January 2008
The sun setting over Dartmoor after a sunny and warm January day.

The sun setting over Dartmoor after a sunny and surprisingly warm late January day.
Summary for  Jan 2008  
Mean Max: 10.3 oC    
Mean Min: 4.5 oC    
Mean: 7.4 oC    
         
High Max: 13.9 oC 19th  
Low Max: 3.0 oC 3rd  
High Min: 12.1 oC 19th  
Low Min: -0.8 oC 6th  
Mean Grass Min: 1.1 oC    
Grass Min: -4.1 oC 6th  
         
Rain Total (gauge): 107.0 mm    
Rain Total (tipping bucket): 78.4 mm    
Rain Days >0.2: 20 Days    
Rain Days >1.0: 14 Days    
Max 24 hrs: 16.6 mm 17th  
Days without any rain: 8 Days    
         
Air Frost: 2 Days    
Ground Frost: 14 Days    
Snow Falling: 0 Days    
Snow (50%) @ 9am: 0 Days    
Thunder Heard: 1 Days 5th  
Hail <5 mm: 0 Days    
Hail >5 mm: 0 Days    
Fog @ 9am: 0 Days    
         
Total Monthly Sunshine: 67:25:00    
Most Sunshine in a Day: 08:56 Hours 27th  
Average Daily Sunshine: 02:10 Hours    
Sunless days: 5 Days    
Total Possible Sunshine: 261:20:57    
Percentage of Total Sun: 25.8 %    
         
Mean Soil Temp @ 30 cm: 6.9 oC    
Mean Soil Temp @ 100 cm: 7.6 oC    
         
Wind >39 mph: 0.03 Days    
N: 0.82 Days    
NE: 1.93 Days    
E: 2.57 Days    
SE: 3.30 Days    
S: 7.64 Days    
SW: 7.93 Days    
W: 3.99 Days    
NW: 1.55 Days    
Calm: 3.95 Days    
Mean Wind: 5.4 mph    
Max Gust: 43 mph 10th  
         
Cloud cover: 64 %    
Mean RH @ 9am: 85 %    
Rain Duration >0.1mm/hour: 50.3 Hours    
Frost Duration: 7.0 Hours    
         
Mean Sea Temperature: 9.6 oC    
Normal for Month:   oC    
Max Sea Temperature: 10.2 oC 24th  
Min Sea Temperature: 8.9 oC 6th  
         
Mean Pressure @ 9am: 1010.7 hPa    
Mean Pressure 1012.4 hPa    
Max Pressure: 1038.5 hPa 25th  
Min Pressure: 976.8 hPa 15th  
         
Max Dewpoint: 10.8 oC 18th  
Min Dewpoint: -3.7 oC 3rd  
Mean Dewpoint: 4.0 oC    
         
Max Humidity: 88 % 6th  
Min Humidity: 58 % 24th  
Mean Humidity: 81 %    
         

With a mean temperature of 7.4oC this January was just 0.2oC colder than January 2007, which happened to be one of the warmest January months on record.

There was a consecutive period of warmth from 07:45 on the 18th to 20:00 on the 21st when temperatures did not fall below 10.0C, a total of 84.25 hours.
Rainfall was above the average with 123% more than the normal January.
With 14 ground frosts but only 2 air frosts, many of the night time minimums were just a degree or two above freezing. This was due to many of the nights having calm and starry conditions. There was no snow falling throughout the month making this the 2nd consecutive January without any snowfall and unless any snow falls in February, this will be the 2nd winter without any snow falling.
Sunshine levels were disappointingly low during the 3rd week (15th to the 21st) with only 3.1 hours of sunshine, compare this to the last 7 days of the month when there was 38.4 hours of sunshine, over half of the total for the month.
 
This was quite a windy month with only 4 days registering as calm. The winds were predominantly from the SW (See Figure 3) for the whole of the month and characteristic of the overall cyclonic nature of this January.
With only 7 hours of air frost duration the minimum temperatures ended up being +1.7oC above normal for January.
After a short, cold spell just before Xmas which cooled the surface of the sea in Lyme Bay, the sea temperatures actually rose through January ending up at 10oC at the end of the month.
Mean pressure was 3.1 hPa below normal.
With a relative humidity of 81%, this was 4% below normal.
 
Daily Weather Data for Otter Valley, Devon. January 2008  
  Temp (oC) Hum (RH%) Dewpoint (oC) Wind (mph) Rain Pressure (hPa) Grass Sun  
  Min Max Ave Min Max Ave Min Max Ave Max Ave Run mm Min Max Ave Min Hours Observations
1 5.7 10.1 7.9 70 87 79 1.6 6.3 4.0 18 2.1 51 1.0 1017 1026 1022 -0.4 2.0 Sunny int all day
2 3.8 6.6 5.2 71 83 77 -0.4 3.0 1.3 26 8.0 192 0.0 1005 1017 1011 0.6 1.6 Brief sunny int all day
3 0.1 3.0 1.6 77 86 82 -3.7 -0.3 -2.0 27 8.6 206 0.0 997 1005 1001 -1.6 0.2 Brief sunny int all day
4 2.6 9.1 5.9 86 87 87 -0.4 6.3 3.0 29 4.2 100 7.6 991 1002 997 1.3 0.0 Cloudy all day
5 3.9 7.4 5.7 83 87 85 0.8 4.6 2.7 28 3.3 78 3.2 992 1003 998 1.8 1.4 Showers am, sunny int pm
6 -0.8 10.0 4.6 85 88 87 -3.4 7.0 1.8 24 2.5 61 0.8 1002 1012 1007 -4.1 1.1 Brief sunny int am, rain pm
7 5.0 9.6 7.3 67 86 77 0.7 6.4 3.6 38 7.0 168 3.0 1003 1017 1010 0.8 4.6 Sun and showers all day
8 5.2 11.5 8.4 78 87 83 0.1 7.9 4.0 30 7.2 150 5.2 1002 1017 1010 -2.8 1.3 Sunny int all day
9 1.8 9.4 5.6 75 87 81 0.0 6.3 3.2 23 4.9 111 0.2 1004 1011 1007 -1.6 3.2 Sunny int all day
10 8.6 11.4 10.0 81 86 84 4.1 8.5 6.3 43 8.6 207 3.4 997 1008 1003 4.3 0.2 Rain am. Bright pm.
11 3.7 6.3 5.0 85 87 86 1.4 4.1 2.8 26 6.1 147 15.8 986 1000 993 0.5 0.0 Rain all day
12 0.2 10.1 5.2 72 87 80 -2.6 6.8 2.1 23 4.3 104 2.2 997 1009 1003 -4.0 3.8 Sunny int am, then rain
13 8.7 10.5 9.6 78 86 82 5.2 7.8 6.5 39 12.3 296 7.6 993 1005 999 6.0 0.1 Sunny int am, rain pm
14 5.6 10.7 8.2 65 87 76 3.3 5.9 4.6 28 6.5 156 3.2 992 998 995 0.8 5.4 Sunny intervals all day
15 8.7 11.7 10.2 82 87 85 2.6 8.5 5.6 34 8.8 178 16.6 977 997 987 4.1 0.7 Sunny int, showers pm
16 1.4 7.3 4.4 85 87 86 -0.5 4.9 2.2 17 1.9 45 1.6 982 1004 993 -2.5 0.7 Sunny intervals all day
17 2.2 12.8 7.5 72 87 80 0.1 8.4 4.3 37 5.7 136 1.0 997 1005 1001 -2.5 0.8 Sunny intervals all day
18 6.4 13.8 10.1 82 86 84 4.0 10.8 7.4 24 7.0 168 0.8 1005 1013 1009 5.2 0.0 Cloudy all day
19 12.1 13.9 13.0 85 86 86 9.3 10.7 10.0 25 6.3 152 1.6 1014 1022 1018 9.3 0.0 Dull all day, clear evening
20 11.9 13.6 12.8 82 86 84 8.4 10.2 9.3 20 6.3 151 0.8 1021 1023 1022 10.4 0.4 Cloudy am, sunny int pm
21 10.4 12.3 11.4 78 86 82 6.1 8.6 7.4 31 8.1 194 2.0 1010 1021 1015 7.7 0.6 Sunny int am, showers pm
22 2.5 10.2 6.4 81 87 84 0.2 7.2 3.7 36 4.2 101 0.2 1011 1026 1019 0.4 0.8 Sunny intervals all day
23 8.6 12.2 10.4 80 87 84 5.7 9.0 7.4 20 4.3 102 0.0 1023 1026 1025 6.4 0.3 Sunny intervals all day
24 8.3 11.3 9.8 58 86 72 -1.4 8.2 3.4 23 5.6 133 0.2 1022 1037 1030 4.1 5.2 Bright am, sunny pm
25 1.3 11.9 6.6 66 87 77 -1.6 6.5 2.5 19 4.2 102 0.0 1037 1039 1038 -2.3 5.2 Sunny intervals all day
26 1.2 11.6 6.4 72 87 80 -1.2 6.6 2.7 16 1.9 47 0.0 1035 1038 1037 -1.4 6.8 Sunny intervals all day
27 -0.3 11.6 5.7 68 87 78 -3.2 8.6 2.7 10 0.7 18 0.0 1034 1036 1035 -3.9 8.9 Sunny all day
28 0.1 8.3 4.2 80 87 84 -2.4 5.4 1.5 9 0.5 13 0.0 1031 1035 1033 -2.5 0.0 Dull all day
29 6.4 11.2 8.8 77 86 82 3.7 7.0 5.4 21 2.2 54 0.0 1023 1031 1027 3.2 2.9 Sunny am, cloudy pm
30 0.4 8.7 4.6 58 87 73 -2.1 5.5 1.7 22 4.9 117 0.4 1024 1031 1028 -2.1 8.0 Sunny all day
31 5.2 9.8 7.5 73 86 80 0.0 6.9 3.5 36 8.7 193 3.2 1002 1027 1014 -1.3 1.4 Rain am, sunny intervals pm
4.5 10.3 7.4 76 87 81 1.1 6.9 4.0 26 5.4 3926 78.4 1007 1017 1012 1.1 67.5  

Figure 1. Temperature and Rainfall for January 2008.
Figure 2. Sunshine, air pressure and mean wind speed for January 2008.
Figure 3. Wind direction for January 2008.
Figure 4. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for Lyme Bay for January 2008.