Oxford reports wettest March on record
Oxford University researchers have recorded the wettest March since rainfall records began at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station in January 1827. Attributing March's wet weather to a 'sudden stratospheric warming occurance', observers reported that 133.9mm of rain fell during the month and that 27 of 31 days received rainfall.
Commenting on the report Sophie Harbord, a doctoral researcher at the School of Geography and the Environment and Observer at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station, said, "The most rainfall we had on any day was 15.3mm which isn't abnormally high, but there were 6 days where we received over 10mm, which is quite unusual. Rainfall (over 0.2mm) was also recorded on 27 of the 31 days, which is the highest number of rainfall days in March since 1881, joined with March 1917."
Commenting on the reason behind the high rainfall she added: "In March a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) occurred, the same atmospheric event that caused the 'Beast from the East' in 2018. Each SSW can result in different weather patterns, and in 2023 the SSW shifted the jet stream further south, which brought multiple strong Atlantic low pressure systems - and so unusually high rainfall - across the UK. March's wet weather was perhaps also particularly noticeable because we had a drier than usual February, with only 7.6mm recorded at RMS Oxford and only 5 days of rainfall across the month!"
The University of Oxford's Radcliffe Meteorological Station is maintained by the School of Geography and the Environment. It records a number of meteorological variables including min, max, and mean air temperature, humidity, rainfall, soil temperatures, sunshine hours, wind speed, fog, snow, and visibility. The station is based at Oxford's Green Templeton College and measurements are taken in person at 9 am GMT every day of the year. The observational records are invaluable for understanding how the UK climate has changed over time and the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Its data is used by the Met Office and is also available for everyone to view at https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/
To find out more about the Radcliffe Meteorological Station visit: https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/climate/rms/
Oxford reports wettest March on record
Oxford University researchers have recorded the wettest March since rainfall records began at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station in January 1827. Attributing March's wet weather to a 'sudden stratospheric warming occurance', observers reported that 133.9mm of rain fell during the month and that 27 of 31 days received rainfall.
