5.4 mm today

65.4 mm This month.

Given that this has been such a wet month here in Edinburgh with over 100 mm of rain being recorded during this month at both Edinburgh Gogarbank and the botanic gardens in Edinburgh, I have been looking through the data archives to see whether or not, there has been any other occasions where it has been as wet as this or wetter at either or both of those stations during this same month within past years.

So far, I have only really been able to study the data for this century but with that, the highest totals which I could come up with was 116.4 mm at Edinburgh Gogarbank and 104.6 at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh, both within that same month of February 2011. There has been no other occasion during this century where it has been as wet as this during February and yet, we have already beaten both of those totals during this month at both of those stations.

Edinburgh Gogarbank is a relatively new station which was only set up at the beginning of this century which means that this is certainly going to go down as the wettest February on record at that particular station regardless of what happens during the rest of this month. Of course, I haven't looked at other stations within Edinburgh, or looked back into the 20th century or earlier.

I have to say though that even by going by what I have looked at so far, there is a good chance that this month could well turn out to be the wettest February on record here in Edinburgh, especially with the outlook continuing to look as unsettled as it is on the latest model output.

Rain Last 24hr 7.2mm.

Month 205.0mm.

Year 328.4mm.

65.7 mm This Month.

148mm month to date.

66.4mm this month so far.

3mm from the rain on Thursday has brought our February total to 64mm.  That means this is the wettest February over the last 38 years here, beating the 63mm in 2017. 

February is normally our driest month of the year, with an average of only 35mm.

66.0mm This Month.

The Times says that the figure to watch is 159mm for February, the record established in 1833 as an average across England and Wales. As of Wednesday the rainfall was up to 85% of this. I assume that the data set of recording stations is the same or at least comparable.

0.9   mm  Yesterday

1.2   mm  Today

67.8 mm  This Month

115.8 mm  This yrar. 

The England and Wales rainfall series is currently trending above record levels for February. Given there is plenty more rain to come this month, there is a reasonable chance we could end up with the wettest February on record, beating 1833. Currently 116mm up to the 21st.

Already we have reached 15th in the list of wettest February's in the EWP series. So we will certainly end up inside the top 10 at the very least.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadukp/charts/hadukp_daily_plots.html 

Last Saturday (15 Feb) was the wettest single day for February on record in the EWP series with 28mm beating the 25mm recorded in 1967. So we are having an exceptionally wet February.

My rainfall total is very similar to the EWP figure. 114.6mm for the month to date.

Wettest Februaries for England and Wales on record (mm)

158.6 1833
152.7 1923
143.6 1950
143.2 1990
143.2 1977
142.1 1937
136.7 2014
132.0 1916
131.7 1900
130.0 1848
129.6 1966
129.1 1768
124.2 1925
~124 2020 (up to 22nd)

Rain day 4.4mm.

Last 24hr 6.8mm.

Month 215.0mm.

Year 338.4mm.

The grim stats for NW England and north Wales

 (mm) 

~167 2020 (up to 22nd Feb)

158.7 1990

155.4 2002

150.6 1937

150.3 1894

The extra day for this month is academic as we broke the record so easily. In about 3 weeks. 

How close are we going to get to 200mm? 

In the end, a total of 2.4 mm of rain fell at Edinburgh Gogarbank during the 24 hour period which ended at 9am this morning, along with 1.6 mm at the botanic gardens and although that might not seem like much, sleet and wet snow is continuing to fall quite heavily here as I write.

For Edinburgh Gogarbank, this brings the total for this month to 151.0 mm, the total for this winter to 296.2 mm and the total for this year to 226.6 mm as at 9am this morning.

For the botanic gardens in Edinburgh, this brings the total for this month to 122.4 mm, the total for this winter to 239.0 mm and the total for this year to 190.0 mm as at 9am this morning.