View from the Rear Window - August 2024 ~ Crafty Cabbage

August - named after Emperor Augustus in 8 BC (BCE), it was originally the sixth month (Sextilis) of the 10-month Roman Calendar before January and February were added.

Garden photo taken on 9th August. Lush greens and the roses in full flower. Gazebo still up following Mary's 70th birthday celebrations.

Photo 1: Looking over the Back Garden (9th August 2025)

Daily garden photos for August can be viewed in Video 1.

Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden - August 2024

Overall, August was not a bad month. Generally dry and warm if not particularly hot or sunny. Weather stats for our Hereford garden are summarised in the table below.

August 2024
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	18 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	30 oC	11th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	8 oC	17th, 30th
Number of Air Frost Days	0
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	8
Monthly Precipitation	14.0 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	3.4 mm	13th - 14th
Number of Dry Days	18
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	159
Highest Wind Speed	47 km/h	23rd
Heating Degree Days	63.6
Cooling Degree Days	41.6

First half of the month was warm (Figure 1) with both sunny and cloudy days (Figure 2). Temperature and sunshine levels both dropped in the final two weeks of August. Hereford caught the edge of Storm Lilian (23/24th) with about 5 mm rain over the two days (note: the high rainfall at the rhs of Figure 4 was in September).

Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for August 2024

Figure 2: Rainfall & Sunshine for August 2024

With weather data for the past five August months (2020 - 2024), we can start to look for trends, albeit not with high confidence over such a short period. August 2020 was unusually hot and sunny (Figure 3 & Figure 4) but that doesn't hide a general upward trend in monthly maximum temperatures. Conversely, nighttime (daily minimum) temperatures are trending downwards. Overall, the monthly mean temperatures have stayed remarkably constant (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Temperature Data for August (2020 - 2024)

Low rainfall is the norm for August in Hereford (Figure 4) with August 2020 a strong outlier. Sunshine levels have remained fairly constant with the exception of 2022.

Figure 4: Rain, Wind & Sunshine Trends for August (2020 - 2024)

The next three figures are taken from the UK Met Office's monthly report for August 2024. The location of Herefordshire is marked with the City of Hereford in the centre of the county.

While eastern and southern England (excluding the south-west) enjoyed above average temperatures in August, the rest of the country, including Hereford, had to make do with just average temperatures (Figure 5).

Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for August 2024

The west of Scotland had a very wet August while England, including Hereford, had very little rain (Figure 4 & Figure 6).

Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for August 2024

Sunshine was in short supply during August apart from East Anglia, NE England, the east coast of Scotland and, somewhat anomalously, Anglesey off the north Wales coast. Sunglasses and parasols were not required attire in Hereford!!

Figure 7: UK Sunshine Hours (relative) for August 2024

Jobs in the Garden

Harvesting cucumbers (14), tomatoes (2.2 kg), French beans (3 kg), courgettes/marrows (13 kg), celery, chard, spinach, sweetcorn (28, freeze), sweet peppers (0.5 kg), potatoes (3 kg), broad beans (1 kg), salad leaves/radish, blackberries (0.2 kg), raspberries (4 kg)
Weeding, composting and general gardening.