Indian Summer on its way?

Thursday 03 September 2015

The kids have just gone back to school, the traffic is a nightmare again, but here’s some good news – we might be in for an Indian Summer.

Stats released yesterday showed that Jersey has been shortchanged by the weather over the last few months. Although temperatures across June, July and August have been marginally higher than average, 2015 has seen the 6th wettest summer since records began in 1894.

The stats are contained in a report by the Jersey Met Office that shows that the period from June to August saw:

- An average temperature of 17.7 degrees (higher than the 30-year average of 17.5 degrees).

- Total rainfall of 269.5 mm (almost twice the 30-year average of 143.8 mm).

- 760.1 hours of sunshine (slightly below the 30-year average of 764.5 hours).

The Jersey Met Office outlook over the next week is for mainly settled, dry weather, but they say that's unlikely to continue right through the whole of September.

Meanwhile, a forecaster in Guernsey says that things could be about to change for the better.

Rob Plummer, an amateur weather expert, thinks that the signs are good for an Indian Summer.

Mr Plummer – who publishes online weather forecasts – says that: “September certainly looks as though it will probably be much drier and sunnier than August was,

“The current expectation for September is that winds will be mostly from the east or from the north.

“The easterlies will bring the hotter days, but this air tends to be warm because it is heated from the bottom up whilst over the continent.

“The northerlies will bring much cooler air, so people might be less likely to strip off in general but may still be tempted when they get into the shelter of the south-coast cliffs or a decent walled garden.

“These are the days when the visibility tends to be excellent and the UV index can climb higher than 5, even in September. What's more, the little fluffy cumulus clouds that are typical of such conditions have a reflective quality, rather like snow-capped mountains, that can actually add to the intensity.”

Official stats from the Met Office show that: