The trend for above average temperatures continued into September 2016 which was the hottest so far recorded here. The month was also drier than usual with lighter winds.
The temperature at 16:16 on the 13th reached 28.4°C, beating the previous September best of 27.8°C set on September 30th 2011. This was also the second highest temperature of 2016, beaten only by the 30.1°C recorded on July 19th. The average temperature for the month was 15.3°C, 1.8°C above the mean. The average daily high was 19.5°C, 1.7°C above the mean. At the other end of the scale, the minimum was 7.3°C, the highest minimum so far recorded in September. The average daily low was 11.6°C, 1.8°C above the mean. A run of five consecutive days of above 20°C temperatures between the 5th and the 9th was a first for September. The warmest day was the 13th with an average temperature of 21.08°C, with the coldest day being the 30th with an average of 10.90°C.
The highest heat index was 29.7°C at 15:24 on the 13th, also a September best. The highest dew point was 20.5°C at 16:00 on the 14th, with the average being 12.8°C, again September records. The lowest dew point was 5.4°C at 01:26 on the 23rd, with the average daily low being 9.9°C, also September highs. There were 119.39 hours of sunshine in the month, with the sunniest day being the 18th with 7.37 hours.
Rainfall was recorded on 11 days and amounted to 20.2 millimetres. This was 8.6 millimetres below the average, and the total rain days equalled the record low set in 2014. The wettest day was the 10th when 5.2 millimetres were recorded. The highest rain rate was 49.6 millimetres per hour recorded at 08:20 on the 16th. There has been 370.8 millimetres of rain so far in 2016.
Winds were generally lighter than average with the highest gust being 27 mph at 16:58 on the 25th, 1.8 mph below average. The highest wind speed was 14 mph at 15:54 on the 29th, 3.3 mph below average. The average gust speed for the month was 5 mph, with the average wind speed being 3 mph. The total wind run was 2374.31 miles and the average wind direction was 199°
The high barometric pressure was 1023.3 millibars, recorded at 11:27 on the 23rd, and the low barometric pressure was 1004.4 millibars at 04:47 on the 25th. The average for the month was 1014.9 millibars. The maximum humidity was 98% at 10:05 on the 15th, with the low being 53% at 16:02 on the 13th. The average humidity for the month was 85%.
The maximum solar radiation was 1004 w/m² at 14:00 on the 6th, with the monthly average being 115 w/m². The highest U. V. index was 4.8 at 13:58 on the 6th.
