Mark Hunt weather corner; 113
A year in review: I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at 2023 vs. 2022 from a data perspective. This data came from a Davis Vantage Pro weather station mounted at 2m above turf height.
As the media headlines proclaimed, 2023 was the warmest year ever globally, significantly warmer than any previous year. 2024 has already started warmer than 2023. From a more local perspective, 2023 marked the warmest year on record for Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales, the 2nd warmest for England and the 3rd warmest for Scotland.
As I have discussed before, our jet stream 'complicates' our weather and provides us with the familiar peak and trough weather extremes that play havoc with yearly averages. Nevertheless, with this year being the second year of El Niño, the smart money is on 2024 being our warmest and hottest on record. Time will tell.
First up, I took some data from my default location in the U.K, The Oxfordshire G.C @ Thame, Oxfordshire. I use this location because I have consistent data dating back to 2005, thanks to Sean Wilson, the course manager.
So here is a summary of 2023 vs. 2022 – Location – Thame, Oxfordshire
I think it is a very interesting set of stats
Looking at the average temperature, we can see that 2023 came in -0.6% or 0.06°C cooler than the previous year. This fits well with The Met Office’s own data where the comparison came in 0.05°C cooler. So the global trend showed a significant increase year on year, but data from England didn’t. Only 4 months of 2023 were warmer than 2022 – January, June, September and December, the latter a quantum leap from 3.7°C average temperature in 2022 to 7.6°C in 2023!
From a rainfall perspective, 2023 came in +26% higher than 2022, with an additional 155.4mm or over 6” in old money. Only 3 months were drier than the previous year, February, June and November, the remainder were all wetter. February 2023 was the driest since the 1930’s!!!!
The last 3 months of the year were 31% wetter than the previous year, no wonder it was so challenging from a turf management perspective.
Reproduced courtesy of the BBC article -
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68110310.
Not surprisingly in a cooler, wetter year, evapotranspiration was 10% down year-on-year with 69.5mm less moisture evaporated. In 2022, the difference between rainfall and E.T. was 135.9mm, in other words, more moisture was evaporated than fell from the sky. 2023 was the reverse, with a surplus of +89mm.
Finally, we have monthly Growth Potential (G.P) which seeks to estimate the potential for growth of a cool season (C3) grass plant, based on average air temperature vs. an optimal temperature of 18°C. You might think that this would follow the same trend as average temperature, but it doesn’t because the formula will produce a lower G.P figure if the air temperature reaches a point where it is above optimum for plant growth. In other words, it expresses a measure of plant stress. So, if you look at July and August 2022, the monthly G.P total is lower than 2023 because it was hotter (see average temperature) and so the grass plant grew less.
Year-on-year, there was only a 1% increase in total G.P. Now, this comparatively low figure hides the real picture. June to September 2023 produced more growth than the same months in 2022, which highlights why it took more work to keep on top of growth (cutting) and maintain green speed for example. December 2023 had 91% more growth potential than December 2022, which when combined with 68% more rainfall indicates why it was so hard to keep on top of surfaces from a cutting perspective (If indeed you were able to get a machine out of the shed at all!). Personally, I think measurement of clipping yield is a more reliable indicator for your facility of actual growth.
There we have it, a snapshot of one year vs. another and hopefully proof why having stats is so useful from an understanding and communication perspective alike.
visit: www.weatherstations.co.uk
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