Diurnal temperature variation watch

[March Blizzard]

From one extreme to another; Braemar had a range of just 0.6C yesterday. A low of 1.1C and a high of 1.7C!

[Terminal Moraine]

A range of 0.2c here today; from 1.9 to 2.1c. The maximum was at 0900 and there was a slow fall in temperature throughout the day.

[March Blizzard]

A range of 0.2c here today; from 1.9 to 2.1c. The maximum was at 0900 and there was a slow fall in temperature throughout the day.

Wow! Looked like many places had very static temperatures under the cloud yesterday.

[hillbilly]

From memory the biggest diurnal recorded in the UK is 29C (-7C to 22C). I think this occurred in May in the south-east Highlands.

i think 29 ish has been achieved a couple of times ,i think altnaharra 1995-27.2 to 1.something,will have to check and i did read norfolk made aprox -1 to 28 sometime.....am sure someone will put me right

[March Blizzard]

A few decent ranges so far today:

 

Benson from -3.9C to 8.5C   (+12.4C)

Pershore from -3.1C to 9.6C  (+12.7C)

 

That's based only on hourly observations, so the actual ranges are likely to be slightly higher. If the models come close to verifying for a week from now we could easily be looking at 15C+ ranges.

[Summer of 95]

I've known air frosts here followed by temps in the mid-teens, but always between March and May. April 2007 had a few, as did mid May 2005. But the biggest diurnal ranges I've seen was during the air traffic shutdown of April 2010. One day had a min of -4 and a max of 14.5, and there were -1s and 2s followed by 12-16 maxima. That spell had the clearest skies I've ever seen....

 

For some reason autumn never seems to produce these ranges, at least not these days. Octobers 1992 and 1993 had quite a few frosts followed by sunny mild days.

[March Blizzard]

I've known air frosts here followed by temps in the mid-teens, but always between March and May. April 2007 had a few, as did mid May 2005. But the biggest diurnal ranges I've seen was during the air traffic shutdown of April 2010. One day had a min of -4 and a max of 14.5, and there were -1s and 2s followed by 12-16 maxima. That spell had the clearest skies I've ever seen.... For some reason autumn never seems to produce these ranges, at least not these days. Octobers 1992 and 1993 had quite a few frosts followed by sunny mild days.

It's interesting that you mention aircraft, I'm sure I've heard that straight after 9/11 the US experienced its largest diurnal ranges in years (on record?) after all flights were grounded for a few days. Aircraft contrails clearly modify the temperature variation by creating their own artificial layer of cloud.I think a few of the reasons Autumn has narrower ranges than Spring is because, firstly, it is often a cloudier time of year and, secondly, is generally more humid, holding minima up somewhat.I love this time of year because of the possibility of big diurnal ranges - sub-zero by night and in the teens by day.

[damianslaw]

I think one of the largest diurnal ranges occurred on 30 December 1995 at Altnaharra after a record UK low of -27.2 degrees temperatures shot up to 1 degree possibly more by lunchtime.

 

Summer can deliver impressive diurnal ranges, indeed the hot summer of 1976 even produced localised frost in some spots with maxima into the high 20's.. really impressive, and not sure what conditions are needed for such low temperatures as most heatwaves are associated with very high uppers and oppressive temperatures at night.

 

May oftens delivers the greatest diurnal ranges under anticyclonic conditions especially with a high directly overhead or slightly to the NW, uppers can still be cold, yet with the power of a strong sun maxima can easily get into the 20's after lows below freezing.

 

October and November tend to offer the least diurnal ranges.

[March Blizzard]

Could have some impressive ranges over the next week or so. Don't be afraid to post your own!

I suspect there are a few 15C+ ranges already today.

Edited March 9, 2014 by March Blizzard

[Stargazer]

2.2 to 19.1 here today, a range of 16.9C (the nearest official station at Reading University recorded 2.1 to 18.8, a range of 16.7C).  I guess there will be greater variations at some of the notable frost hollows in the south.

[BornFromTheVoid]

-1.9C for the minimum today. Should be interesting to see how large the diurnal range gets

[March Blizzard]

Aboyne: -3.7C to 15.2C so far, impressive. Aberdeenshire seems to be the place to get large ranges at this time of year, similar to March 2012.

[BornFromTheVoid]

Maxed out at 14.6C, so a range of 16.5C, not too bad.

 

A frosty night forecast again tonight, and a slightly warmer day tomorrow, so a chance of beating today's range..

[Interitus]

The Altnaharra value from 30/12/1995 is 29.3°C as described in the oft linked RMS journal Weather (can be downloaded here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1477-8696.1997.tb06294.x/abstract)

 

However, from reading the description it appears that it depends upon a 'meteorological day' with a maximum overnight into the 31st being 'thrown back' to the 30th - it clear whether the minimum of -27.2 and max of 2.1 actually occur within any 24 consecutive hour period.

The minimum was thought to be just after midnight in the early hours of the 30th - not known precisely because some AWS values were missing. The AWS recorded -27 but on later inspection a manual thermometer showed -27.2.

The temperature reached 0°C at 8pm, and quote "by 0900GMT the following morning the temperature had reached 2.1°C"

[BornFromTheVoid]

Managed a range of 23.2C last July, min of 6.1C and max of 29.3C. Doubt I'll be beating that anytime soon!

[March Blizzard]

Aboyne confirmed as the coldest and warmest station in Grampian yesterday:

Min: -4.2C

Max: 15.4C

Diurnal range: 19.6C.

Quite impressive. Today has got off to an even better start with a low of -5.7C, so barring any cloud or fog interference a 20C + range looks quite likely today.

[March Blizzard]

A range of at least 21.5C yesterday at Aboyne: -6.5C to 15.0C.

The minima is confirmed but the max is hourly observation, so could be higher.

[Richard2901]

Nothing of note here. The best was 12.3C yesterday from a low of +0.3C to high of 12.6C.

 

Really should be able to do much better than this under a high pressure in spring. Even 11th November last year managed a range of 13.2C (from -0.3C to 12.9C) and my record stands at 19.5C on 4th April 2007 (from +0.4C to 19.9C).

[March Blizzard]

Nothing of note here. The best was 12.3C yesterday from a low of +0.3C to high of 12.6C. Really should be able to do much better than this under a high pressure in spring. Even 11th November last year managed a range of 13.2C (from -0.3C to 12.9C) and my record stands at 19.5C on 4th April 2007 (from +0.4C to 19.9C).

And 30 miles down the road from you Aboyne has had the largest ranges in the country recently!

[cheese]

Linton-on-Ouse, near York - from -2.7C to 17.1C today - a range of 19.8C.

 

Dishforth, North Yorkshire - from -3.1C to 16.3C - a range of 19.4C.

 

Edited March 14, 2014 by cheese

[johnholmes]

0.6 to 18.4 yesterday was my largest for quite a long time

[Terminal Moraine]

Large diurnal ranges are not a feature of the climate at this site but the range of 13.0c yesterday was the largest in March since 2003 and equal third largest on record for the month.

[The PIT]

Nothing major here being mostly 11c but yesterday we managed 13C

[Evening thunder]

 A min of -0.6c and max of 16.7c back home in East Devon yesterday, a range of 17.3c and the largest range so far this year.

 

Today however had a far lower range there as fog and low cloud capped the max temp. to 9.9c.

 

The largest ranges I've recorded so far are about 20.5c in months like March 2012 and July 2013, though surprisingly the biggest change was from the daily maxima to the subsequent night minima, when it dropped 21C, from 20.8c to -0.2c on the 28th-29th March 2012. 

Edited March 14, 2014 by Evening thunder

[Summer of 95]

Very disappointing in the end here- not one air frost and max temps after Sunday (which was a respectable 17C) were nothing special. From Tuesday on it was far too much fog, murk and low cloud that wouldn't clear.