Is there ever a whole sunny day in Ireland?

Eugene Norman

armabelle wrote: »

Ok well that is what I am hoping for in summer. Actually am hoping for more than one day of sunshine a week

I did believe that Ireland was a country with generally wet weather but I didn't expect to have 2 days of whole sunshine in nearly 3 and a half months. Wikipedia shows rainfall and general temperatures and doesn't really tell you what my experiences have been thus far. Also, very wet weather for me is weather where you only get one or two days of sunshine a week. 1 or two days of whole sunshine in 3 - 4 months is a whole other level.

Out of interest, in which other important world cities is the weather this bad, or worse?

It was actually a very dull wet winter. By historical standards. Even for Ireland.

Schadenfreudia

armabelle wrote: »

then either it has been a very uncommon year or these "sunny" days happen in may onwards.

They can happen in any season; they are most common in April and May and least common in autumn...but seasonal differences are marginal.

The experience of the current year tells almost nothing about the "normal". We can easily have a month without a single "full sunny" day and at another time several such days in a row.

another36

shamrock2004 wrote: »

It was 2007. The reason I remember was because rihanna's song 'umbrella' was just released on the radio and people were texting radio stations asking them to stop playing it as it rained every single day after that song was released! I also remember buying an around-the-world air ticket at that time and getting the hell out of here for a few months

It was also non stop rain in the summer of 2008. I remember it so clearly because we went on holidays in June and when we came home it rained for July / August.

So much so I ended up feeling depressed by mid August I even went to the dr to discuss it. And he said the weather was definitely having an effect on ppl mood levels.

regi3457

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Feeling and being are two entirely different concepts. Head on over the the IIEA and see for yourself just how well paid our establishment is compared to other European countries in proportion to population and hours worked.



What? Suicide is a very real and serious problem in this country - especially in rural Ireland. The question is, why would this be. There is clearly something inherently wrong in Irish society that spurs on such extreme measures by people. To dismiss this as not being a big social concern is absolutely absurd



Really? you state this as if it this was some sort of fact; when in fact it is nothing but pseudo-science that you pulled right out of your backside.

just because you don't like what i said doesn't make it any less true. Don't shoot the messenger. I have no bone to pick with the Irish weather and live here like all the rest. Vitamin D deficiency is a serious problem.

If you are even half willing to not deny it completely, then here are some reports.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/lack-of-sunlight-exposes-irish-to-severe-illnesses-210985.html
http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/press_office/news_of_the_day/irish-scientists-shine-a-light-on-vitamin-d-deficiency_en.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/05/vitamin-d-deficiency-sunlight-health

Discodog

doolox wrote: »

On the East Coast they get about 200 rainy days a year. The west Coast gets 300 rainy days a year. A good weather pattern depends on when you get your average of 40 depressions ( rain ) and 7 highs ( dry ) in any year. You should hope to get your high pressure events in June or July or August as this will bring warm sunny weather ( Warm = about 20 deg C ). Getting these highs in winter = frost, temps below 0 degrees. In order to have a mild frost free winter you should hope to have most of the depressions happening in the winter from Nov to March.

If the opposite happens and you get a series of depressions in the Summer then you can have very wet cold and useless summer where everyone has to stay indoors, stuff is hard to dry and gets mouldy you have to dry your laundry indoors all the time and get mould everywhere and everyone is in a foul mood.....

Because of its unpredictable weather Ireland has a very high rate of suicide, alcoholism, depression and people not inclined to plan too far ahead. Outdoor activities are not as plentiful as in other better countries and tend to be very active, hurling our national team sport is among the fastest games in the world. People play fast to stay warm. Our national dance is also very fast.

Whisky in Ireland and Scotland is known as the water of life as it was considered a lifesaver in the days before decent housing and central heating. The russians with their even more appalling climate have a similar calamatous relationship with alcohol due to the need to keep warm by any means possible.

Irelands climate is similar to the US northwest coast, Washington State and Oregan, dominated by rain. Also parts of the European low countries England and Scotland have rainy, depressing weather.

Where ? I have been in Galway for 15 years & I work outdoors. In a typical week there might be one day, from Mon to Fri, where it rains enough to effect my work. A bad week & it could be two days. I have known dry periods that last 10 days or more so I can't see how the 300 day figure can be accurate.

Schadenfreudia

regi3457 wrote: »

just because you don't like what i said doesn't make it any less true. Don't shoot the messenger. I have no bone to pick with the Irish weather and live here like all the rest. Vitamin D deficiency is a serious problem.

If you are even half willing to not deny it completely, then here are some reports.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/lack-of-sunlight-exposes-irish-to-severe-illnesses-210985.html
http://ec.europa.eu/ireland/press_office/news_of_the_day/irish-scientists-shine-a-light-on-vitamin-d-deficiency_en.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/05/vitamin-d-deficiency-sunlight-health

That's why we have so many redheads - their skin is a vitamin D manufacturing machine on steroids!

The rest of us will just have to suck more eggs.....

josip

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Chart from Met Eireann showing average annual sunshine totals over the island of Ireland:

How have they gotten that level of detail in the map since 1981?
Do they have Campbell Stokes recorders per square kilometer?
Or do they interpolate between their weather station data?

Very good ME page here
http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/sunshine.asp

OP, live as near to the east/south east coast as you can if you
Every hundred meters makes a difference.
If you're near the coast in Spring/Summer have a look at the clouds in the sky, invariably they will follow the coastline unless there's a strong wind.

Steve F

Sunspots have a huge effect on weather patterns and they seem to run in 11 year cycles.Trouble is can't remember the last time they were at their height.
Fact of life in Ireland is you will get one decent summer about once a decade
so average life you will get 7 or eight good summers unless you holiday abroad
Completely different lifestyles for other parts of the world where they have decent weather every summer and it's warm/hot from about late March to early October.Eat outside,swim outside,sleep outside(ha)The weather in these countries is never a topic of conversation.I remember when I was in Cyprus years ago whenever I opened a conversation with a local about the weather they looked at me like I had 2 heads.The hot dry weather there is taken for granted
The rain is a little warmer here in the summer if that helps tho?

Rebelbrowser

josip wrote: »

How have they gotten that level of detail in the map since 1981?
Do they have Campbell Stokes recorders per square kilometer?
Or do they interpolate between their weather station data?

Very good ME page here
http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/sunshine.asp

OP, live as near to the east/south east coast as you can if you
Every hundred meters makes a difference.
If you're near the coast in Spring/Summer have a look at the clouds in the sky, invariably they will follow the coastline unless there's a strong wind.

The colours on that map are very confusing. Is it getting less or more sunny as you get nearer the south and east coasts?

Edit - your link answers this question. Sorry....

joujoujou

Discodog wrote: »

Where ?

In the West.

My own station stats just for last 2 years:

2015 - 307 wet days.
2014 - 319 wet days.

Discodog wrote: »

I have been in Galway for 15 years & I work outdoors. In a typical week there might be one day, from Mon to Fri, where it rains enough to effect my work. A bad week & it could be two days.

That does not mean there was no rain at all the other days and/or you're well prepared to do your job even when it's wet.

Discodog wrote: »

I have known dry periods that last 10 days or more so I can't see how the 300 day figure can be accurate.

365-10=355. So still 55 days of dry weather left until 300 day figure.

josip

joujoujou wrote: »

In the West.

My own station stats just for last 2 years:

2015 - 307 wet days.
2014 - 319 wet days. That does not mean there was no rain at all the other days and/or you're well prepared to do your job even when it's wet.

365-10=355. So still 55 days of dry weather left until 300 day figure.

Do you live on the western slopes of Mweelrea?

joujoujou

josip wrote: »

Do you live on the western slopes of Mweelrea?

No.

sryanbruen

armabelle wrote: »

In march there was not one "sunny" day in Dublin... not one!

by the way, are you serious about this list...where did you get this info?

I live in Dublin (Grange, Dublin) and there were two sunny days in March - in your definition - the 14th and the big day itself, St. Patrick's Day the 17th. Read the first sentence in my post that you quoted again and get back to me when you do for seriousness.

My memory. I do a lot of things to remember these sunny days - because they don't last long in Ireland which is why you should make the best of them also.

JCX BXC

joujoujou wrote: »

In the West.

My own station stats just for last 2 years:

2015 - 307 wet days.
2014 - 319 wet days. That does not mean there was no rain at all the other days and/or you're well prepared to do your job even when it's wet.

365-10=355. So still 55 days of dry weather left until 300 day figure.

319 days?

Do you count days with a high RH as "wet" day too?

armabelle

sryanbruen wrote: »

I live in Dublin (Grange, Dublin) and there were two sunny days in March - in your definition - the 14th and the big day itself, St. Patrick's Day the 17th. Read the first sentence in my post that you quoted again and get back to me when you do for seriousness.

My memory. I do a lot of things to remember these sunny days - because they don't last long in Ireland which is why you should make the best of them also.

WHAT!! I had to run into starbucks on ST patricks day to avoid the rain on ST Patricks day with my family and also, the rest of the day was only partly sunny at certain times where at some times it was totally cloudy.

Are you sure you spent ST Patricks day in Dublin?

sryanbruen

armabelle wrote: »

WHAT!! I had to run into starbucks on ST patricks day to avoid the rain on ST Patricks day with my family and also, the rest of the day was only partly sunny at certain times where at some times it was totally cloudy.

Are you sure you spent ST Patricks day in Dublin?

Yes ask anybody. You were in your own world!

armabelle

sryanbruen wrote: »

Yes ask anybody. You were in your own world!

Ok I asked my wife as her memory is better than mine and she said that ST Patricks day it only cleared up in the afternoon. So that is half a day of sunshine. doesnt count

sryanbruen

armabelle wrote: »

Ok I asked my wife as her memory is better than mine and she said that ST Patricks day it only cleared up in the afternoon. So that is half a day of sunshine. doesnt count

There was NO rainfall on St. Patrick's Day ANYWHERE in Ireland. And plus I did not count St. Patrick's Day as a full day of sunshine (I said the 14th). I just said it was a sunny day. Dublin itself recorded around 6-7 hours of sunshine whilst my station had 10.1 hours of sunshine. If you look at March 2016's rainfall graph here you will see that neither of the three stations that it shows on the graph recorded any rainfall http://www.met.ie/climate/MonthlyWeather/clim-2016-Mar.pdf.

Ask other people here in the weather forum about the absence of rainfall on that day and that you are out of your mind if you think it was raining on that day.

armabelle

sryanbruen wrote: »

There was NO rainfall on St. Patrick's Day ANYWHERE in Ireland. And plus I did not count St. Patrick's Day as a full day of sunshine (I said the 14th). I just said it was a sunny day. Dublin itself recorded around 6-7 hours of sunshine whilst my station had 10.1 hours of sunshine. If you look at March 2016's rainfall graph here you will see that neither of the three stations that it shows on the graph recorded any rainfall http://www.met.ie/climate/MonthlyWeather/clim-2016-Mar.pdf.

Ask other people here in the weather forum about the absence of rainfall on that day and that you are out of your mind if you think it was raining on that day.

You are right that it did not rain on ST patricks day. I was wrong but it was cloudy half the day and this proves it

http://utv.ie/News/2016/03/16/Dont-rain-on-my-parade---St-Patricks-Day-weather-guide-55879

jeez you gotta admit though, here arguing about half a day of sunshine is pretty darn pathetic.

sryanbruen

armabelle wrote: »

You are right that it did not rain on ST patricks day. I was wrong but it was cloudy half the day and this proves it

http://utv.ie/News/2016/03/16/Dont-rain-on-my-parade---St-Patricks-Day-weather-guide-55879

jeez you gotta admit though, here arguing about half a day of sunshine is pretty darn pathetic.

Yeah I know but I had a full day of sunshine that day (but does not count for the whole of Ireland - which is why I only said March 14 2016 on the list!).

seamus

The funny thing is you don't realise when you're having a good run of weather until you're nearly out of it. But if it's been raining for two days, it feels like two weeks.

It really doesn't rain all that much on the east coast. I cycle to work every day so I'd be more conscious of the weather than a lot of others. There was a period early last Autumn, September to October, where it didn't really rain at all for a good 6 weeks. I never got rained on nor saw wet ground on my travels.

After that then it pissed pretty solidly for about 4 weeks and we got 4 or 5 five storms in a row. But that was quite exceptional even for Ireland.

And you probably won't believe me, but the March just gone was way drier than usual, around half the average rainfall for March.

Like I say, you don't notice it until it's already gone.

In terms of sunshine, you will see a lot more sunny days come early June. August and September are usually the best months for it.

sryanbruen

seamus wrote: »

The funny thing is you don't realise when you're having a good run of weather until you're nearly out of it. But if it's been raining for two days, it feels like two weeks.

It really doesn't rain all that much on the east coast. I cycle to work every day so I'd be more conscious of the weather than a lot of others. There was a period early last Autumn, around October to November, where it didn't really rain at all for a good 6 weeks. I never got rained on nor saw wet ground on my travels.

After that then it pissed pretty solidly for about 4 weeks and we got 4 or 5 five storms in a row. But that was quite exceptional even for Ireland.

And you probably won't believe me, but the March just gone was way drier than usual, around half the average rainfall for March.

Like I say, you don't notice it until it's already gone.

In terms of sunshine, you will see a lot more sunny days come early June. August and September are usually the best months for it.

This April has been the worst in the east coast though! I am already up to 53mm so far this month, 137% of my whole monthly LTA!

joujoujou

Carnacalla wrote: »

319 days?

Do you count days with a high RH as "wet" day too?

Only the ones where there was measurable amount of rain.

Oneiric 3

Number of totally dry days recorded at Met Eireann synoptic stations in 2015.

Clearly, Mayo got the arse end of the deal::p



Data sourced from Met.ie

Schadenfreudia

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Number of totally dry days recorded at Met Eireann synoptic stations in 2015.

Clearly, Mayo got the arse end of the deal::p



Data sourced from Met.ie

And to think of all the abuse some of us clinging to the East Coast got for simply reporting the facts!

mountainy man

According to my weatherstation in 2015 we had 266 rain days and 99 dry days, very similar to the crap results at Knock airport.

Also the max temp was 23.2C on 30th of June.

This thread is depressing lol.

JJayoo

armabelle wrote: »

Does it get better ever?

No

joujoujou

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

[...] Mayo got the arse end of the deal::p

[...]

Thank you very much for this. Being 11 km southeast from Knock airport I'm not surprised I got similar figures here.

sryanbruen

Has this thread suddenly become the quantity of wet days and dry days in Ireland? :rolleyes:

joujoujou

sryanbruen wrote: »

Has this thread suddenly become the quantity of wet days and dry days in Ireland? :rolleyes:

Not so suddenly, and of course not surprisingly either.