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The seasonal and geographical distribution of absolute drought in England
Author(s) -
Lewis Lilian F.,
Bilham E. G.
Publication year - 1939
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49706528113
Subject(s) - geography , absolute (philosophy) , climatology , distribution (mathematics) , welsh , mathematics , geology , archaeology , mathematical analysis , philosophy , epistemology
A section of British Rainfall has been devoted to absolute droughts since 1888, but the data have not hitherto been summarized in order to determine which areas in England are most subject to drought and in what season of the year absolute droughts may be expected to occur most frequently. In a preliminary investigation it was found that absolute droughts were comparatively rare and an exhaustive research was therefore not attempted but attention was confined to selected stations with long and reliable records. Complete lists of absolute droughts at six stations during periods of from 80 to 95 years and at three other stations over periods from 43 to 52 years are included in the tables. The data reveal three notable facts:—(1) The large number of absolute droughts experienced in south‐east England and the southern midlands compared with the number in north‐east England, although the average annual rainfall is approximately the same in each case; (2) the greater number of absolute droughts recorded at Liverpool than at Stonyhurst, due to the shelter afforded to Liverpool from the moist south‐west winds by the Welsh mountains and the greater height of Stonyhurst above mean sea level; (3) the larger number of absolute droughts experienced on the south‐east coast compared with the number on the more unsettled south‐west coast. The information was next analysed in order to investigate the seasonal incidence of absolute drought. The method adopted was to start with January 1 and count the number of occasions when that day formed part of an absolute drought at a given station. The process was repeated for January 2, January 3, and so on throughout the year. The results are shown graphically on a single diagram, with the days of the year as abscissæ and the number of occasions of absolute drought as ordinates. Finally the odds to one against a “drought‐day” (a day which has been included in a period of absolute drought) were evaluated for each calendar month at each station.