THIS year, August was the 26th wettest in the Okehampton area since 1870.
Although not as wet as July, the days of rain were greater, with only five completely dry days recorded. The days were cool — 20 degrees C was only exceeded on four days — but the nights were quite warm, but not exceptionally so for a summer month.
The main point about this disappointing summer month was the lack of sunshine, with no completely sunny days on offer.
South West winds were predominant and the weather pattern was changeable. Even on the warmest day, August 6, the sunshine only lasted for half the morning before rain arrived.
Until August 8, rainfall was not excessive, the 9th to 13th saw 70.3mm of rain fall: nearly half the month's total.
August 13 was especially dismal, with 28mm of rain, leading to a washout of the Okehampton show for the second year running. This was also the coldest day.
The changeable conditions continued, but from August 23 it became drier, but often cloudy, with only 6.2mm of rain until the close of the month.
Summer as a whole was another wet affair, the 16th wettest since 1870, but not as wet as last year.
Both years saw July as the wettest month, but this year June was dry.
The mean temperature was the same as 2007, being 0.4 degrees C above normal, thanks to the warmer nights offsetting the cooler days.
This summer will be remembered for the distinct lack of completely sunny days. Even many of the dry days were spoilt by often large amounts of cloud.
No sunshine records are available for Okehampton but a subjective observation suggests there were only five days with 'wall to wall' sunshine: three in June, two in July and none in August.