August started off unsettled, with the first two named storms passing through, Antoni on 5th-6th, and Betty on 18th-19th; whilst both can clearly be seen as low pressure on the Barometer graph below, the main low affecting us in Epping was in the first few days of the month. The lowest pressure of that system was logged at 983.8 hPa, comfortably the lowest pressure recorded for August (although comparable pressure records only cover 15 years). Only January and March this year have recorded lower pressures.

The rain can be seen associated with these low pressures, mainly in the first part of the month, largely because being showery in nature (as often in summer) it often missed Epping. Overall, the month was drier than our long term average (39 years), with 42.87mm as opposed to the long term average of 56.6mm. Half of this total fell on 2nd during the passage of the aforementioned low pressure. Overall there were 12 days on which rain fell, just one below the average.

Temperature wise, it was an almost completely average month. Our overall mean temperature was 17.5 °C, just a tenth of a degree below the long term average (39 years of records). The maximum for the month was 28.4 °C, just two tenths below the long term average, and the minimum at 9.6 °C was slightly above the long term average of 8.3 °C. The average day max was 23.0 °C (long term average 22.0 °C), and the average day min was 13.1 °C (long term average 12.9 °C). So as near an average August as you are likely to get.

Whilst it was an occasionally breezy month, unsurprisingly given that two named storms passed us by, overall it was quieter than average. The highest gust for the month was 25mph on 12th, well below the long term average of 31.1 mph, and the average daily maximum gust was 15.8 mph compared with the long term average of 19.1 mph. Unsurprisingly, with a series of low pressure systems on the scene, the prevailing direction was the westerly quadrant.

Measure	Unit	Minimum	Average	Maximum	Average min	Average max	Total
Relative humidity	%	42	76	95
Temperature	°C	9.6	17.5	28.4	13.1	23.0
Wind source (most common/highest gust)	Sector		WSW	SW
Wind speed	mph		2.6	25		15.8
Rain daily accumulation	mm		1.4	20.4			42.8
Barometric pressure	hPa	983.8	1012.4	1023.8
Solar irradiance during daylight	W/m²		256	1162		889
Sunshine (sunny if irradiance > 120 W/m2)	Hours		9.6	12.0			297.5

September has started off with a hot spell. Will this break any Epping records? Check next month’s report to find out!