The Statistics for Last Month
A summary of the weather in Coventry during last month (January 2012):
| Monthly average temperature | 5.5°C | (+1.1°C) |
| Average maximum | 8.6°C | (+1.5°C) |
| Average minimum | 2.3°C | (+0.6°C) |
| Warmest day | 11.6°C | 10th |
| Lowest maximum | 1.2°C | 31st |
| Highest minimum | 7.9°C | 1st |
| Coldest night | -4.3°C | 14th |
| Lowest grass minimum | -8.7°C | 30th |
| Air Frosts | 7 | |
| Ground Frosts | 19 | |
| Monthly rainfall total | 39.2mm | 66% |
| Wettest day | 6.2mm | 4th |
| Days with snowfall | 1 | |
| Days with snow-lying at 0900hr | 0 | |
| Hail days | 0 | |
| Thunder days | 0 | |
| Wet days (>1mm) | 11 | |
| Monthly sunshine total | 81.1 hours | (129%) |
| Sunniest day | 7.0hr | 14th |
| Days without Sun | 6 | |
| Days with fog | 0 | |
| Gale Days | 0 | |
| Average wind speed | 7.2 mph | |
| Maximum wind gust | 45mph | 3rd |
| Average RH% | 90% | |
| Average sea level pressure | 1019.3mb | (+4.6mb) |
| Highest SLP | 1034mb | 13th |
| Lowset SLP | 990mb | 3rd |
An historical perspective on the climate statistics for Coventry during January 2012.
Temperature
Although promising to become one of the warmest January months on record in the early weeks of the New Year, it has cooled more recently, with an eventual mean monthly temperature of 5.5ºC, the mildest January in Coventry only since 2008 (6.5ºC).
Looking back through the archives, we find that only five January months have been milder than January 2012 in Coventry in the past 22 years (1993, 1998, 2005, 2007 and 2008). What is more, only 17 January months have been warmer than January 2012 since temperature records were first kept in Coventry in 1892.
With only seven air frosts during January 2012, this has been our most frost-free January in Coventry since January 2008 (4).
This has been the 5th month in succession with above average temperatures in Coventry, and the ninth month with a positive anomaly in the past 12 months.
Rainfall
Although this January has been drier (39.2mm) than January 2011 (41.8mm) in Coventry since 2006 (71.omm), it was wetter than January 2010 (30.9mm) – three consecutive drier January months than normal.
Only 11 January months have been drier than this year in Coventry in the past 44 years (1970, 1973, 1976, 1987, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2010.)
It has become the 20th out of the past 22 months in Coventry t0 register a rainfall total below the 1981-2010 30 year average for the city. In this period, there has been a 26% rainfall deficit in the city.
There was just one day during the month with snowfall, just an odd snow flurry on the 31st; this is the lowest number of January snow days in Coventry since 2002 (0).
Sunshine
The monthly sunshine total (81.1hr) was 29% higher than Coventry’s 30-year average (1981-2010).
Only six January months have recorded more sunshine than January 2012 since sunshine records were first kept in Coventry in 1894 (1952, 1984, 2000, 2001, 2007 and 2010).