General and Barometric Pressure

  April continued the theme of poor months to start the year - whilst mild, it gave us a soaking in the first half of the month then turned much cooler during the second half; it was also quite dull and cheerless.

  And like the months before it, with high pressure broadly absent, MSLP would finish below average, by 5.1 MB. Pressure was at its highest during the 19-24th and which coincided with the driest part of the month.

  With a maximum temperature of just 7.0°c on the 1st, the month opened with a wet and cool day and whilst it would quickly warm up, it remained unsettled and wet.

  Through to the 13th overnight minima would on occasion threaten to attain double-digits, whilst day-time maxima were much nearer to the seasonal norm' (12.3°c) and on a good number of occasions, below.

  The period of 4-8th was very wet - totals recorded being: 4th (18.2 mm ) -- 5th (14.1 mm) -- 6th (17.3 mm) -- 7th (0.6 mm) -- and then followed by the month's wettest day, 8th (29.3 mm) and which is now the greatest 24Hr fall for any April day in my records.

  Ultimately rain would fall on every day up to and including the 16th in which time 124.1 mm was recorded. With a shift in wind direction to the W-NW, and low pressure to the NW tracking SE, each of the 15-17th saw some hail showers, but also a little sunshine.

  It would now become much drier. After a wet afternoon on the 18th, it was effectively dry until the late evening of the 28th, with rain overnight into the 29th and then again during the afternoon.

  Sunshine had been quite rare during the month, but after an overnight frost, the 20th was the best day of the month with sun virtually all day (see 'Precipitation' below). And then the period 25-28th did get to see a little sunshine, more so in the mornings and which coincided with a run of three overnight frosts.

  Whilst day-time maxima had given nothing to shout about during the first half of the month, during the second half only the 20th and 27th would scrape above the seasonal norm, but the month would finish with a month's high of 18.4°c as we came under the influence of a S-SE'ly airflow.

  Temperature

  With a mean minimum of 4.02°c and a mean maximum of 11.78°c April 2024 saw the temperature 0.18°c above the fifteen year average for this site. This saw it being the warmest April since 2020 and since the record began, six have been warmer and nine colder.

  The highest maximum during the month was 18.4°c (65.1°f - 30th) and the lowest minimum, -3.1°c (26.4°f - 26th). However, instead of the month following a natural pattern of getting warmer as it progressed, it did the reverse. The first half of the month had a mean temperature of 8.9°c, but this would drop to 6.9°c for the second half, when we finally got to see a few air frosts. However, with cloudy skies being the norm', night-time minima would finish above average (by 0.95°c), but with the mean maximum running below average by 0.58°c.

  Precipitation

  At Maulds Meaburn rainfall totalled 145.6 mm (5.73 In), this being 282.7% of the average for 2007-23, making it the wettest April yet recorded at this site and locally (Appleby) it has been the fifth wettest in a 168 year record.

  That particularly wet start to the month saw this April become the wettest in my records by the 9th! Then on the 11th it became the first April in my records to breech the 100mm mark. And just like March which recorded its highest total of ''wet days' (days with at least 1.0mm of rain) in my records, so did April with 18.

  20th April - prior to this year this was the driest day of the year in my records; the most that has ever fallen on this day being just 0.5 mm. And after 2024 and 17yrs of data, it still is. A decent sunny day saw no rain recorded at all this year on the 20th.

  Locally rainfall at Maulds Meaburn North was 151.1 mm and at Castlehowe Scar 193.2 mm.

  Figures from the Environment Agency's rainfall sites were, (figure in brackets being the monthly average for 1991-2020)   'Data kindly provided by the Hydrometry and Telemetry team of the Environment Agency (Penrith)':

  At Appleby in Westmorland rainfall of 112.4 mm (LTA of 47.4 mm) represents 237.1% of its average (1857-2023) and made it the wettest since 1993 - since the record commenced, four have been drier and 163 have been wetter.

  OTHER:-

  During the month the following 'days of' were recorded: hail fell on four days -- the wind speed averaged 8.43 mph, with a maximum gust of 56 mph (7th).

  We had six Air Frosts in the month (year 23)          --          Grass Frosts totalled nine (year 56).

  The 1 foot soil temp ranged from a low of 8.0°c on the 1st and 2nd        to      a high of 9.8°c on the 9th and 13th     --      with a monthly mean of 9.1°c

  The 1 meter soil temp ranged from a low of 8.0°c on the 1st to 3rd      to      a high of 9.0°c on the 16th and 26-30th     --     with a monthly mean of 8.7°c

   This makes the Jan' to April period of 2024 0.83°c warmer than the average for 2009-23 and with 149.1% of average rainfall for 2008-23