad warmer than May, an occurrence recorded only three times in the past 40-plus years.
May’s lowest temperature for the entire UK was recorded at Kinbrace on the 7th at minus 6.2C. Altnaharra also found its way in to the record books with the earliest frost in Britain at minus 0.4C on July 11 and with the first penetrating frost of winter at minus 6.2C on October 31.
However, just as 2019 was wearing to a close, an exceptional temperature event did occur as a result of a plume of warm air finding its way here on the night the 27th/28th and bringing a record December maximum of 14.8C at Strathy. At Bettyhill the thermometer was almost a degree higher at 15.7C and, in the far west at Achfary, the same phenomenon gave rise to an amazing 18.7C. If confirmed this will be the hottest ever December day in the UK and will beat the current record of 18.3C set at Achnashellach in Wester Ross on December 2, 1948.
With February being extremely mild and unusually dry you might expect it to also be exceptionally sunny but the opposite was true, with the shortest month enjoying only 41.7 hours of sunshine – less than two thirds of its long-term average and only a third of that received in the preceding year. May, often the sunniest month of the year, had its 161.9 hours outdone by April which, with 193.1 hours, was the sunniest month of the year and also the sunniest April since 1984 when 195.4 hours were recorded.
The dullest month of the year, an honour usually reserved for December, was January with 34.2 hours, and in the end 2019 notched up a sunshine total of 1184.8 hours, 85 hours above the long-term average.
Where wind speeds are concerned the past year was the least windy of recent years with an average wind speed of only 7.8 miles per hour which is 0.5 mph less than last year and 2.6 mph less than the average attained in 1990. That didn’t stop fairly high winds from occurring, with a gust to 79 mph on January 7 being the highest in the year. A gust of 70 mph took place on September 15, and in February and March gusts well in excess of 60 mph were noted. October and December winds rose to the 50 mph region but November, often renowned for its gales, was remarkably calm with the highest speed only 34 mph on the 27th and an average of just 4.9 mph – bad news for wind farmers.
So, what should our verdict on the year in general be? Well, while parts of the UK, even quite nearby, were suffering damaging extremes with flooding due to increased rainfall intensity and higher-than-normal summer temperatures were worrying farmers in south-east England, conditions here remained reasonably benign. Let’s hope that continues as climate change presents mankind with increasing challenges across the world.
- Acknowledgement: The figures on which this account are based are recorded at Croick, Strathy and Bettyhill by veteran observers Brian Hart, Robbie Mackay and George Macintosh respectively. Historic figures come from records kept by the late Major LCS Spray at Skerray and Ack Campbell at Bowside Lodge.
