A 'DUSTFALL' which originated from the Sahara Desert affected Okehampton in April, according to a keen weather-watching Times reader. The burst of rain, which left a deposit of grey dust on vehicles and dustbins, came from high level cloud and occurred just before midnight on April 26, the warmest day of the month, when the temperture reached 17.4°c. April's weather was described as having a warm start, but cool spell between April 5 and 19, with frequent northerly winds and night frosts. On April 3, after the fog cleared, it became warm with the temperature reaching 17°c, the warmest day since October 13. Anticyclonic conditions prevailed until April 5 but with some light drizzly rain at times. Cold air of Arctic origin moved down from the North on April 5 with the maximum temperature only 8.6°c despite the sunny day. A shower of snow and snow pellets just before midnight on that night, produced a thin snow cover in Okehampton, which lasted until soon after dawn the next day. Then, it was even colder, with the temperature only reaching 5°c. Frequent showers of sleet, snow and hail occurred through to mid afternoon – the moor was snow covered above 800ft. Rather cold conditions persisted through to April 19 with five air frosts and ten ground frosts. There was an abundance of sunshine in this period but as North East winds became established by April 18, it became dull and gloomy for a few days. The weather warmed up as winds fell light on April 22 and the sun re-appeared, the warmth peaking on April 26, the day of the 'dustfall'. It became cooler again on April 27, culminating in a cold, wet day on the last day of the month. The mean temperature for April was 0.4°c above average, with the total rainfall 91% of the average.
