Curious to know which parts of Ireland get the most intense thunderstorms?

Stundon93

Hello everyone. So as the title says, I was curious to know which parts of Ireland get the most intense thunderstorms? Since I live in the Limerick area I would be especially interested in this region in particular. I remember specifically August 2004 was an especially thundery month. I remember the thunderstorms of August 2nd 2004 in Limerick, which was a bank holiday Monday. There were more thunderstorms around August 10th and 11th 2004, and also August 24th 2004. Then there were the severe thunderstorms of August 31 2005 which I mentioned previously. May 11th 2006 and May 18th 2006 were also memorable thunderstorms in Limerick. There was large hail and frequent thunder in that storm on May 18th. I was not in the country for many of the 2009 storms, but I remember reading about a severe mesoscale convective system that moved through eastern Ireland on July 2nd 2009 around 4 a m which caused major flooding throughout Dublin in particular. July 2014 was another thundery month for Ireland , but I missed out on those storms. Then there were the intense thunderstorms of June and August 2020, July 23rd 2021, August 14 2022, and amazing thunderstorms in June 2023, particularly around June 13th and 14th, and again on the 17th.

I think we had 8 consecutive days of thunderstorms last June and Limerick and Offaly had the bulk of these. We had thunderstorm activity here in mid Tipp last June but it wasn’t anything to write home about. August 14th 2022 had a nationwide orange warning before the thunderstorms arrived but it turned out to be a damp squib in most areas.It was mainly confined to Limerick and coastal counties, although it was reportedly severe near the Lough Derg area of Tipp.July 23 rd 2021 was after the 9 day heatwave.It was again disappointing for my area.Even though Thurles was flooded that evening there was very little thunderstorm activity.There was a warning out that day for violent thunderstorms in North Tipperary, Limerick and Galway.I don’t recall any thunderstorms in my area in 2020.I was gone away for the July 2014 but I hear it was a very thundery month here.Leaving out 1985 and 1986,by far the biggest thunderstorm in Mid Tipp was Monday 29th July 1991.It was 27C and cloudy all day.Half 9 that night it started, it was literally a flash a second, like something out foreign. It ended shortly after 8 the following morning with a massive hailstorm which caused considerable damage especially on the two mile Borris area of Thurles.There has been nothing remotely like it since in my area.Back to more recent times I think there was severe thunderstorm activity in Cork in and around May or June of 2018. Overall though to answer your question, yes Limerick would be one of the counties in Ireland that would get the most thunderstorms

We don’t seem to get the thundery lows coming up from Biscay with the frequency that they used to. The July 29th 1991 thunderstorm was a front coming up from the south East that stalled.The Rte forecast that evening gave isolated thundery rain spreading from the south east but it ended up being one of the biggest thunderstorms my area ever got. Generally though the trend for thunderstorms seems to be gone downwards. I don’t know if it’s situational or not, the setups are not happening like they used to. I remember a few years ago M.T. Cranium was forecasting severe thunderstorms in Northern Ireland.All the parameters were there but nothing happened.He said afterwards that even though temperatures are rising , dew points are not as high as they used to be and this is the cause of thundery weather not materializing. I am open to correction on this but I’m nearly sure that’s what he said. Anyway fingers crossed that 2024 will bring us a thundery summer to remember.

Stundon93

Very interesting! Yes, for me August 31 2005 was a very interesting event. I brought it up a few times , the thunder was some of the loudest thunder I had ever heard in Limerick!

What I found especially interesting was the setup. The classic Spanish plume normally has thunderstorms confined to SE England, and not effecting Ireland or the western have of England. , and the surface low pressure systems are normally either located over N France/SE England. But in this case, according to the Estofex convective outlook, a surface low moved from the northern Bay of Biscay to SE Ireland. Think that was a very similar setup to the July 1985 event?

nacho libre

What about May 2001? That was a classic Bay of Biscay event. It happened during the night too to make it even better.

Stundon93

Oh, I have no recollection of the May 2001 event. Was this early May 2001?

nacho libre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122043708#Comment_122043708

It was early in the month. There was thunder rumbling in the distance for about an hour before the main event. At its peak there was fork lightning in all directions. The one other detail that stood out was the lack of really heavy rain with it.

The Continental Op

Just empirically from the amount of amount of lightening damage I've seen done to computers I'd be checking up Kilkenny and areas around the river Barrow to see if they were high on any list.

Stundon93

Kilkenny seems to get a fair few thunderstorms alright. I found footage of major thunderstorms around Kilkenny around July 24th 2013.

JCX BXC

I've noticed that convective activity seems more frequent into northern Ireland

Stundon93

That is very interesting. You would think it would be more frequent further south? I remember a severe thunderstorm event in Northern Ireland on August 22nd 2017.

looksee

Memories of living in Kilkenny and surrounds for some 20 years, we had some spectacular thunder storms, as well as the hottest hot weather and the coldest cold. I get the impression there are not as many thunder storms in recent years/decades.

PokeHerKing

I've been caught in some serious heavy convection on the N7 around Naas multiple times over the past few years

JCX BXC

Curiously enough also, a section of the M18 motorway between Crusheen and Gort is prone to accidents due to Hail!