Why does Ireland have a reputation for it raining a lot?

Downlinz

When we're considerably below average in our rainfall?

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_pre-geography-precipitation

MrStuffins

Because it rains a lot

kfallon

Cos it's always raining, hope that helps

Downlinz

MrStuffins wrote: »

Because it rains a lot

Quite clearly it doesn't.

Micky Dolenz

Our rain is the wettest dampest type.

Downlinz

kfallon wrote: »

Cos it's always raining, hope that helps

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

eth0

Those countries at the top have tropical downpours and mostly sunny weather for the rest of the time.

We have a slow, annoying persistant supply of rain constantly. Less mm of rain but it spends more time raining

MrStuffins

Downlinz wrote: »

Quite clearly it doesn't.

I think you'll find it does!

supernova84

We like getting wet especially the ladies I hear

finlma

A lot of the countries above us in that table have monsoon type rain, hence the high numbers. We have less heavy but more persistant rain so that's where the reputation comes from I presume. If there is some sort of table to show the number of days it rains I presume we'd be much nearer to the top. Simples really.

Pdfile

supernova84 wrote: »

We like getting wet especially the ladies I hear

i bet you keep women wet like the sahara.... :rolleyes:

strobe

I think when people say it rains a lot in Ireland they are referring to the frequency with which it rains, rather than the amount of rain that falls when it does.

We get a lot of light showers on a frequent basis, but no monsoons or the like where huge amounts of water are dumped in a relatively short period of time. Hence our low precipitation statistics in relation to Trinidad and Tabago, for instance.

Sincerely,
M.T Cranium.

biko

When a bishop asks everyone to pray for the rain to stop - it rains a lot.

kfallon

Downlinz wrote: »

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

And I'd say you're a great laugh down the pub....

Ah_Yeah

Because we don't live in any of those countries and we don't care, we just complain about it raining a lot in Ireland.

Shryke

It's raining right now ffs.

Downlinz

eth0 wrote: »

Those countries at the top have tropical downpours and mostly sunny weather for the rest of the time.

We have a slow, annoying persistant supply of rain constantly. Less mm of rain but it spends more time raining

Ok so what about western countries like the US and UK who are the main proprietors of the stereotype, don't have monsoon seasons and yet have more rain than us?

Gbear

Downlinz wrote: »

When we're considerably below average in our rainfall?

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_pre-geography-precipitation

I lived in France and the kind of rain you'd get there would be infrequent torrential downpours and thunderstorms.

In Ireland it just drizzles all the time.

It's not the amount that it rains - it's the frequency.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Downlinz wrote: »

Ok so what about western countries like the US and UK who are the main proprietors of the stereotype, don't have monsoon seasons and yet have more rain than us?

Jesus Downlinz yer great craic!

Look, It just rains a lot in Ireland, no website statistic is going to change the fact that more often than not, when you look out the window, it's raining here.

Sure isnt our grass greener, our gingers gingier, our leprechauns smaller and out politicians more corrupt.

Thats Ireland.......

Ah_Yeah

Would you prefer if we said "It rains often" "It rains all the time"

\pedantic

supernova84

Pdfile wrote: »

i bet you keep women wet like the sahara.... :rolleyes:

No dry like the Nile

LiamoSail

Its because we're a nation of fookin moaners

maamom

Downlinz wrote: »

Ok so what about western countries like the US and UK who are the main proprietors of the stereotype, don't have monsoon seasons and yet have more rain than us?

The US has a variety of climates where they do receive monsoon like rainfall and the UK are marginally ahead of us.

If there was a table which showed the actual time when there is water falling from the sky and not rainfall amounts I can assure you we would be right up there at the top.

WoollyRedHat

kfallon wrote: »

And I'd say you're a great laugh down the pub....

Or the church, amirite?

supernova84

At least the rain feels warmer in our 'summer'

Where To

Downlinz wrote: »

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzldLJcorbo

circadian

Not to mention that the UK would also include Northern Ireland in that study.
If Ireland were counted as the whole island the figure would be a little higher. I agree with others, Ireland gets a consistent mist of rain whereas elsewhere they have a monsoon season then it's relatively dry during the rest of the year.

Cee-Jay-Cee

We get persistent wet pissy mizzly rain all year round, it may not fall in great quantities just constantly.

hardCopy

It really doesn't rain as often as people think.

Someone posted stats on this in the cycling forum, the odds of getting caught in the rain on a daily commute are actually quite low.

Ellis Dee

i was once told that when you can see the hills in Ireland, it means it will soon rain. And when you can't see the hills, it's because it's raining.:)

Since there's not much we can do about that state of affairs short of roofing the country - or perhaps using a GM strain of rice that will tolerate our cold temperatures - we might as well just try and put a brave face on it. Or a good spin - like CJ Haughey, who once said we shouldn't look on it as rain at all, but as liquid sunshine.;);)

And he even pointed out that the risk of skin cancer is a good deal less in countries like ours than in places where the sunshine is not wet.:)

Logical_Bear

Pdfile wrote: »

i bet you keep women wet like the sahara.... :rolleyes:

I bet you keep kids....oh christ better not go there:pac::pac:

Dave!

hardCopy wrote: »

It really doesn't rain as often as people think.

Someone posted stats on this in the cycling forum, the odds of getting caught in the rain on a daily commute are actually quite low.

What are the stats on it raining any time you want to do anything fun or outdoorsy?

Morag

Because it rains somewhere in the country 225 days of the year.

Bad Panda

hardCopy wrote: »

It really doesn't rain as often as people think.

Someone posted stats on this in the cycling forum, the odds of getting caught in the rain on a daily commute are actually quite low.

It does! It's a fact! Look at Met Eireann's stats.

Besides, nobody gives two fcuks whether it rains during a cyclists commute.:D

wexie

Downlinz wrote: »

When we're considerably below average in our rainfall?

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_pre-geography-precipitation

averages mean nothing....according to your data the highest in the world would be Guinea with 3784 while the record for Ireland stands at 3964.9 for a year...

Pantsface

Downlinz wrote: »

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

woooweeeee

humbert

Also, those stats are based on the largest city, which in Ireland's case would also be one of the driest.

Agricola

Sharrow wrote: »

Because it rains somewhere in the country 225 days of the year.

Seems low tbh!

ejmaztec

Downlinz wrote: »

Quite clearly it doesn't.

I hate to rain:pac: on your parade, but it clearly does. The whole country's even run by a big shower.

BurnsCarpenter

Downlinz wrote: »

Ok so what about western countries like the US and UK who are the main proprietors of the stereotype, don't have monsoon seasons and yet have more rain than us?

Much more convective rain in the US - intense quick downpours caused by hot air rising.

Irish rain tends to be frontal - weather systems moving in from the Atlantic. UK is similar to us I guess.

Madam_X

Downlinz wrote: »

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

Better than arguing it doesn't rain that much in Ireland, just for the attention. You know it does rain a lot in Ireland.

circadian

humbert wrote: »

Also, those stats are based on the largest city, which in Ireland's case would also be one of the driest.

If that's the case then it's a pretty pointless study to conduct in reference to the whole country. Derry/Donegal is pretty wet as is Connemara.
In fact to the best of my knowledge it rains every day in Gelnveagh National Park in Donegal.

shrewd

Gbear wrote: »

I lived in France and the kind of rain you'd get there would be infrequent torrential downpours and thunderstorms.

In Ireland it just drizzles all the time.

It's not the amount that it rains - it's the frequency.

Exactly!, and that site statistics must refer to the "amount of rains". i have lived in US,UK and Asia before and sure it rains heavily than Ireland but not as frequent.

Also,it rarely rains more than twice a day

up for anything

kfallon wrote: »

Cos it's always raining, hope that helps

Downlinz wrote: »

Oh look the thanks whore, I bet you're a hit on youtube.

With his waggly, smelly finger he certainly is.

Pessimist

The rain here is definitely lighter than most other countries, just that annoying on/off drizzle. The rain in countries like the US and Oz is so much heavier but less frequent.

Off topic, I'm from country Victoria in Oz and if I have to hear one more person tell me that my winter is warmer than summer in Ireland, I'll go insane :-)

hardCopy

Dublin is only the 10th rainiest city in Europe, with only 139 rainy days a year, way behind Amsterdam with 214, London with 226 and Copenhagen with a dismal 251. This really is very low when you consider that on many of those 139 days it may only rain for a few minutes.

Dublin is also dryer in millimetres of precipitation than Zurich, Milan, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Rome.

And that's just in comparison with other European cities.

http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/european.htm

Those stats only refer to Dublin, but then I do live in Dublin so it doesn't really matter if it rains in Connemara or Glenveigh every day (it doesn't, it rains 230 days a year in Galway, 183 days a year at Malin Head)

hardCopy

Dave! wrote: »

What are the stats on it raining any time you want to do anything fun or outdoorsy?

There's no such thing as bad weather, just poor choice of clothes!

woodoo

Interesting map of misery rain in Ireland:
http://www.met.ie/climate/rainfall.asp

The average number of wet days (days with more than 1mm of rain) ranges from about 150 days a year along the east and south-east coasts, to about 225 days a year in parts of the west. So don't be upset when we don't get sunny summers.

Madam_X

hardCopy wrote: »

There's no such thing as bad weather, just poor choice of clothes!

Don't agree. Bad weather makes you feel down. It's howling wind outside, been dark since way earlier than it would be if there wasn't so much cloud, the rain is bucketing.

That is bad weather.

Lawrence1895

Blame it on the Germans. Heinrich Boell wrote about it in his book 'Irish Diaries'

thomasj

The simple fact is for this year we've had a dry cold winter and a wet wet summer!

While people don't care that its dry in the winter (in fact look at the amount of people on the weather forum looking for snow) the summer is that people want dry warm days and we don't get it so people moan and that's where we get the reputation