How Katla Erupting could change Ireland's climate

snow ghost

It seems ominous that whenever Eyjafjallajokull erupts the larger Katla follows, so has anyone any opinions on how if this occurred, as is likely given the history, the resulting cooling effect would impact our climate here in Ireland?

Whilst it may be a bad thing for continental Europe, could it actually be beneficial to us???

'A year without a winter' (see below) sounds interesting - I presume this means the summer was so bad it was indistinguishable from the winter? Ben Franklin had obviously not experienced many Irish 'summers' or he might not have found this unusual.


"COLLEGE STATION, April 20, 2010 – The Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull has grounded much of international travel to a halt, but if a nearby volcano named Mount Katla should erupt, it has the potential to be many times more devastating, says a Texas A&M University volcanologist who has done research in the area for decades.

Jay Miller, who has made numerous trips to Iceland over the past 25 years to study the volcanoes there and currently is a research scientist in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, says that an eruption from Katla could dwarf anything seen so far from Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced Eye-jaff-jalla-jok-kul).

“It’s a much larger volcano, and in the past, we know its eruptions have been much larger, too,” Miller explains.
“We know that in 934 A.D. it had one of the largest fissure eruptions of any on Iceland. We don’t have too many written records from that time, but by studying ice cores from Greenland and other weather records, we can tell that the 934 eruption was extremely powerful and had a significant impact on climate.

”So as bad as Eyafjallajokull is, Katla could be much, much worse.”
Miller says Katla has been more active than others in the region.
Eyjafjallajokull has erupted only three times in the past 1,000 years, while Katla has erupted at least 20 times since then. But Katla seems to erupt whenever Eyjafjallajokull does. Three times in history when Eyjafjallajokull has erupted – in 920, 1612 and 1821 – Katla has, too.

That’s why the current eruption could be a bad omen: Every time Eyjafjallajokull has erupted – as it has for the past week – Katla follows behind, always erupting within the same year, sometimes just a few months after its little sister.

“We don’t know when because volcanoes in that part of the world are very difficult to predict,” he notes, adding that Katla is located about 10 to 12 miles from Eyjafjallajokull but is not part of the same volcano system.
“We do know that Katla has been a much more active volcano. Its last significant eruption came in 1918,” he notes. “An eruption from nearby Grimsvotn volcano in 1783 occurred and so much volcanic haze and ash covered Europe and Asia that it had a dramatic cooling effect. Ben Franklin, who was ambassador to France at the time, called it ‘the year without a winter’ and he later wrote a paper about volcanoes affecting climate called ‘Meteorological Imaginations and Conjectures’ and presented it at a conference the following year.

“History tells us that we need to watch Mount Katla very closely,” Miller adds."
http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/04/20/another-iceland-volcano-to-erupt-katla-could-be-the-worse/

Mobhi1

It wasn't actually Katla that affected the climate in 1783. Do we know what climatic effects occurred in 1612, 1821 or 1918 after Katla?

Katla erupts reasonably frequently - usually twice every hundred years - there must be records of its affect on the climate over the last couple of hundred years?

maquiladora

I'd be more worried about Yellowstone myself. :pac:

snow ghost

"The previous eruptions of this powerful volcano caused massive flooding in Iceland. So if this happens, scientists fear the negative impact of the poisonous gas on the weather pattern in Iceland and this could threaten the European climate too.

Volcanic debris resulted from the eruption of Laki, another powerful Icelandic volcano in the mid 1780s, had disastrous consequences on Europe’s climate, killing many people in the British Isles after the wind carried the poisonous gas to the area."

That doesn't sound good! Poisonous gas - I guess at least nowadays we have gas masks.

Not sure about 1918, etc. But found this about an aerlier eruption - that's a lot of water:

"At the peak of the 1755 eruption the flood discharge has been estimated between 200,000–400,000 Cubic metres per second.

for comparison the combined average discharge of the
Amazon River, Mississippi River, the Nile and Yangtze River rivers is about 290,000 m³/s."http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Katla

Deep Easterly

Not really sure how an eruption at Katla would effect us here in Ireland, but going by British records, 1919, the year after the last major eruption was one of the coldest years of the 20th century:

http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~taharley/1919_weather.htm

Sponge Bob

As I said in this forum Katla certainly seems to have caused the last Ice Age in Northern Europe ...if you call the 1,000 Year Younger Dryas an 'age' rather than a part of an age.

The ash deposit is variously called the Vedde Ash or the North Atlantic Ash Zone 1/Ash Zone 1 .

1783 was the Laki Traps eruption in Iceland. That eruption just poisoned people with foul vapours rather than deposit ash. It killed 20,000 in England alone in 4 months ( 2 separate outbreaks ) out of a then population of c. 7 million.

Excess mortality of 5000 a month or 60,000 a year is near enough 1% of the population a year of a poisoning rate.

snow ghost

I guess it all dependes on the intensity of any Katla eruption.

That Laki one sounds horrendous - check this link out: http://iberianature.com/britainnature/how-a-volcanic-eruption-in-iceland-affected-britain/

"The summer of the year 1783 was an amazing and portentous one, and full of horrible phaenomena; for besides the alarming meteors and tremendous thunder-storms . . . the peculiar haze, or smokey fog that prevailed for many weeks in this island . . . was a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man. . . . The sun, at noon, looked as blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous light on the ground, and floors of rooms; but was particularly lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting."

Pangea

The year without a summer was caused by a series of volcanoes going off around the same time.
If you look at the tempertures ,it was bloody freezing that year, so no question there was no summer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer


The laki volcano would be more similar to our situation at present, and when that went off there was even ice in the gulf of mexico

BBC did a special program on the effects of laki volcano on europe a few years back, if i find it il let yas know.

Im not sure if laki is bigger than katla?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6276291.stm

peterdaly

Im thinking of buying shares in Stena Line... I reckon this is just the start. The climates said to be reduced after Large volcanic activity.

Sponge Bob

Pangea wrote: »

The year without a summer was caused by a series of volcanoes going off around the same time.

That was mainly a very large ash volcano in Tambora. When Toba went off it caused 6 years with no summer on the trot and near wiped out the human race.

Danno

So now after reading this thread, can anyone justify Carbon Taxes?

Deep Easterly

Danno wrote: »

So now after reading this thread, can anyone justify Carbon Taxes?

Talk to the hand:

mike65

This is all a bit miserable, so we might get a summer and then winter for 18-24 months?

Deep Easterly

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Excess mortality of 5000 a month or 60,000 a year is near enough 1% of the population a year of a poisoning rate.

Thanks for that. :pac:

Graces7

snow ghost wrote: »

"The previous eruptions of this powerful volcano caused massive flooding in Iceland. So if this happens, scientists fear the negative impact of the poisonous gas on the weather pattern in Iceland and this could threaten the European climate too.

Volcanic debris resulted from the eruption of Laki, another powerful Icelandic volcano in the mid 1780s, had disastrous consequences on Europe’s climate, killing many people in the British Isles after the wind carried the poisonous gas to the area."

That doesn't sound good! Poisonous gas - I guess at least nowadays we have gas masks.

Not sure about 1918, etc. But found this about an aerlier eruption - that's a lot of water:

"At the peak of the 1755 eruption the flood discharge has been estimated between 200,000–400,000 Cubic metres per second.

for comparison the combined average discharge of the
Amazon River, Mississippi River, the Nile and Yangtze River rivers is about 290,000 m³/s."http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Katla

Gas masks? Where?

IvySlayer

Thank God I saved those iodine tablets the government sent :pac:

MayoForSam

Sounds like chickens coming home to roost - Mother Nature looks like she's finally had enough of us messing up the planet so has decided to introduce a bit of a cull :eek:

Someone else on here I think mentioned the possibility of a large Katla eruption causing an ash deposit to form over Greenland and the polar ice sheet, causing the albedo to drop significantly and melting the ice. This in turn would affect the Labrador current / salinity of the North Atlantic and consequently switch off the Gulf stream.

If you considered every possible way we could get screwed over in the next while between CERN black holes, volcanoes, tidal waves, global warming, etc. then it would be very difficult to sleep at night.

Personally speaking, I am very adept at putting all of these issues to the back of my mind and never miss out on my beauty sleep. Ignorance is bliss in some cases.

nacho libre

i'm just glad i'll be able to have the last laugh on people who thought i was crazy for building an underground bunker:D

Pangea

Found the killer cloud documentary
Anyone who wants the link , pm me.

thetonynator

IvySlayer wrote: »

Thank God I saved those iodine tablets the government sent :pac:

they're out of date now . . .

Graces7

MayoForSam wrote: »

Sounds like chickens coming home to roost - Mother Nature looks like she's finally had enough of us messing up the planet so has decided to introduce a bit of a cull :eek:

Someone else on here I think mentioned the possibility of a large Katla eruption causing an ash deposit to form over Greenland and the polar ice sheet, causing the albedo to drop significantly and melting the ice. This in turn would affect the Labrador current / salinity of the North Atlantic and consequently switch off the Gulf stream.

If you considered every possible way we could get screwed over in the next while between CERN black holes, volcanoes, tidal waves, global warming, etc. then it would be very difficult to sleep at night.

Personally speaking, I am very adept at putting all of these issues to the back of my mind and never miss out on my beauty sleep. Ignorance is bliss in some cases.

Less than a hundred years ago we would never have heard of these events until afterwards.... The media and communications have a lot to answer for.. one of the reasons there is no TV or radio here.

thetonynator

Graces7 wrote: »

Less than a hundred years ago we would never have heard of these events until afterwards.... The media and communications have a lot to answer for.. one of the reasons there is no TV or radio here.

but you still find out all these things on the internet anyway . . .don't you???

kevin12345

nacho libre wrote: »

i'm just glad i'll be able to have the last laugh on people who though i was crazy for building an underground bunker:D

I would too if I could

Graces7

thetonynator wrote: »

but you still find out all these things on the internet anyway . . .don't you???

In a less invasive and less graphic way with the poor connection here. Few images and no youtube etc.

After all one needs to know when to head for the bunker.

Not saying it is bad; just that in crises many suffer more from too much news and images... After 9/11 folk who watched TV none stop needed counselling. It is the amount and intensity that modern communications bring.

We were heavily involved with counselling online after 9/11 and saw what a deluge of media coverage did to many.

snow ghost

Graces7 wrote: »

Not saying it is bad; just that in crises many suffer more from too much news and images... After 9/11 folk who watched TV none stop needed counselling. It is the amount and intensity that modern communications bring.

Tell me about it I'm still traumatised after Thierre Henry's hand-ball! :eek:

As for the gas-masks try a protective clothing supplier or builders merchant, but better be quick they'll be gone faster than surgical masks during the swine flu pandemic if Katla blows.

Nacho,

I thought you were building that bunker incase the Galwegians invaded? Btw does it have a bar?

I know of a secret hidden cave on the side of the Reek that I intend to slink off to should the End of Days be upon us.

I was out in the Mountains today and the haze was intense - has to be remants of that volcanic ash at low levels. There is normally haze due to vapour, etc, but this was something else.

I also notice how parched and dusty the land was and how low the spate river levels are - it's was seriously like a desert out there... very unusual, it was almost like being in the outback.

Sponge Bob

snow ghost wrote: »

it was almost like being in the outback.

That is because Mayo IS the outback.

That low level brownish haze was around last week before the volcano dust too, probably all dem bog fires as well as the weather.

snow ghost

Sponge Bob wrote: »

That is because Mayo IS the outback.

That low level brownish haze was around last week before the volcano dust too, probably all dem bog fires as well as the weather.

This haze was different, very intense...especially when looking up at the peaks... what bog fires?

Didn't see Crodile Dundee on my travels today, or skippy, but if the land becomes anymore parched yes Mayo's wilderness could rival the aussie one. Haven't had dust on my boots like that since Australia.

Deep Easterly

snow ghost wrote: »

This haze was different, very intense...especially when looking up at the peaks... what bog fires?

A lot of bog fires over the last week around these here parts Snow, even today we had that brown smoke haze hovering over town most of the afternoon. There seemed to be another biggie in or around Lavally (approx) earlier on, maybe MayoforSam could confirm this?

I am not sure if them forest fires are still happening up around the Swinford/Charlestown area? We had a lot of smoke from that down here over the last couple of days too.

Snow Ghost wrote:

I thought you were building that bunker incase the Galwegians invaded? Btw does it have a bar?

When we do invade, a bunker will not save Nacho. He will be the first martyr

Snow Ghost wrote:

Didn't see Crodile Dundee on my travels today, or skippy, but if the land becomes anymore parched yes Mayo's wilderness could rival the aussie one. Haven't had dust on my boots like that since Australia.

Yep, very dusty weather. Amazing month really, I recorded 70.6mm of rain, around the monthly average, in the first 6 days of the month, and since then, nothing. Very unusual to have such a prolonged spell of very dry weather such as this. Even seen the light wind whipping up dust of the ground today as well. Something is telling me we will pay for this big time. Last June's dry spell was followed by severe storms and downpours in the first half of July and again in the 2nd part of August. Last September and the first 2/3rds of October were shockingly dry to be followed by more heavy rain and showers throughout the last part of Oct well into November. So far, Jan/Feb/March and April have all had unusual stretches of almost severe dryness, the only question is, when will the possible payback occur? :eek:

snow ghost

Deep Easterly wrote: »

A lot of bog fires over the last week around these here parts Snow, even today we had that brown smoke haze hovering over town most of the afternoon. There seemed to be another biggie in or around Lavally (approx) earlier on, maybe MayoforSam could confirm this?

I am not sure if them forest fires are still happening up around the Swinford/Charlestown area? We had a lot of smoke from that down here over the last couple of days too.

Didn't know that about the bog / forest fires! Bloody radio i102 tells you nothing!!!! :mad: This haze was around Doo Lough, Sheefry hills and Maam Turks, so not sure it was from fires?

Check this pic out, you may just be able to make out the slight browny colour of the haze I saw over the mountains compared to the top of the pic. Haze is nothing unusual over the mountains and at Doo Lough but it is usually bluey-grey, this had a distinct organgey tinge to it. UK Met Office said the ash clouds had been observed from ground level in England yesterday, so I'm convinced it was something to do with the Volcano. Could be wrong though!

If it is ash in the atmosphere who knows what we are inhaling... it's enough to make me want to give up smoking. :eek:

.

snow ghost

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Yep, very dusty weather. Amazing month really, I recorded 70.6mm of rain, around the monthly average, in the first 6 days of the month, and since then, nothing. Very unusual to have such a prolonged spell of very dry weather such as this. Even seen the light wind whipping up dust of the ground today as well. Something is telling me we will pay for this big time. Last June's dry spell was followed by severe storms and downpours in the first half of July and again in the 2nd part of August. Last September and the first 2/3rds of October were shockingly dry to be followed by more heavy rain and showers throughout the last part of Oct well into November. So far, Jan/Feb/March and April have all had unusual stretches of almost severe dryness, the only question is, when will the possible payback occur? :eek:

Too true Deep! You should have seen the spate rivers - I know they were 'spate' rivers but a tadpole couldn't have swam up the trickles that were there.

Hopefully if the monsoons come they do so in May so I can convince myself that the rest of the summer will be great according to tradition.

Been a strange year so far weatherwise, so who knows what may happen.

snow ghost

Deep Easterly wrote: »

I am not sure if them forest fires are still happening up around the Swinford/Charlestown area? We had a lot of smoke from that down here over the last couple of days too.

Btw, tisn't no forest fires... that's Nachos fire defences to keep ye out! :pac:

Graces7

I think that a part of all this is that because of the volcano many are more aware of the weather etc than usual?

Last week, before this hit, I was to Buncrana and there had been a report her re a fire there; and there was a dark haze over all there that cleared as we neared it.

And y'day, driving round lanes near Rossnowlagh, saw how arid the landscape still is;; actually for a moment thought that some fields opposite had been cleared for building etc.

After the winter we are all more aware?

Sponge Bob

Back to Katla then.

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/gosplott.html

Seismic activity ....the spike on the left is Enya going off

nacho libre

snow ghost wrote: »

Btw, tisn't no forest fires... that's Nachos fire defences to keep ye out! :pac:

yes snow ghost you the score. when the endtime approaches, as it surely soon will, they'll all be flocking to the greatest county in Ireland. i don't believe in the concept of heaven and hell when you die. as the saying goes "hell is other people" so with that in mind i do not want to spend my last moments on Earth with Galwegians. i'm sure you can relate to what i'm saying:D

Sponge Bob

nacho libre wrote: »

with that in mind i do not want to spend my last moments on Earth with Galwegians. i'm sure you can relate to what i'm saying:D

Thats grand, send us the GPS co ordinates so we know where to dump the ash we scrape off

Iancar29

This i my favourite picture of Etjafjallajokull to date by far!


ITs like Zeus and Hades are having a full on battle with each other! ..... I GOT 10-2 on Zeus ! ha

mike65

Epic shot.

Deep Easterly

snow ghost wrote: »

Didn't know that about the bog / forest fires! Bloody radio i102 tells you nothing!!!! :mad: This haze was around Doo Lough, Sheefry hills and Maam Turks, so not sure it was from fires?

Check this pic out, you may just be able to make out the slight browny colour of the haze I saw over the mountains compared to the top of the pic. Haze is nothing unusual over the mountains and at Doo Lough but it is usually bluey-grey, this had a distinct organgey tinge to it. UK Met Office said the ash clouds had been observed from ground level in England yesterday, so I'm convinced it was something to do with the Volcano. Could be wrong though!

If it is ash in the atmosphere who knows what we are inhaling... it's enough to make me want to give up smoking. :eek:

.

That's a stunning shot Snow . You are lucky to be living near such grandeur. Yes, certainly some nice mellow haze apparent there; could well be traces of volcanic dust causing that effect. Having said that, any sort of super dry anticyclonic flow, a phenomena exclusive to a high situated to the north of us, tends to bring that sort of sky also with haze being visible at mid to high levels. The next time we have a real deep easterly (:D) flow from the continent you will notice the dry haze being down to surface level also, which can be very thick and reducing visibility markedly, but very often this can cause some really stunning visual effects like stunning sky scapes and sun rises and sunsets etc. Even the most boring looking clouds can take on a new beautiful form (if the haze is not thick enough to make them virtually invisible)

When dry haze becomes that dense it can be a sign of thunder too in summer, depending on how unstable the airflow is. The airflow over the next couple of days looks like will have have passed over the very near continent so it might bring up some more of that dry haze over us, although I am not totally sure of this. Even today, there is a mellowness in the sky from trace haze making it seem less harsh and blinding. Love it, my type of sky!!

snow ghost

Deep Easterly wrote: »

That's a stunning shot Snow . You are lucky to be living near such grandeur. Yes, certainly some nice mellow haze apparent there; could well be traces of volcanic dust causing that effect. Having said that, any sort of super dry anticyclonic flow, a phenomena exclusive to a high situated to the north of us, tends to bring that sort of sky also with haze being visible at mid to high levels. The next time we have a real deep easterly (:D) flow from the continent you will notice the dry haze being down to surface level also, which can be very thick and reducing visibility markedly, but very often this can cause some really stunning visual effects like stunning sky scapes and sun rises and sunsets etc. Even the most boring looking clouds can take on a new beautiful form (if the haze is not thick enough to make them virtually invisible)

When dry haze becomes that dense it can be a sign of thunder too in summer, depending on how unstable the airflow is. The airflow over the next couple of days looks like will have have passed over the very near continent so it might bring up some more of that dry haze over us, although I am not totally sure of this. Even today, there is a mellowness in the sky from trace haze making it seem less harsh and blinding. Love it, my type of sky!!

Thanks for the explanation Deep!

You're not too far from the grandeur yourself there... I have to say I think South Mayo and North Galway has the best scenery in Ireland. Obviously, I'm biased, but anyone down the West coast is blessed. It can become banal, but in truth Ireland has some of the best landscapes - and in my opinion - interesting weather, in the World.

snow ghost

Nacho, you might have to allow a couple of Galwegians into the bunker... as evidence for future generations that such creatures did actually exist! :pac::pac::pac:

snow ghost

Iancar29 wrote: »

This i my favourite picture of Etjafjallajokull to date by far!


ITs like Zeus and Hades are having a full on battle with each other! ..... I GOT 10-2 on Zeus ! ha

Iancar, amazing pic there... seeing that in the flesh would be enough to convince anyone that the crack of doom had opened and the end was nigh! :eek:

Guinness69

Luke Howard was born in London November 28, 1772, the first child of Robert and Elizabeth Howard. Robert was a successful businessman and a staunch Quaker. When it came time to begin school, his father sent him to a large Friends' grammar school at Burford, near Oxford. The school was run by a scholarly Friend, Mr. Huntley, and it was here that Luke spent the next seven years. Mr. Huntley was fatherly, kind and of the Old School, which was to flog those who could not learn fast enough and leave the others much to themselves. Luke commented many years later that he acquired more Latin than he had been able to forget. Little did he know that in 20 years that knowledge of Latin would stand him in good stead in a way he could not have imagined?

We know relatively little about this portion of his life. Presumably he returned home only once a year, at summer holidays. But whether he was at home or at school it is quite clear that he was raised in an atmosphere of Christian love as interpreted in the Quaker tradition.

What follows is the reconstructed, but not fictionalized, story of events in Nature that shaped a life:

An eleven-year-old boy stands alone on a hill overlooking the Windrush River in Oxfordshire. Only by straining his eyes can he make out the hills on the other side of the valley. The day has been hazy, as indeed, it had been week after week during the early summer. The sun, hanging low in the sky, continues to show the same eerie, coppery cast it had even at midday. And now it is late in the day.

As the sun sinks lower and lower into the thick haze, the disc reddens even more, darkens and disappears below the horizon. Then, instead of the twilight darkness, the western sky starts to brighten showing a remarkable array of colors. Directly above the point where the sun disappeared, the haze starts to take on a green opalescent hue, topped by a region that is nearly white. On either side there is a greenish yellow glow. Still higher in the sky, extending midway to the zenith, is a most delicately colored open fan of pink, surrounded on either side by the deepest of blue.

The boy stands entranced, scarcely breathing, as this panorama develops to full splendor before his gaze. Slowly brighter hues give way to those less bright, and finally to the dusk. At long last he rouses from the magic of the spectacle and slowly makes his way back to his lodgings.

1783 was a year in which Nature was in a state of extreme agitation and turmoil. Late in May, early in June and still again in mid June violent volcanic eruptions took place in Iceland. As the activity continued during the remainder of the year, the greatest lava flow in historic times spewed forth. Great volumes of volcanic dust from the Eldeyjar eruption fell over Iceland and, carried by the westerly windstreams, spread over Scotland, destroying crops. The dust cloud moved onward over Europe spreading a dirty blanket from which there was no escape. First reported in Copenhagen on 29 May, and in France on 6 June, the cloud moved forward. By July 1st it stretched to North Africa covering all of Great Britain and continental Europe!

Before the effects of the Icelandic eruptions had time to disappear, another violent eruption took place; this time on the other side of the world in Japan. Early in August, volcano Asama Yama produced what has been described as "the most frightful eruption on record to date" hurling out rocks as large as houses, burying towns and villages, and spewing great quantities of dust into the upper atmosphere, where westerly winds carried the dust around the whole Northern Hemisphere, adding to the general pall of haze. All the weather diaries of that period, and even some of the great literary works of the day, contain vivid references to the extended period of the Great Fogg (which was not fog in the usual sense but referred to the cloud of volcanic dust), and to the unusual appearances of the sky, including the fantastic array of colors at sunset and the rayless sun. The sense of underlying uneasiness was heightened by major earth shakings in Calabria and Sicily. It was stimulated by an amazingly bright and fiery meteor that flashed across the skies of western Europe in the early evening hours of 18 August, and was seen by tens of thousands, including our eleven year old boy. And the shimmerings of the aurora borealis added to the "general mysterium".

Yes, 1783 was a most remarkable year!

38 years later this same Luke Howard received the highest award of the young scientific community for his services to the infant science of meteorology. We believe that there is a causal line of connection between receipt of this honor and the Year to Remember. Luke remembered This Year and was deeply impressed by the events that occurred therein. Because of what took place in 1783 and the way in which Luke reacted to it, some indefinable chord in his inner being was set into resonance; some initial momentum was established that led directly to the 1821 honor.

The capture of Luke Howard's boyhood imagination was so complete that meteorology continued as his primary avocation, even though his vocation took other turns. His interest in weather never waned during his long lifetime. This lifetime devotion and his many contributions to the science of meteorology make him one of its real pioneers.

Deep Easterly

snow ghost wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation Deep!

You're not too far from the grandeur yourself there... I have to say I think South Mayo and North Galway has the best scenery in Ireland. Obviously, I'm biased, but anyone down the West coast is blessed. It can become banal, but in truth Ireland has some of the best landscapes - and in my opinion - interesting weather, in the World.

Very true Snow, although the South Mayo/North Galway region is a bit flat and boring compared to most other places along the west coast but it has its own beauty all the same; such as the great and expansive panoramic views of the sky and landscape on all 4 horizons and all that. We have a "mountain" here which is located around 4/5 miles southwest of Tuam called Castlehackett or Knockma, which peaks at a majestic 140m asl and sticks out like a sore thumb, but it is a mighty site. If you stand on top of it, (and on a fine clear day) you can see almost the whole of Connacht right up to the north coast of Mayo, as well as the entire Galway Bay region down to Clare, and even the mountains of Tipp. Abbeyknockmoy is another hill to the southeast with has some mighty views from the top, which I think peaks around 170m, although it is more of a gradual climb than Castlehackett.

Graces7

snow ghost wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation Deep!

You're not too far from the grandeur yourself there... I have to say I think South Mayo and North Galway has the best scenery in Ireland. Obviously, I'm biased, but anyone down the West coast is blessed. It can become banal, but in truth Ireland has some of the best landscapes - and in my opinion - interesting weather, in the World.

l

Mayo and Galway are indeed lovely; but just as lovely are some of the lesser known roads in Donegal.

We take folk over to Glenveagh, for example. And across to Falcarragh.

Utter glory.

And the Doochary road back from Gartan...Link then to the old road to Glenties.

And has anyone tried the road across Granny Glen near Ardara? Pure Tolkien. ( not driven it yet but saw they have tarmacced it.)

snow ghost

Deep Easterly wrote: »

Very true Snow, although the South Mayo/North Galway region is a bit flat and boring compared to most other places along the west coast but it has its own beauty all the same; such as the great and expansive panoramic views of the sky and landscape on all 4 horizons and all that. We have a "mountain" here which is located around 4/5 miles southwest of Tuam called Castlehackett or Knockma, which peaks at a majestic 140m asl and sticks out like a sore thumb, but it is a mighty site. If you stand on top of it, (and on a fine clear day) you can see almost the whole of Connacht right up to the north coast of Mayo, as well as the entire Galway Bay region down to Clare, and even the mountains of Tipp. Abbeyknockmoy is another hill to the southeast with has some mighty views from the top, which I think peaks around 170m, although it is more of a gradual climb than Castlehackett.

I probably should have said South West Mayo and North West Galway Deep... that said your area may be flat but as you said it has its great panoramas, for 140ASL that is a pretty good view from Castlehackett. And all the mountains, loughs, etc are only down the road from you... you're not far from Cong and Joyce Country - beautiful spots. Have you ever been around Finny? A beautiful desolate spot.

Part of Connemara is in Mayo... the Galway - Mayo borders were changed quite a lot over the years - Inish Boffin island used to be in Mayo! The old territories of our ancestors transcended the modern county boundaries and areas of Galway and Mayo would have been historically the same regions.

Btw, they were saying on a tv show yesterday that from the top of Mweelrea you can actually see Donegal and Kerry. I'm impressed with that, just hope we can't see the Sam Maguire glittering on the horizon the next time they beat us in a final.

snow ghost

Graces7 wrote: »

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Mayo and Galway are indeed lovely; but just as lovely are some of the lesser known roads in Donegal.

We take folk over to Glenveagh, for example. And across to Falcarragh.

Utter glory.

And the Doochary road back from Gartan...Link then to the old road to Glenties.

And has anyone tried the road across Granny Glen near Ardara? Pure Tolkien. ( not driven it yet but saw they have tarmacced it.)

After Mayo and Galway Graces, Donegal would be my next favourite county for scenery.

We're lucky people living here!!!

If Katla does erupt and bring about the end of days at least we will go out with a good view - imagine if the last view you saw when Armageddon hit was a red bricked terraced street in London.

Sponge Bob

Graces7 wrote: »

And has anyone tried the road across Granny Glen near Ardara? Pure Tolkien. ( not driven it yet but saw they have tarmacced it.)

That is the drive past Maghera ( a valley over from Glengesh) is it not ??, I drove that years ago and was later told the road had collapsed and was impassable by car by 2005 or 2006.

Donegal has some absolutely spectacular drives, better than Galway or Mayo in my opinion. Sliabh League is another, from Teelin.

Now can we all get back to volcanic apocalpse.

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Now can we all get back to volcanic apocalpse.

Looking here, we may be approaching the calm before the next storm, or if we're lucky the end of the storm.

Activity is steadily declining, most likely due to the magma having "restocked" the base of the volcano, ready for the next time!

http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/Katla2009/stodvaplott.html

snow ghost

Sponge bob,

Re: Volcanic Apocalypse - any sign of recent seismic activity that would indicate Katla is awakening?

Graces7

Sponge Bob wrote: »

That is the drive past Maghera ( a valley over from Glengesh) is it not ??, I drove that years ago and was later told the road had collapsed and was impassable by car by 2005 or 2006.

Donegal has some absolutely spectacular drives, better than Galway or Mayo in my opinion. Sliabh League is another, from Teelin.

Now can we all get back to volcanic apocalpse.

Yes that is the one.
They tarmacced it two years ago; did not manage to brave driving it alone yet.

And no way will I ever drive Teelin upwards again; would rather face a volcano.

maquiladora

Good article posted on Accuweather today :

'Explosive' Katla Could Affect Global Temperature, Devastate Iceland
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/30707/explosive-katla-could-affect-g.asp