Climate
As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Fair Isle experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. This is especially pronounced due to its location far from any sizeable landmass - Fair Isle has the smallest overall temperature range (least continental) of any Weather Station in the British Isles - an absolute maximum of 20.2 °C (68.4 °F) and an absolute minimum of −5.6 °C (21.9 °F) since 1951. This 60 plus year temperature span is actually smaller than many places in inland southern England will record within a given 3 month period. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −4.6 °C (23.7 °F) during February 2010. Rainfall, at under 1000mm is lower than one might expect for somewhere often in the main path of Atlantic depressions. This is explained by a lack of heavy convective rainfall during spring and summer months due to the absence of warm surface conditions.
| Climate data for Fair Isle 57m asl, 1951-1980, Extremes 1951- | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
13.9 (57.0) |
12.2 (54.0) |
17.7 (63.9) |
18.0 (64.4) |
20.1 (68.2) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.0 (64.4) |
15.5 (59.9) |
13.1 (55.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
20.2 (68.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 5.7 (42.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
6.0 (42.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
13.2 (55.8) |
13.7 (56.7) |
12.0 (53.6) |
10.2 (50.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) |
2.9 (37.2) |
3.1 (37.6) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.9 (42.6) |
7.9 (46.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
8.9 (48.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−5 (23) |
−4 (25) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
1.5 (34.7) |
4.2 (39.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
1.4 (34.5) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 96 (3.78) |
63 (2.48) |
81 (3.19) |
48 (1.89) |
39 (1.54) |
41 (1.61) |
54 (2.13) |
66 (2.6) |
97 (3.82) |
109 (4.29) |
117 (4.61) |
104 (4.09) |
910 (35.83) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 27.9 | 59.3 | 96.1 | 150.0 | 192.2 | 171.0 | 136.4 | 145.7 | 117.0 | 71.3 | 36.0 | 15.5 | 1,206 |
| Source #1: ScotClim | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Tutiempo | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Fair Isle
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us—that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditions—they enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull,
On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale,
Killing their fruit with frowns?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)