November 2024 Commentary

After a mild and dry first half of the month, the November weather took a crazy turn. Temperatures dipped and a covering of snow lay for two days followed by a weekend with Storm Bert bringing warm air, a lot of rain (nearly 3 inches) and extremely high winds. The Monday and Tuesday then produced sunny and calm conditions with temperatures returning to normal for November.

For the remainder of the month high pressure prevailed, though on the last day, milder air produced another very wet day.

These changeable conditions resulted in fairly average monthly figures for both temperature and precipitation. The November average of 9.2C was spot-on the average for the last ten years while the total precipitation (rain and snow) was 149.8mm (nearly 6 inches) which is only slightly below the average for the month of November over the last decade.

The amount of snow lying around Dorset apparently varied considerably but there was about 70mm lying in Cerne Abbas before Bert brought the milder air. Road conditions became quite tricky for a short time while the lake behind the dam tailed a long way upstream after the very wet weekend and the river was flowing close to bank full for a time.

Philip Spray