Ireland's Weather Facts

sryanbruen

Have you got any fascinating or interesting weather facts to share based in Ireland? I would love to know some. Here are some I thought I'd share.

1. Hurricane Charley of 1986 hit Ireland on the same day (August 25th) a similar rainstorm hit the east of the country in 1905.
2. The remarkably good Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.
3. Each Christmas Day that started on a Saturday since 1993 have had a White Christmas at least somewhere in Ireland.
4. On 14 May 1993, parts of the country had their coldest May day on record with maximums of only 5 or 6c in places (Dublin recorded a maximum of 6.1c).

I can't think of any others right now, but if I do I will share them. Don't forget to share yours!

FWVT

Charley was not a hurricane but I do remember that night well and seeing the flooding in Duleek the next day.

The famous thunderstorm of 26th July 1985 was during the early hours of a Friday morning. Friday sounds like Fryday, and a lightning strike during the storm fried the electrical devices in our home!

Jpmarn

September 2014 was warmer than all three summer months in 2015 at Shannon Airport. September 14 averaged 15.2c while July the warmest this year 14.7c.

kstand

2. The remarkably good Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.

Can you elaborate on this please?

Rikand

kstand wrote: »

2. The remarkably good Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.

Can you elaborate on this please?

Good summers dont happen on leap years ?

Captain Chaos

kstand wrote: »

2. The remarkably good Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.

Can you elaborate on this please?

They all have the same calendar year. For example 1st of May 89, 95 and 06 were all Mondays.

sryanbruen

kstand wrote: »

2. The remarkably good Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.

Can you elaborate on this please?

Days the month started on each of those years
1989, 1995, 2006
June: Thu, Thu, Thu
July: Sat, Sat, Sat
Aug: Tue, Tue, Tue

pauldry

December 24th 2010 recorded a lower maximum day temperature anywhere in the Northern Half of Ireland than any Winter has recorded a minimum nighttime temperature anywhere in the Northern Half of Ireland since.

Try to beat that for confusing!! Hee Hee

sryanbruen

Jpmarn wrote: »

September 2014 was warmer than all three summer months in 2015 at Shannon Airport. September 14 averaged 15.2c while July the warmest this year 14.7c.

I love this fact.

sryanbruen

For the first time in my records, I could have my first year when January is sunnier than October. This has never happened before in my records. October is currently at 86 hours of sunshine, whilst January has 94 hours.

PukkaStukka

FWVT wrote: »

The famous thunderstorm of 26th July 1985 was during the early hours of a Friday morning. Friday sounds like Fryday, and a lightning strike during the storm fried the electrical devices in our home!

Ahh I remember that night so well. It's a pity it couldn't be framed and hung on a wall!

sryanbruen

Rikand wrote: »

Good summers dont happen on leap years ?

Well 2000 wasn't that bad and neither was 1992 but yeah good fact!

Red Kev

Rikand wrote: »

Good summers dont happen on leap years ?

1976 was epic.

FWVT

Can someone please post definitions of the following:

-Good summer
-Bad summer
-Good winter
-Bad winter

I have yet to see a meteorological explanation of what "good" means. One man's good is another man's bad.

sryanbruen

Red Kev wrote: »

1976 was epic.

Oh yeah one BIG exception!

sryanbruen

FWVT wrote: »

Can someone please post definitions of the following:

-Good summer
-Bad summer
-Good winter
-Bad winter

I have yet to see a meteorological explanation of what "good" means. One man's good is another man's bad.

My definitions

-Good summer: Has to have at least one two-week long warm spell (20c or more) as well as plenty of sunshine (10 hours or more) and very little rainfall. Past good summers here: 1976, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2003, 2006, 2010 (the only good Summer from the infamous period of bad summers), 2013 and 2014. Some average summers can also be called good summers like 1992 and 2000.

-Bad summer: At least TWO of the summer months are much cooler than normal (2011 and 2015 for example). Very heavy rainfall at times (1986 and 2012 for example). Very dull overall (2012 for example).

-Good winter: The season as a whole is at least 110% of normal sunshine, less than 90% of normal rainfall and -0.8c or more below average temperatures with plenty of snowfall. Winter 2010/11 was a great example!

-Bad winter: Frequent storms or rainfall with above average temperatures and sunshine - not that much but mostly duller than normal! Winter 2013/14 was a good example!

So everybody's definition is different and these are just my definitions - please don't argue. :rolleyes:

sryanbruen

Okay, so all my facts I could think of, together

Weather Facts

In Autumn 1989, Valentia Observatory recorded its highest temperature on November 14th with 19.8c.
November 1st, 2015 recorded the highest November temperature on record in both the UK and Ireland. The UK recorded 21.8c whilst Ireland recorded 20.1c
The record-breaking hot, dry and sunny Summers of 1989, 1995 and 2006 all have the same calendar.
Dublin Airport has recorded 11 consecutive colder than normal months from December 2014 - October 2015.
Since 1993, each Christmas that fell on a Saturday was a White Christmas in Dublin.
On November 3rd, 2015, Yemen recorded 10 years worth of rainfall due to a very strong and stormy cyclone with over 300mm and 160km/hr winds as it made landfall.
On October 23rd, 2015, Mexico recorded the strongest hurricane ever recorded named Hurricane Patricia. It made landfall with 160mph winds, a maximum pressure of only 879hPa - lowest ever and rainfall up to 500mm. It was a category 5 major hurricane too.
Though 2010 is remembered by many as the last heavy snowfall and proper Winter, it is not! In fact, the last proper Winter with snowfall and cold temperatures was way back in February 1991.
Under very heavy rainfall / snowfall / sunshine, Dublin Airport recorded the following as maximum temperatures:
24 Sep 2012: 9.3c
14 May 1993: 5.8c
25 Dec 2010: -4.2c
11 Mar 2013: 0.1c
2 Apr 2013: 3.7c
6 Jun 2009: 9.4c
28 Nov 2010: -1.1c
1 Jul 1997: 11.4c
25 Aug 1986: 10.9c
28 Oct 2008: 4.9c
April was sunnier than any other month in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Hurricane Charley of 1986 hit Ireland on the same day (August 25th) a similar rainstorm hit the east of the country in 1905.
September 2014 was warmer than all three summer months in 2015 at Shannon Airport. September 2014 averaged 15.2c while July the warmest this year 14.7c.
After the stunning Summer of 2006, Ireland had a run of 3 very poor Summers from 2007-2009.
Rarely a leap year's Summer is a good one. One big exception: 1976
January 2015 was sunnier than October 2015 in Dublin.
Before 2015 broke the highest November temperature record in both the UK and Ireland, the last record was set way back in 1946.
In August 1995, Kilkenny recorded 25c or more on every single day.
There is a 45% more chance for it to snow in March compared to December. (The Marches from 2006-2010 all had at least a few sprinkles of snow at some point)
A good Summer happens every 4.3 years in Ireland.
If a June starts on a Saturday, July on a Monday and August on a Thursday, it is 75% likely, that it will be a poor Summer comparing with recent occurrences. Example: 1985 and 2002 both had the same calendar and were extremely poor Summers whilst 1991 was another year with the same calendar but it wasn't great nor very bad - it was just average and it seemed poor overall by the feel of it. 1996 was a similar event as it had the same calendar but it wasn't a great nor very bad Summer.
Junes that start on a Friday haven't been good at all weather wise since 1973.
Ireland had record breaking Summer-like temperatures at the last week of March 2012 with maximums above 20c. Whilst exactly a week later, a northerly airstream set in at the beginning of April and maximums did not get above 5c in places. So whilst places were under very warm and sunny conditions at the end of March, at the beginning of April, places had either dull, wet and cool conditions or sunny spells with some snow showers.
Many find Summer 2015 one of the worst Summers ever recorded but apart from breaking some sunshine records of how dull it was in parts of the west, overall it was a pretty average Summer!
Rainfall was recorded over some parts of the country on each day between June 11th and July 29th 2007.

1. Christmas Day 2010 was the coldest Christmas Day on record.
2. Christmas Day 2011 was the warmest Christmas Day on record.
3. Christmas Day 2011 was over 20c warmer than Christmas Day 2010.
4. December 2011 was a good 5c warmer than December 2010.
5. East Anglia had one of its dullest Winters on record during Winter 2010-11 whilst we had our second sunniest (NOW) Winter on record.
6. We had one of our dullest Winters on record during Winter 2011-12 whilst East Anglia had one of its sunniest.
7. During December 2011, daffodils and other flowers that normally grow in Spring were grown because of the warm weather.
8. March 2012 was our warmest March on record.
9. March 2013 was our coldest March on record.
10. July 2013 was over 6c warmer than July 2012 in terms of maximum temperatures.
11. Temperatures at Nadym on 12 June 2013 were over 25c and they dropped to only -1c on the 14 June.
12. Many people thought that an event of heavy snow and very cold weather like in November 2010 very rarely happens. As a matter of fact, the last such event that took place was only 2 years ago back in 2008.
13. April 2011 was the warmest April on record.
14. April 2012 was one of the coldest on record.
15. Cairngorm in Scotland recorded a gust of 162mph on 8 December 2011 during Hurricane Bawbag.
16. The worst October flood on record in Dublin was recorded on the same day (Monday 24th) the next year in 2012 in September when the worst September storm for decades was recorded with flooding rain like the October event.

Sorry, I don't know why the last ones are numbered.

sryanbruen

Oneiric 3 have you got any other weather facts to share?

sryanbruen

December 2015 was the wettest month on record beating the previous record in November 2009.

^ Forgot to post this. Feel free to post other weather facts you know.