Irish Weather Statistics

nacho libre

sryanbruen wrote: »

That period was certainly a treat for record breaking.

I remember me and my father were out filling turf one afternoon- think it was the 18th, we thought we'd never see such cold in Ireland, the temperature was a balmy -3. It will take something special to beat those records you posted about- but if we do get a visit from our siberian friend, early January is the ideal time for it to happen!

Artane2002

nacho libre wrote: »

What a great night it was this time eight years ago. Hopefully we will see something like it in the new year. I hope some records will broken too, so you will have new stats to post about in here Sryan.

I went on holidays two days later so I missed out on the fun :rolleyes:. Came back in January to find everything gone.

sryanbruen

Artane2002 wrote: »

I went on holidays two days later so I missed out on the fun :rolleyes:. Came back in January to find everything gone.

Oh I would be so frustrated to miss out on it! January 2011 was nothing compared to what had occurred in the preceding two months but it was still a very nice month with decent severe frost and lovely crisp Winter sunshine. My favourite January actually.

sryanbruen

Here's how Christmas Day has fared over the years at Dublin Airport.

Wettest: 1956 with 28.9mm of rain
Lowest max. temp: 2010 with -3.3c
Highest max. temp: 1974 with 13.7c
Lowest min. temp: 2010 with -12.2c
Highest min. temp: 1988 with 10.8c

Highest mean temp: 1988 with 11.9c
Lowest mean temp: 2010 with -7.8c



Data comes from Met Éireann.

I plan to do Cork Airport too.

sryanbruen

sryanbruen wrote: »

I plan to do Cork Airport too.

As said above, I'd do Christmas Days at Cork Airport too. Here it is.

Wettest: 2015 with 29.3mm of rain
Lowest max. temp: 1962 with 0.7c
Highest max. temp: 2011 with 12.0c
Lowest min. temp: 1968 with -5.0c
Highest min. temp: 1973 with 10.0c

Lowest mean temp: 1962 with -2.0c
Highest mean temp: 1988 with 10.8c (2011 was 10.7c)



Data comes from Met Éireann.

Going to be a busy Christmas holidays for me as I have plenty of stats up my sleeve to do and some other projects behind the scenes.

sryanbruen

Time to talk about the coldest December on record in the CET series back to 1659..... December 1890.

December 1890 had a CET of -0.8c, this was only 0.1c colder than the second coldest December on record which was of course December 2010. Despite this, it was a far more unremarkable month in terms of the weather conditions and the actual temperatures outside of this CET. Before 2010, this was the most recent December to have a CET below zero.

This cold December was the continuation of a notable November cold spell in 1890 too - just like 2010. Greenwich had recorded a minimum of -7.6c on 29th November 1890 whilst Addington in Buckinghamshire observed -21.1c on the same day though the latter figure is disregarded from official records. For Ireland, the lowest known temperature recorded was -8.9c at Markree Castle on the 28th. Killarney had an air minimum of -8.3c on both the 28th and 29th. There was occurrences of heavy snowfall during the spell especially in the southeast of England.



The first day of the month doesn't look anything like what the CET would suggest. There is an organised Polar Vortex to the north of Europe with winds from a westerly direction over the UK and Ireland. What was a bit different with this chart was the low pressure over the Mediterranean especially Spain which disallowed the high pressure sinking southwards to here and the Atlantic to throw an onslaught at us.



In fact, the weather became largely high pressure dominated directly after the first day. Here's the 500mb height synoptic for the 4th December 1890 for example with an easterly flow bringing cold air across both countries. Away from the north of Scotland and parts of the west of Ireland, it was just cold and very dull.





Low pressure attempted to attack from the west at times, for instance on the 14th below. However, attempts tended to fail (with the exception of the 18th) as the high to the east squeezed out the low pressures or pushed them back into the Atlantic.



The middle part of the month looked like it was going to pull in some very cold air from the east but it just about failed as the Atlantic attacked leaving the cold air just missing the eastern coast of the UK.





Hereford in England got down to -14.4c on December 22nd whilst Kilkenny Castle got down to -7.8c on the 21st. Both of these temperatures were as a result of an area of high pressure. Around the same period December 21st to 23rd, a place called Stokesay (also in England) observed a minimum temperature of -17.2c.



There was two attempts at quite a bitter easterly flow at the end of December which resulted in some light snow for parts but in general, it was just a very dry, anticyclonic, cold and dull month.







In the easterly flows, the south and east of the UK were extremely gloomy. London had approximately a tenth of an hour's worth of sunshine all month during December 1890 easily making it the dullest month on record here. These dull conditions were also apparent in the east of Ireland with Dublin City having only 27.2 hours of sunshine during the month, just barely above Dublin Airport's record dullest December in 2002. Valentia Observatory at 44.1 hours of sunshine was actually relatively close to average whilst Stornoway in the northwest of Scotland had 50.2 hours of sunshine which is above its December average - remember that's a place where normally low pressure systems cross the majority of the time.

It was a relatively dry month for pretty much everywhere with a Scandi High evident.



Besides the very dull conditions and easterly flows, another reason why December 1890 could have been so cold was the polluted air blocking out the sun (also could be to blame for the very dull conditions especially in urban areas like London). This was more than 50 years before the Clean Air Act of 1956 was initiated in the UK.

Due to the dry nature, it wasn't a snowy month at all despite the cold air being there.

Data comes from the UK Met Office.

sryanbruen

Now here's every Christmas Day's temperature and rainfall data at Shannon Airport from 1945 to 2017.

Wettest: 1956 with 22.6mm of rain
Lowest max. temp: 2010 with 0.0c
Highest max. temp: 1955 with 13.8c
Lowest min. temp: 2010 with -11.4c
Highest min. temp: 2011 with 10.3c

What a turnaround with the minimum temperatures from 2010 to 2011.

Lowest mean temp: 2010 with -5.7c
Highest mean temp: 2011 with 11.8c

You couldn't find a more different pair of days as Christmas Day 2010 and 2011.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

pauldry

Cool Syran....again

With the prospect of very mild weather for the rest of December this year must be high up in the mildest ones yet.

Very little frost
Lots of days the temp has maxed at 12 or 13c

Christmas NIGHT now forecast to be 10c
With the right conditions your 13.8c could be in danger

Some outliers on the models have RED colours over Ireland for temperatures which potentially would mean 15c.

Unreal

pauldry

Actually 2015 seems to be the year

That year it was slightly milder than this year so far but with mild weather until early January it will be close.

IMT looks like it could be near 8c!

sryanbruen

pauldry wrote: »

Actually 2015 seems to be the year

That year it was slightly milder than this year so far but with mild weather until early January it will be close.

IMT looks like it could be near 8c!

I'll give a list of the mildest Decembers for different Irish stations soon for interest.

Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin has recorded only 17.5 hrs of sunshine during December 2018 up to the 21st.

Top 5 dullest Decembers for the station

1. 1971 - 27.1 hrs
2. 1975 - 27.2 hrs
3. 1977 - 29.2 hrs
4. 2002 - 29.3 hrs
5. 1996 - 29.4 hrs

The top 3 dullest Decembers for Casement were recorded during the 70s. With the rest of December 2018 looking cloudy, perhaps a new dullest December record or in the top 10 somewhere?

I'd wonder where Nov/Dec 2018 would fall in its top dullest November/December combinations. I'll find out tomorrow if I can.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

Artane2002

sryanbruen wrote: »

I'll give a list of the mildest Decembers for different Irish stations soon for interest.

Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin has recorded only 17.5 hrs of sunshine during December 2018 up to the 21st.

Top 5 dullest Decembers for the station

1. 1971 - 27.1 hrs
2. 1975 - 27.2 hrs
3. 1977 - 29.2 hrs
4. 2002 - 29.3 hrs
5. 1996 - 29.4 hrs

The top 3 dullest Decembers for Casement were recorded during the 70s. With the rest of December 2018 looking cloudy, perhaps a new dullest December record or in the top 10 somewhere?

I'd wonder where Nov/Dec 2018 would fall in its top dullest November/December combinations. I'll find out tomorrow if I can.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

I knew this had to have been one of the dullest Decembers on record. I guess it's cool to break another record if we do so even though I hate this weather?

nacho libre

Sryan, in the years ahead you should bring out a book full of weather lore. Your depth of knowledge and memory for detail is very impressive.

sryanbruen

Warmest Decembers for selected Irish synoptic stations and the December 2018 means up to the 21st in comparison.

December 2015 and 1988 take the cake generally for the mildest December followed by others like 1971, 1974 and 2016.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

With a sunshine total of 82.3 hrs up to December 22nd, Nov/Dec 2018 will not be the dullest Nov/Dec on record at Casement Aerodrome. It is sunnier than the two record dullest Nov/Dec in 2015 with 74.5 hrs and 1983 with 74.8 hrs.

As it stands, Nov/Dec 2018 is currently the third dullest on record at the station.

Sunniest was 2006 with 155.3 hrs.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

Been twenty one years now since this infamous storm and here is my historical post on it..... it's the Christmas Eve storm of 1997.

Synoptics show a depression with a minimum pressure of 972mb crossing Ireland during the 24th December 1997. This storm moved northeastwards and as it did so, it resulted in winds gusting to hurricane force over parts of Munster and storm force for places in Leinster. This was a very severe event and the worst storm that southern regions of Ireland had seen since at least the storms of January 1974 and gusts were also comparable to those of Debbie in September 1961.

Valentia Observatory equalled its record gust of 88 knots (163 km/h or 101 mph) with that of Debbie. As a comparison, Storm Darwin of February 2014 had a maximum gust of 74 knots (137 km/h or 85 mph). Shannon Airport had its windiest day since Debbie in 1961 with a gust of 83 knots (153 km/h or 95 mph) whilst Darwin recorded a gust of 86 knots (159 km/h or 99 mph) here so Darwin was slightly worse at Shannon Airport.



The following Irish Times article on 27th December 1997 says:

More than 15,000 homes are still without electricity this morning, including 4,500 in west Cork. The ESB says it could take more than 24 hours to reconnect supplies to all homes. Over Christmas, more than 135,000 homes were without electricity.

ESB crews worked flat out to repair fallen lines and two helicopters were drafted in to survey the damage. By yesterday morning, more than half of those who had lost power had it restored. The first fatality of the storm came at about 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, when Mr Damian Fogarty (19) died when a wall fell on him in Waterville, Co Kerry. In Cork, Mr Joe Ryan (56) from Deanwood Avenue, Togher, suffered a suspected heart attack and died as he was trying to cut away the branches of a tree trapping a family of four in their car.

Explaining Met Eireann's position, the spokeswoman said: "The details are often very difficult to pin down. From Saturday we were talking about very severe winds. The storm was developing in the Atlantic. Its exact position was very, very difficult. When it came closer, a severe weather alert was issued about midday on Christmas Eve."

Sailings to and from Britain were cancelled on Christmas Eve, flights from Dublin to Cork, Shannon, Galway and Tralee were also cancelled, buses were frequently diverted because of fallen trees and trains were delayed by up to three hours. Gardai warned motorists to avoid travelling unless it was absolutely necessary. DART services could operate only between Bray and Dun Laoghaire.

More than 135,000 homes were without electricity over Christmas. The worst-hit areas were Tralee, Kanturk, Killarney and south Kerry, west Cork, Limerick and Clare, including Ennis and Limerick city, Waterford and parts of Wexford and Wicklow, Tipperary town, Nenagh and Portlaoise.

The ESB had more than 1,000 staff out in shifts of up to 30 hours seeking to restore the lines. Apart from west Cork, those still in the dark include homes in parts of Limerick, Waterford and some areas along the east coast.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/two-die-as-severe-winds-cause-havoc-to-thousands-at-christmas-1.140629

Here's a table of maximum wind gusts for selected Irish stations (with multiple measurements).



Data comes from Met Éireann.

From December 1997 weather bulletin:





More articles on the event:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/when-storms-cause-endemic-creep-1.264460
http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/white%20manuscript%20lee.pdf
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.1477-8696.1999.tb03999.x
http://eprints.maynoothuniversity.ie/9121/1/ICARUS_ThreeCenturyStorm2002.pdf

The following warning below on the BBC was given between programmes.

Satellite taken at midday on Christmas Eve 1997.



A merry Christmas to all! Have a good one.

Artane2002

Good work Sryan as always and a merry Christmas to everyone. The NCEP chart and the video show something that looks really different. The gradient on the video is much tighter than on the chart. The times are different so I guess rapid intensification is the cause?

sryanbruen

I did a historical post on the Christmas Eve storm of 1997 so it's only fair that I do a post on the St. Stephen's Day storm of 1998 (for its 20th anniversary today).

This storm had similar gusts to the 1997 storm but on the opposite side of the country. The Christmas Eve storm of 1997 had its maximum wind gusts focused on Munster and Leinster whilst the maximum wind gusts were further northwards with the St. Stephen's Day storm of 1998.

On the 26th December 1998, a deep Atlantic depression with a central pressure of 950mb early on the 27th as it passed over Scotland (and an observation of 955mb at Malin Head) moved rapidly northeastwards during the day becoming explosive cyclogenesis as it reached Ireland. This meant that the storm system had a pressure drop of at least 21mb within 24-hours. In fact, the 955mb at Malin Head was recorded at 1700 UTC on 26th December after recording a MSLP of 1000mb at midnight which meant it had a pressure drop of 45mb in a 17-hour period, more than double the threshold required to be classified as explosive cyclogenesis or a weather bomb. Hurricane force winds were recorded at Malin Head whilst mainly storm force elsewhere in the north causing extensive damage, disrupting transport and power supplies. Due to soil being softened by the heavy rainfall of the preceding months especially October, trees were more vulnerable to the wind than they would normally be.





Maximum wind gusts on 26th December 1998 for selected Irish stations:



Here's another table but from Met Éireann showing the maximum gusts for more stations (plus Northern Ireland) during the storm along with the record max gusts and maximum 10-minute mean windspeeds too.



Irish Times article on 28th December 1998:

Two men are dead and 60,000 homes are still without electricity following the storm which struck Ireland on St Stephen's Day. Wind speeds recorded during the storm were the highest since the tail-end of Hurricane Debbie swept across Ireland in 1961.

The dead men, both of whom were in their early 20s, were killed in separate accidents when their cars were struck by falling trees. Mr Michael Joyce (23), from Claremorris, Co Mayo, died when the car he was travelling in was struck by a tree at Maam Valley in Co Galway on Saturday. The name of the 24-year-old man killed in the other accident at Comber, Co Down, was not being released by the RUC last night.

Winds gusted at hurricane force at the height of the storm. The highest gust recorded was 109 m.p.h. at Malin Head in Co Donegal. According to the Met Office, the worst of the weather affected the north-west, particularly counties Donegal and Sligo and parts of Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Longford.

Average wind speeds were of storm force, most being recorded as "violent storm force 11", according to the Met Office. The winds were generally stronger than during last year's Christmas Eve storm, although that storm, which mainly affected the south of Ireland, caused more damage, as the area it swept over was more populated.

While the Met Office expects the winds forecast for tomorrow to be less severe than on Saturday, they do "have the potential to be as bad".

Yesterday, some 160,000 ESB consumers in the midlands and the north-west were without electricity. The total without power was expected to be reduced to about 60,000 by nightfall yesterday.

ESB emergency repair crews in the area were being assisted by 150 crews drafted in from the southern region. However, an ESB spokesman said that snow and ice and generally poor weather conditions were hampering repairs. People living in parts of counties Meath, Cavan and Monaghan as well as in parts of the west and north-west were expected to have to wait until later today for power to be restored. Isolated areas where poles were blown down could be without electricity until tomorrow, according to the spokesman.

Telecom Eireann reported damage to its network in the Donegal and Sligo area. The number of people disconnected rose to just under 1,000 at the height of the storm. No more than "a couple of hundred" subscribers are expected to be without a telephone service today.

Several houses and part of a hotel in Co Donegal had their roofs blown off during Saturday's storm. The seaside resort of Bundoran was particularly badly affected, as were houses in exposed coastal locations.

A number of sporting fixtures were cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions. In Co Limerick, the four-day race meeting was abandoned, while the St Stephen's Day fixture at Down Royal was abandoned after the second race.

Householders whose homes have suffered storm damage are being advised by the Irish Insurance Federation that they should carry out temporary repairs to prevent further damage to buildings and contents.

"Householders who have suffered damage should contact their insurers as quickly as possible," the federation said. Many insurance companies have set up emergency "helpline" numbers for their customers and these are listed in advertisements which have been placed in today's national newspapers.

The federation said it wished to remind policy-holders that buildings and contents insurance will cover damage caused by the storm. Insurance companies will also usually meet the cost of temporary repairs, so it is advising householders to retain the relevant receipts from contractors.

Insurers will also pay for the cost of alternative accommodation, up to stated limits, in cases where a home has become uninhabitable due to storm damage. Damage to cars from falling trees, for example, would be covered if their owners have comprehensive motor insurance policies. Thirdparty, fire and theft policies - the type many motorists hold - do not cover storm damage, a spokeswoman for the federation confirmed. She emphasised that storms constitute a typical insurance risk and are not treated as an "act of God".

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/two-die-in-worst-storms-to-hit-ireland-since-1961-1.228917

Satellite image at midday on 26th December 1998.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

Since my post last week on mean temperatures for December 2018 (and their record warm Decembers) for selected Irish stations (see quote below), the mean temperature has risen further at Valentia Observatory, Co. Kerry. It's now at 9.6c. Its record is 10.0c in Dec 2015, just gonna fall short maybe or get close?

Three really mild Decembers in the space of 4 years - Dec 2015, 2016 and now Dec 2018 - ridiculous!

sryanbruen wrote: »

Warmest Decembers for selected Irish synoptic stations and the December 2018 means up to the 21st in comparison.

December 2015 and 1988 take the cake generally for the mildest December followed by others like 1971, 1974 and 2016.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

Maximum temperatures for selected Irish stations on 28 February and 1 March 2018. I will be doing 2 March and 18 March too for that period. I plan to do 27-29 June also.

Yes, this is my new way of doing these 'cause I have found how to do these maps simply in Powerpoint. I will always find different ways of presenting rather than sticking to the same thing.

sryanbruen

Up to December 28th, Dublin Airport has recorded 1538.5 hrs of sunshine. This makes it only the 21st sunniest year on record at the station back to 1942. Top 5 sunniest years:

1. 1959 - 1740 hrs
2. 2010 - 1717.7 hrs
3. 1955 - 1699.2 hrs
4. 1949 - 1663.7 hrs
5. 2006 - 1647.4 hrs

Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

Up to December 28th, Cork Airport has recorded 1529.6 hrs of sunshine. This makes it the 11th sunniest year on record at the station back to 1963. Top 5 sunniest years:

1. 2010 - 1772.3 hrs
2. 2001 - 1702.5 hrs
3. 2007 - 1632.0 hrs
4. 1968 - 1599.5 hrs
5. 1995 - 1581.6 hrs

Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

Here's a teaser to tomorrow's historical post.

https://twitter.com/snowwatchGB/status/1079434592464109568

https://twitter.com/SnowbieWx/status/1079436000865251335

sryanbruen

1995 had already been a vintage year for weather extremes in the UK and Ireland with an exceptionally wet and mild Winter, two notable tornadoes in March (including one in Meath on St. Patrick's Day), an extremely dry April, a Summer of droughts and heatwaves including two official heatwaves and the hottest month on record for Ireland (August 1995), a very warm Autumn (warmest on record for some at the time) and Winter 1995-96 was to start off similarly extreme.

Much of December 1995 had been mixed with changeable air masses. For example, Belmullet recorded a maximum temperature of 14.0c on the 3rd which became its highest temperature for December on record though this has since been beaten by 4 dates (see below).

Top 5 highest December temperatures on record at Belmullet.

Date|Maximum temperature
13 Dec 1998|14.9
14 Dec 1998|14.9
4 Dec 2007|14.3
18 Dec 2015|14.2
3 Dec 1995|14.0


Shannon Airport had a maximum of 15.0c on the 2nd, the highest temperature of the month. These mild conditions were down to southerly winds. Both days were very mild in Ireland with maxima widely between 13-15c. Notice the intense blocking over Scandinavia though.



The winds turned easterly on the 4th and resulted in outbreaks of hail, rain and snow showers. Snow was mainly on high ground in Ireland but it fell on some lower levels, mainly in the UK. Maximum temperatures by the 6th for some were only around 2 or 3c - remember it had been over 10c warmer than that just a few days before it. It was very sunny out west but damp and cold in the east due to the easterly wind.





The easterly got cut off for a time around the start of the second week but high pressure remained influential and by the 13th/14th, this high retrogressed setting up this block shown below. These were all signals that the atmosphere was acting very abnormal. The winds became increasingly easterly and cold air started to infiltrate into the east again resulting in mainly rain showers with snow on higher ground in Wicklow.



On the 19th, a Greenland High tried to set up and the winds attempted to go to a northerly but you can see a deep area of low pressure in the North Atlantic about ready to push up from the south to affect Ireland. In fact it did, the south had some very wet conditions from the 19th to 21st including a daily rainfall of 36.8mm at Cork Airport on the 19th.



Northerly to easterly winds continued to have a fight at pushing the low back southwards on the 20th resulting in a chilly day for the north of the country but again cloudy and wet further south. The low made its way northwards to all on the 21st reintroducing milder air for all parts. Further very wet conditions on both the 21st and 22nd.



Low pressure cleared to the east on the 23rd and allowed a northeasterly flow to take over. This caused conditions to become increasingly cold again and frost getting more severe each day.



The wind veered northerly on Christmas Eve and a trough developed within the cold air resulting in snow showers for some in the north and northwest. Maximum temperatures by this stage widely between 3-6c and minimum temperatures overnight going below freezing. Fairly gusty northerly winds with a 54 knot gust at Malin Head on this day.



The unstable northerly flow continued into Christmas Day with a White Christmas for a good few places including stations like Clones and Dublin Airport. Variable sunny spells. Maximum temperatures were below freezing for the majority of the day in the north midlands with an afternoon maximum of 0.7c at Clones. Severe frost overnight with more than 90% of the country recording air frost including -5.4c at Birr. It was the second of three White Christmasses in the 90s for Ireland - the other two being 1993 and 1999.



Winds became lighter on the 26th (as shown by the isobars below becoming less closely packed and more open) resulting in freezing fog over the midlands and more severe frost again. Snow showers continued in the north. Clones recorded an air minimum of -7.1c early on the 26th. Plenty of sunshine away from the midlands to be enjoyed.



The northerly winds remained light on the 27th to 29th before veering easterly and strengthening on the 30th as low pressure approached from the south giving away to some instances of freezing rain especially over the southwest of the UK. Clones recorded an air minimum of -11.0c on the 27th, its lowest for December on record and Letterkenny (Magherenan) recorded -13.3c on the 28th, also its lowest for December on record and any month since its records began in 1978. The latter value was the lowest December temperature in Ireland since 1961 and the lowest temperature for any month since January 1982.

Records were set in the UK. On the 29th, Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland recorded a maximum of only -15.9c which was the lowest maximum temperature on record for any month in the UK and 22 December 2010 came close at Altnaharra with a maximum of -15.8c. Altnaharra observed a minimum temperature of -27.2c on the morning of the 30th making it the joint lowest temperature on record of all-time for the UK - other days it was recorded being 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982. This also made it the lowest December temperature on record for the UK beating the previous record of -26.7c on 3rd December 1879.

Lowest temperatures for selected Irish stations during the spell.





Due to the frequent easterly and northerly winds, it ended up as the sunniest December on record (until 2010) in parts of the northwest including Belmullet. Was similar in some ways to the December 2000 cold spell although the December 1995 cold spell was more potent in Britain due to the lighter winds overall.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

January 2002 was a very mild month for Ireland and even record mild (including the mildest on record at Valentia Observatory) but New Year's Day began really cold and frosty. Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim recorded an air minimum of -9.4c. Ardee (Boharnamoe), Co. Louth got down to -8.9c whilst Kilkenny observed -7.5c. Derrygreenagh, Co. Offaly recorded a grass minimum of -14.2c. All these temperatures were the lowest for January in Ireland since 1982.

The picture is of volunteers doing the Bray Charities Swim on this day in 2002 despite freezing temperatures.





Data comes from Met Éireann.

Cork Boy 53

Happy New Year sryanbruen. Would you have time to post some stats on the Jan 1974 storm which is now 45 years ago? I remember there being a lot of damage from that event.

sryanbruen

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

Happy New Year sryanbruen. Would you have time to post some stats on the Jan 1974 storm which is now 45 years ago? I remember there being a lot of damage from that event.

Already have an article planned for both of the January 1974 storms .

So despite all the very dry weather during the Summer and severe drought, 2018 ended unremarkable in terms of rainfall due to January, April, November and December mainly. Saying that, some stations did have quite a dry year and it was the driest year since 2010, 2013 or 2016.



Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen

sryanbruen wrote: »

Since my post last week on mean temperatures for December 2018 (and their record warm Decembers) for selected Irish stations (see quote below), the mean temperature has risen further at Valentia Observatory, Co. Kerry. It's now at 9.6c. Its record is 10.0c in Dec 2015, just gonna fall short maybe or get close?

Three really mild Decembers in the space of 4 years - Dec 2015, 2016 and now Dec 2018 - ridiculous!

The mean temperature at Valentia Observatory for December 2018 ended at 9.9c, falling 0.1c short of its record of 10.0c in December 2015. Nevertheless, it was the second warmest December on record at the station back to 1939 though its records began in 1892.

Billcarson

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the coldest recorded irish temp of the 20th century. 2nd Jan 1979 -18.8c in Lullymore County kildare.
I was only 5 at the time. I have vague memories of that particular spell and that particular winter.

sryanbruen

Billcarson wrote: »

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the coldest recorded irish temp of the 20th century. 2nd Jan 1979 -18.8c in Lullymore County kildare.
I was only 5 at the time. I have vague memories of that particular spell and that particular winter.

Thanks for the reminder, I forgot.

My Winter 1978-79 historical post can be read about here (since some enthusiasts were so eager to see it at the time ): https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108588671&postcount=801

Billcarson

sryanbruen wrote: »

Billcarson wrote: »

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the coldest recorded irish temp of the 20th century. 2nd Jan 1979 -18.8c in Lullymore County kildare.
I was only 5 at the time. I have vague memories of that particular spell and that particular winter.

Thanks for the reminder, I forgot.

My Winter 1978-79 historical post can be read about here (since some enthusiasts were so eager to see it at the time ): https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108588671&postcount=801

Hi Sryanbruen the link won't work for me. What page is it on? Cheers.