Diary of Highlights

1st to 2nd
The month started on a cold and wintry note with strong to gale north to north-westerly winds bringing sleet and snow showers. The snow showers died out early on the 2nd with rain then spreading from the south-west, preceded by snow on high ground.

3rd to 5th
Wet and windy at first on the 3rd, but the rain cleared from the west through the afternoon. Showers developed during the morning of the 4th, initially falling as sleet or snow across the hills, but with more general rain in the south later. On the 5th, rain spread to all parts during the early hours, heavy at first then lighter and more patchy.

6th to 8th
A band of showers crossed during the morning of the 6th, dying out by early afternoon. A band of light or moderate rain then moved north-east across the Province during the evening. The 7th was rather cloudy with patchy rain. Very mild, with temperatures up to 15.2 °C at Belfast Newforge (County Antrim) and Armagh (County Armagh) Cloudy with patchy rain on the morning and evening of the 8th, but generally dry and bright during the afternoon.

9th to 18th
Mainly dry and bright but quite breezy at times on the 9th, but with rain into the north-west later in the evening. The 10th to the 19th was dominated by high pressure keeping all areas dry. Sunny spells by day but often frost and fog patches at night. Highest daytime temperatures were on 13th, with Ballypatrick Forest (County Antrim) recording 14.9 °C. By the 19th the frost and fog took longer to lift with Katesbridge (County Down) recording a temperature of -8.8 °C on the 19th.

20th to 25th
Frosty and misty again overnight, but rain spread south-eastwards through the morning of the 20th, with drier, brighter weather during the afternoon. More rain reached the north-west during the evening. The 21st to the 23rd was mostly cloudy and milder with some patchy light rain. The 24th saw a mixture of sunny intervals and showers. Cloudy on the 25th with outbreaks of rain and fresh to strong southerly winds.

26th to 29th
The 26th was a bright day with sunny intervals, frequent showers and a strong to gale force westerly wind. Gales were severe in the north with Ballykelly recording a gust of 61 m.p.h. Winds were much lighter on the 27th and 28th, otherwise mainly dry with some bright spells. The 29th was mostly cloudy and windy with periods of sometimes heavy rain. There were west or south-westerly gales with severe gales in the north, with Ballykelly recording a gust of 69 m.p.h.