DECEMBER 1995
 | A daily summary |
1995 Day 1974-94 1995 Day 1974-94
Mean Maximum Temperature 5.0 6.6 Highest Max temp 10.1 11 11.5
Mean Minimum Temperature 2.6 4.0 Lowest Min temp -4.5 28 -4.3
Mean Sea Temperature 8.7 8.0 Lowest grass minimum -8.9 28 -11.5
30 cm Earth temperature 6.0 5.8 Days with ground frost 15 8.8
100cm Earth temperature 7.4 6.8 Days with air frost 10 2.9
Total Rainfall (mm) 51.1 106.7 Days with snow/sleet 17 10.7
Wettest Day (mm) 13.3 7 14.4 Days with snow cover 09hr 13 3.0
Rain Days (> 0.1mm) 19 26.0 Days with hail 15 12.9
Wet Days (> 0.9mm) 10 21.0 Days with fog during 24hrs 7 2.2
Total sunshine, hrs 26.4 15.9 Days with fog at 09hrs 3 0.2
Sunniest day, hrs 5.5 30 3.3 Days with NIL sun 17 15.6
Mean wind speed, kts 16.4 20.0 Days with gale 5 9.7
Maximum gust, kts 82 24 71.3 Days with thunder 0 0.5
Mean Sea Level pressure 1021.2 1005.3 Days with aurora 0 2.7
Wind Direction (%)
North 25.8 11.4 S. West 3.2 16.1
N. East 12.9 2.7 West 9.7 18.0
East 12.9 8.1 N. West 6.5 9.2
S. East 16.1 12.4
South 9.7 19.9 CALM 3.2 2.2
View the Sunshine graph
View the Rain Graph
View the Temperature Graph
View the Anemogram for 24th December (note speed recorder on half range 1037-1430 GMT)
December 1995
Dry, cold and sunny - if any December can be described as sunny!
The month began mild, with a strong southerly airstream established over the British Isles, and mean temperatures around 2 Celsius above normal on Fair Isle. Pressure was low over the Atlantic with an anticyclone over eastern Europe extending a ridge of high pressure north-westwards into Scandinavia. During the 3rd a separate high centre developed over the Baltic with the result that strong south-east winds developed over much of Britain.
As the high drifted slightly east, a shallow low moved in from the Atlantic and across northern Scotland on the 7th - giving Fair Isle its wettest day of the month. Weak fronts continued to affect northern areas as a ridge of high pressure developed east across southern England during the next few days. From the 9th until the 12th it was very mild with the mean temperature some 3 to 4 Celsius above normal.
During the 10th an anticyclone developed over southern Britain, intensifying and drifting north over Scotland during the next few days - to be 1048 mb north-west of Scotland by the 12th. By the 13th it was centred 1049 mb just to the west of the Northern Isles. Temperatures had now reverted to the seasonal normal. The high then began to weaken a little as it drifted east over Fair Isle on the 15th, before moving away north-westwards and becoming absorbed into a strengthening ridge extending southwards from the Greenland anticyclone on the 17th.
Early on the 18th a cold front, moving south in a developing arctic airstream, crossed over Fair Isle and introduced much colder weather to the Northern Isles. Troughs associated with polar lows moving south down the Norwegian coast brought overnight snow showers to the north - giving Fair Isle a thin snow cover by early on the 19th. The snow cover was to last until the end of the month. It was very cold during the period 19th to 27th, with mean temperatures around 6 Celsius below the seasonal normal for Fair Isle.
The cold, showery conditions continued and, by the 21st, snow was lying to a depth of 10 cm. During the 22nd the snow showers died but, on the 23rd, further troughs moving south- east from the Iceland area, brought periods of snow or rain and snow and slightly milder temperatures into the Northern Isles with the snow depth increasing to 13 cm on Fair Isle.
Early on the 24th a small low - developing on a trough north-west of Orkney - absorbed a polar low moving south down the Norwegian Sea. This introduced very strong east-north- east winds over Shetland and, with temperatures around freezing and heavy snow falling, blizzard conditions were experienced in Shetland. A few hours later - as the new low moved away south across eastern Scotland - the blizzard conditions reached Fair Isle. Easterly winds quickly increased to storm force - gusting to 82 knots - and the visibility fell to 100 metres or less in heavy wet snow and blowing snow. During the afternoon conditions slowly improved.
By Christmas Day the arctic airstream had become re-established, with further snow showers and drifting snow in the gale force northerly winds. Though remaining cold, conditions improved during the 26th and 27th as the wind slowly eased.
On the 28th, as winds backed into the south-west, the temperature began to rise. A low, moving down from the Iceland area and across Scotland, brought a period of sleet and gale force winds to Fair Isle in the early hours of the 29th. With high pressure then developing over Scandinavia on the 30th the winds swung round into the south-east. Though the temperature rose to around 3 Celsius, the air remained very dry and, with an 'ice-bulb' effect the thaw was negligible. By the 31st, with the south-east winds increasing strong, and the airstream moister, a steady thaw of lying snow commenced.