Autumn as a whole has been exceptionally mild and November just typified this with temperatures well above the long term average and for much of the month it was also fairly 'flat', which after recent November's was possibly overdue. Rainfall had been fairly slight, but then the final week of the month reverted to a more traditional westerly pattern and hence it became wet and windy as a series of mobile Atlantic depressions took control.

   However, a significant part of the month, 8th - 23rd, saw the days merge into one another as we sat in between high pressure over Europe that became static and blocked the passage of any Atlantic weather systems. This pattern drew up a mild southerly airflow and which was the principal cause of those unseasonally high temperatures.

   The month had started with Atlantic low pressure systems prevailing for the first four days, but as with other days in the month, any rain tended to fall at night. This saw the 1st-2nd be fairly pleasant days with plenty of sun and the 10.5mm of rain on the 2nd actually fell overnight 2-3rd. A large depression (963 Mb) was dominating the Atlantic and that rain came on a waving front as it moved NE over the UK.

   The 3rd saw heavy rain at tea-time as we sat in an unstable Southerly flow, but the theme for the month was set, it was mild, with the 3rd peaking at 16.0°c (60.8°F), the month's warmest day. But a weak ridge of high pressure for the 5-7th saw a brief run of cold frosty nights, before the mild theme was to return for the rest of the month.

   The 5th was a reasonable day, but both the 6th and 7th were glorious sunny days, with fog from overnight quick to clear. The 6th had seen an air frost of -1.3°c but the frost on the morning of the 7th was quite keen at -3.8°c (25.2°F) and a ground frost of -6.5°F, this being the month's coldest night.

   That high pressure then moved to Scandanavia and it was this that became the 'block'. The 8th - 23rd saw us in that fairly static pattern, there were a few subtle variations on the theme, but the weather generally became quite flat.

   It was generally cloudy with some occasional rain, but any weather fronts tended to be weakening affairs as they came up against the high pressure. The 11th did see some heavy rain (12.2 mm) in the evening as a cold front moved through, but rainfall amounts were quite small and at this stage November was looking like being quite dry.

   There wasn't too much sunshine during this period though, just some occasional brightness with the 19th seeing the best of what sun there was on offer. One of the subtle variations on the theme was a run of easterly winds through the 13-16th and these days did see the temperature pegged back, although day-time maximums in the range of 8-9°c is what you would expect at this time of year!

   The 17-18th saw a return to the Southerly airflow and milder days, but it was still a case of flat weather and the term 'stuck between weather systems with blocking high pressure over Europe' started to trip off the tongue.

   The 21st saw a max' temp' of 13.1c as that mildness continued, but from the 24th we entered a new phase as a conveyor belt of Atlantic depressions brought the kind of weather more synonymous with November; wind and rain.

   The final week of the month was quite poor, rain visited every day and the wind became a notable feature with gusts in excess of 50 mph recorded on four of the days. But it could have been worse, the 24th saw the development of a very deep and significant depression in the Atlantic that avoided the UK but an associated cold front swept South east and gave us winds to 53 mph and 11.2mm of rain. As these weather fronts moved through, depositing their rain, it would then clear to fresher conditions behind, but in this mobile westerly pattern another Atlantic depression would quickly replace those that had passed.

   The evening of the 26th/27th became quite stormy with numerous gusts over 50 mph peaking at 57 Mph and that saw 10.1 mm of rain as first one weather front moved through, to be replaced by a cold front that hit in the early hours and was quite violent. Behind this cold front the temperature dropped like a stone, 12.5°c at 4 a.m. and down to 6.5°c by early morning.

   The month finished poorly, the 29th especially, as first a frontal system within a warm sector of low pressure near to Iceland brought rain and this was quickly replaced by yet another cold front that saw rain replaced by heavy rain (13.0 mm)! It also broke the trend of the rain falling overnight!

   During this period temperatures were on the face of it more than respectable, but the presence of that strong wind created a distinct chill and it did feel quite fresh.

   The 30th was another dull day that became both the coldest and wettest day of the month; a Max' of 8.0°c (46.4°F) isn't exactly cold though at this time of year. The rain (15.8 mm - which is quite 'dry' for November's wettest day) arrived in the late evening. It resulted in making it the fourth successive month to record 100mm+ of rainfall. By the month's end the ground was fairly saturated with areas of standing water.

   So November ended with no confirmed reports of snow laying on Cross Fell, not unheard of but quite rare. The earliest such date that I am aware of is the 19th September in 1919. If you know any different or have any historical records on this subject, please get in touch.

   Rainfall totalled 108.9 mm for the month, with rain recorded on 17 days of which 16 were 'Wet days' (1.0mm +).

   The Mean Temperature for the month was 8.12°c+         --      The Mean Max' was   11.12°c   --    The Mean Min'   5.08°c.

   We had 3 Air Frosts in the month (year 34)      --      Grass frosts totalled 6 (year 59).

   The 30 cm soil temp ranged from 8.1°c on the 30th      to      11.2°c on the 1st      --      with a monthly mean of 9.4°c

  COMPARISONS:-

   * November 2011 rainfall was 73.3% of the November average for 2007 - 2010

   * November 2011 was 4.29°c warmer than November 2010 +

  * The 3 month mean for September/October/November 2011 is                 TEMP'   10.69°c         --          RAIN    347.7 mm


  *                     September/October/November 2010 was                 TEMP'    8.37°c         --          RAIN    305.4 mm

  *                     September/October/November 2009 was                 TEMP'    9.67°c         --          RAIN    411.2 mm

  *                     September/October/November 2008 was                 TEMP'                   --          RAIN    428.3 mm

  *                     September/October/November 2007 was                 TEMP'                   --          RAIN    198.7 mm


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                                        * 2011    To date                   TEMP'    9.60°c         --          RAIN  1125.3 mm

                                        * 2010  Jan - Nov                   TEMP'    8.29°c         --          RAIN    678.6 mm

                                        * 2009  Jan - Nov                   TEMP'    9.50°c         --          RAIN   1171.5 mm

                                        * 2008  Jan - Nov                   TEMP'                   --          RAIN  1290.0 mm