Jan. a month of two halves in Wembury

[Len W]

Wet and mild in first half, dry and cold in second.

So overall rather average.

Mean max 9.3°C (+0.3 degC)

Mean min 4.1°C  (0 degC)

Mean         6.7°C  (+0.2 degC)

Rain  123.1 mm  (108%)

Len

Wembury, SW Devon coast

83 m asl

[Graham Easterling]

Likewise in Penzance. The 1st 18 days of January saw 142.7mm of rain or 97% of the month's total.

Mean max 10.6°C (+0.7 degC)

Mean min  5.3°C  (+0.2 degC)

Mean         8.0°C  (+0.5 degC)

Rain  147.3 mm  (105%)

We still have a hosepipe ban in Penzance, despite the reservoir which supplies the far west overflowing since the end of December. In fact, Stithians, the 4th largest reservoir in the SW which supplies Truro/Falmouth/Camborne/Redruth/Helston etc is, also full (well 93% or so)

The problem is that Colliford, which supplies north & south-east Cornwall (& indeed can supply Plymouth, which has no such ban) is still worringly low.  But why the ban persists in the bulk of Cornwall where water is plentiful to say the least, I don't know, well perhaps I do.

This bit is OT, but really irritating if you're under a hosepipe ban whilst your local reservoir is overflowing to the point of providing extreme white water rafting conditions. 

There was so much water pouring over Drift month ago that there was a flood alert for Newlyn. SW Water say they can pump water between reservoirs, so either they are incompetent in not pumping water out of Stithians & Drift, preferring to let it pour into the sea in large quantities, or they are not telling the whole truth, which is that their ability to pump water around Cornwall is extremely limited. As a result they keep a hosepipe warning in place to help cover this up (allegedly!)

Graham

 

[jack.h...@gmail.com]

Extraordinary - a hosepipe ban.  You can only blame Brexit.

Jack

[Len W]

But Graham, you were all given £50 by SWW for filling Colliford up to 50%.

LOL

Len

Wembury, supplied by Burrator and Roadford reservoirs,

not forgetting St Austell brewery.

[Graham Easterling]

Every drought has a silver lining! You can't help thinking that they'd be better off spending the £50 per Cornish household on fixing leaks or fixing some of the storm overflows which seem to operate every time there is a sharp shower, or improving the links between reservoirs. 

Beautiful day yesterday, until around 14:00 when it clouded over. Min 0.7C, max 10.7C

St Ives 11:30, hardly a breath of wind

Graham

Penzance