CET Minimum Temperature Trends In April

By Paul Homewood

  

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/actualmonthly

 

I’ve already looked at April maximum temperature trends, and we see a similar uptick in minimums since the 1980s. So let’s do the same analysis. 

 

There have been 310 days with minimums over 8C since 1878, which roughly equates to the tenth percentile. Analysis of these show that such days have become slightly more common in the last two decades, although at the top end figure of seven days, set in 1928 and 1949, has not been exceeded since.

Put simply, there is no evidence that there is anything unprecedented about recent April weather.

 

 

 

 

 

When we look at the coldest days, below 0.5C of which there have been 454, we find that these are now much less common.

 

 

 

The temperature distribution of the warmest and coldest days tells a similar story. Apart from two very warm days in 2007, there is no evidence that daily temperatures are increasing at the top end of the scale.

In contrast, the very cold days we used to see now appear to be a thing of the past.

 

 

This pattern closely resembles the ones we have identified with maximum temperatures in both March and April. We do not see a uniform rise in daily temperatures throughout the temperature range. Instead we seem to have a reduction in both the number and severity of extremely cold days, with no corresponding increase at the top of the band.

In other words, we appear to have a squeezing together of temperature bands, and, consequently, less extreme temperatures.

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