November - the ninth month (novem = nine) in the 10-month Roman calendar which became the eleventh month when January and February were added for the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
The selected photo for November 2024 shows a wintry scene on the 19th day of the month. The snow melted slowly over the following three days as the weather turned colder with subzero overnight temperatures (Figure 1).
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| Photo 1: Snowy Scene, Rear Garden (19th November 2024) |
The daily photos are collated in this short video ...
Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden - November 2024
November's weather stats from our garden-based
Davis Weather Station are summarised in the table below.
Storm Bert (23
rd/24
th) brought strong winds and plenty of rain (see
Table).
November 2024 |
|---|
Weather Parameter | Value | Dates |
|---|
Average Monthly Temperature | 8 oC |
|
Maximum Monthly Temperature | 16 oC | 14th |
Minimum Monthly Temperature | -2 oC | 20th, 21st, 28th |
Number of Air Frost Days | 5 |
|
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC) | 0 |
|
Monthly Precipitation | 64.4 mm |
|
Greatest 24 h Precipitation | 36.0 mm | 23rd - 24th |
Number of Dry Days | 15 |
|
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated) | 46
|
|
Highest Wind Speed | 43 km/h | 24th |
Heating Degree Days | 313.0 |
|
Cooling Degree Days | 0 |
|
The first two weeks were mild (mean daily temperature 〜 10 ℃) and dry - the seemingly constant grey skies gave only rare glimpses of the sun (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The next two weeks were colder (mean daily temperature 〜 5-6 ℃) and wetter (>90% of the month's rain) yet just as lacking in sunshine (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The mildest day of the month was the 30th (mean temperature 〜 13 ℃) and this mildness would carry over into December.
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| Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for November 2024 |
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| Figure 2: Daily Rainfall and Sunshine Data for November 2024 |
Looking back over the past five Novembers (2020 - 2024), it is clear the weather for November 2024 was typical for this month - at least based on the most recent weather data. We can expect a few frosts (around four or five) even despite the generally mild temperatures (Figure 3). The mild temperatures are the result of dull grey cloudy skies so, unfortunately, sunshine is often in short supply. While precipitation needs clouds, not all clouds are rain clouds; consequently, rainfall in November can be highly variable (c.f. 2021 and 2022, Figure 4). Storms are a feature of November, hence the wind speeds are often high (Figure 4).
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| Figure 3: Temperature Data for November (2020 - 2024) |
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| Figure 4: Rain, Wind & Sunshine Trends for November (2020 - 2024) |
The following three figures come from the UK Met Office's
monthly report for November 2024.
Figure 5 shows November's mean temperature was similar to the 1991-2020 average for most of the UK except for a few western locations where the temperature was above average. Herefordshire's monthly temperature was close to the 30-year mean (1991-2020) in general agreement with the temperature data from our backyard weather station (
Figure 3).
 |
| Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for November 2024 |
According to
Figure 6, Herefordshire's rainfall in November 2024 was close to average except for the south of the county where the rainfall was higher than normal. Our weather station data (
Figure 4) indicates that Hereford was in the wetter part of the county.
 |
| Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for November 2024 |
Finally, in Figure 7, we can see that Herefordshire was relatively sunny compared with the bordering counties even though sunshine levels overall were only average. Data from our garden weather station (Figure 4) indicated sunshine levels were probably lower than average.
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| Figure 7: UK Sunshine Hours (relative) for November 2024 |
Jobs in the Garden
- Harvesting potatoes, beetroot, parsnip, spinach and chard.
- Eating stored/frozen tomatoes, pears, apples, chilli peppers, aubergines, sweet peppers, sweetcorn, squashes, French beans, onions. raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries.
- Continue hot composting through autumn/winter
- Order new HotBin in the Black Friday sales
- Sow rye grass and field beans (green manure)
Flora & Fauna (seen in the garden)
- Blackbird (x2)
- Blue Tit (x3)
- Collared Dove (x2)
- Crow (x1)
- Dunnock (x1)
- Great Tit (x2)
- House Sparrow (x20)
- Magpie (x1)
- Robin (x1)
- Starling (x10)
- Wood Pigeon (x2)
- Red Admiral Butterfly (x1) on 30th November
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| Photo 2: Red Admiral Butterfly (November 30th 2024) |
And, finally, some photos of the garden (plus a few extras) ...
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| Photo 3: Late Autumn colour with Nasturtiums and Salvia (Nov 1st) |
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| Photo 4: Dahlias, Rowanberries and Cosmos (Nov 1st) |
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| Photo 5: Cosmos (Nov 1st) |
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| Photo 6: Cobwebs in Autumn (15th Nov) |
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| Photo 7: Neighbours Garden Waste Drop-off Point (15th Nov) |
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| Photo 8: First Snow of the 2024/25 Winter (19th Nov) |
Video 2: Late Autumn Snow in Hereford (19th November 2024)
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| Photo 9: Melting Snow on the PV Solar Panels |
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| Photo 10: Tomatoes Ripening Indoors |
Storm Bert (22 Nov to 25 Nov 2024) brought lots of rain and some low-lying areas (i.e. flood plains) were flooded. The 'lake' below (
Photo 11) is, in fact, the rugby pitches of
Hereford RFC which regularly flood in winter due to their proximity to the River Wye.
 |
| Photo 11: Flooded Rugby Fields (25th Nov) |
The River Wye (in flood) with the underwater Hereford RFC rugby pitches to the left (Photo 12) ...
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| Photo 12: Tree-lined River Wye in Flood |
The nearby playing fields of Hereford Cathedral School were also flooded. The fence line in
Photo 13 marks the boundary of the playing fields and the riverside path. The river level rose approximately 4.5 metres above its typical level at the height of Storm Bert.
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| Photo 13: Flooded Playing fields of Hereford cathedral School (25th Nov 2024) |
I was unable to perform my citizen science duties during the flood because the cycle paths I use to get to my site were under water (Photo 14) ...
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| Photo 14: Cycle Path during Storm Bert (25th Nov 2024) |
... as was my sampling site, located approximately 150 metres downstream from where Photo 15 was taken. The brook is usually about a metre wide and 10-15 cm deep at this point but, under flood conditions (Photo 15), it is about 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep. My sampling site would have looked like a lake with no discernible evidence for a brook or stream.
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| Photo 15: Looking Towards my Citizen Science Sampling Site (25/11/24) |
Towards the end of the month, the weather had improved sufficiently for a walk up to the 'private zoo' owned by a local businessman ...
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| Photo 16: Rhea in the Foreground and Flamingoes in the Background (28/11/24) |
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| Photo 17: Wallaby (28/11/24) |
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| Photo 18: Rhea (28/11/24) |
That's All Folks until the next instalment.
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