Summer 2024 - General Discussion

JCX BXC

The max would generally always occur during daytime hours, making it irrelevant, the result would be the same if it was only daylight hours recorded or over a full 24hrs.

It would be the full 24hrs also.

compsys

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122573168#Comment_122573168

In Dublin at least it was a fairly normal summer to me. Not the best. Not the worst. Our expectations are always way too high. And it'll be the same this winter when we wish for snow…

But it's a valid point re. the weather that proceeded the summer. Because it was quite poor it probably made the summer feel even worse to a lot of people as we were craving sun.

So in isolation the summer was OK in Dublin at least. But given what proceeded it, it felt worse to a lot of people.

The summer in the West and North was generally poor though. Three months of below average temps and much wetter than the capital.

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122572728#Comment_122572728

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122572736#Comment_122572736

absolutely, an even more annoying cohort of fantasists. wanting the country under freezing temps so they can look out at a couple of flakes.

.Donegal.

Poor summer for west Ulster. It’s wetter and duller than east Ulster to begin with so a huge contrast when you consider above average rainfall out west and below average in the east.

August below very wet in west

.Donegal.

Sun out now after a dreary day

Kutebride

Waiting for clearance ………………….ugly heavy drizzle Meath.

14° Meath

glightning

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122574754#Comment_122574754

Found this article today. UK rated it the coolest in 9 years. And dull.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cdd7pzdr22jo

glightning

Skies finally cleared here around 7pm (County Antrim)

glightning

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122574778#Comment_122574778

Skies finally cleared here around 7pm (County Antrim)

Robwindstorm

Skies cleared in Co meath around 7pm after a dark miserable day

Robwindstorm

Nice sunset though !

Robwindstorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122575740#Comment_122575740

glightning, we made a mistake. Forgot to put our posts on the Autumn thread 🙄

Meteorite58

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122575867#Comment_122575867

Did it myself earlier

Autumn thread now open

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058367170/autumn-2024-general-discussion

Thunder87

Officially the second wettest August nationally and the wettest on record in the north west, while the south east was actually drier than normal. Also the coldest summer since 2015

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41469553.html

Elmer Blooker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583122#Comment_122583122

before I even do any research I’m 99% certain that the Dublin area was the driest part of the country and a lot drier than the south east ..

sryanbruen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583122#Comment_122583122

Would love to know where this claim of it being the second wettest August nationally comes from as I fail to see it mentioned in the Met's actual statement. All I see is a mention of 114% of average and two stations had their wettest August on record (Knock Apt and Malin Head).

Augusts 1985 and 2019 were almost certainly wetter on the national average as both featured nationwide wetter than average conditions whilst the east and south were rather dry in 2024. August 2008, 2020 and 2023 I'd bet were wetter too.

This distribution of % of avg does not scream nationally the 2nd wettest on record.

joebloggs32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583426#Comment_122583426

Was thinking the same myself about that claim.of August being the wettest on record. Maybe it was the case in a couplebof stations but no way was it nationally. I was boating on the Shannon last August and the river was topping the banks from the rain. This year the water levels are nowhere near that level.

compsys

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-county-with-the-most-rain-and-lowest-temperature-as-met-eireann-reveals-summer-was-coldest-for-nine-years/a607373888.html

"It was a summer of poor weather overall with this June recorded as Ireland’s coldest ever on record, while this August was the second wettest ever recorded."

Surely it wasn't the coldest June on record either?

Surprised to see Dublin had above normal sunshine this summer. It didn't feel overly sunny. But it goes to show how ridiculously high our expectations are each year - even an above average year feels 'poor'.

secman

I remember a stat from ME stating May 24 was the warmest May on record, as a keen cyclist I was in disbelief at that stat as i recall how long the transition from winter kit to full summer took, definitely well into May. I also recall May of the first covid lockdown, everyone and their mother bought bikes to use during the glorious weather we had in May that year 2020.

August 24 did not seem as wet as August 23 at all. Sometimes I think ME put out stats to fuel Climate change debate.

OldRio

No surprise to those who live in the North West about our atrocious 'summer'

Sunshine blue skys and a biting northerly wind this morning. 10C. Leitrim.

sryanbruen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584117#Comment_122584117

But the data is out there for you to see that it was the warmest May on record in terms of mean temperature - a combination of the average daily max and average daily min temps and has been used as the teller of how warm or cold a month was since the beginning of climatological record keeping. Modern climate has shown this is not a definitive way of doing so and we should be looking more at the details with many many months breaking records from old months due to milder than average nights. May 2024 was a combination of both day and night being well above average which people can't seem to grasp but nights were slightly more exceptional.

May 2020 had an exceptionally warm second half but the first half was cool due to some notably cold nights in the second week. This was what held it back and days were quite cool during this time too with a northerly despite the sunshine. Let's take Phoenix Park for example which has records back to 1855 and has the longest standing temperature series in the Republic. I've outlined the data on a graph below comparing May 2020 and May 2024 here.

Both had well above average daily max temperatures and were very similar with 2024 just 0.1C warmer but the difference at night was massive. May 2024 was more than 2.5C above May 2020 in this regard. Look how far below the dark blue line (the May 2020 daily mins) was from anything in 2024 in the second week of May 2020. 2024 didn't even get below 5C at any point. That's exceptional for May and was the prime player in why May 2024 was the warmest on record but make no mistake, the days themselves were still well above average. The daily May avg is only 15C and most days were above that especially mid-month.

May 2024 was also cloudier than average which would have played a part in making the nights mild as with cloud cover, air doesn't have time to radiate back into space.

sryanbruen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583648#Comment_122583648

What a load of misinformed nonsense.

June was not even close to the coldest on record. It was distinctly average in the east for modern climate (which would be warmer than average years back) whilst other places were below par but nothing exceptional.

Casement had above avg sun but Dublin Apt was below avg. The summer was typified I found by a lot of days with sunnier mornings or days with cumulus clouds building and building until the afternoon to greater or lesser extent depending on how close to the coast you were. Rather typical but felt very frequent this summer especially giving daily totals usually within 5-9 hours. There was a distinct lack of very sunny days. June 19th (rather hazy-ish), July 8th (cool and windy), August 30th and 31st are the only days that come to mind of such.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122583470#Comment_122583470

To be fair the Shannon was low this year after 3 months of relatively dry (compared to LTA) from May-July 2024. And last July was exceptionally wet which is why you experienced those floods.

But yes I didn't think August 2024 was record breaking in terms of rainfall (2nd wettest reports).

compsys

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584482#Comment_122584482

Well said.

All I'll add is that the max LTA for May in Ireland is barely 15º. Yet some define May as summer and expect temps way higher.

So even a warm May is still going to feel cool to many.

There was no record breaking heat in May but nearly every day was around 16º or 17º - so above the LTA. It all added up to a warm month overall by Irish standards.

In many ways it was remarkable that we had such mild temps given the relatively poor overall synoptics. It's the same for this August. The East ended up with slightly above average temps. So it just goes to show how warm the climate is getting that even during a very average summer, with cool northerly winds, we're getting above average temps in some places.

Robwindstorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584482#Comment_122584482

Was it May 1989 or May 1990 that had a hot spell. Just can't remember which !

sryanbruen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584904#Comment_122584904

Both were very warm with record-breaking warmth. I did a retrospective on the summer of 1989 this year which includes May that you can find in the historical stats thread here: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354968/#Comment_122354968

Valentia had 26.9C in May 1989 - the highest May temp in Ireland since 1922 but Ardfert would end up reaching 28.4C in May 1997, an all-time national May record. Birr had 25.7C in May 1990 as early as the 3rd which was a station record and others like Shannon and Dublin had their May records broken until some later years like 2010 and 2017.

Both months were rather similar, dry, warm and sunny but May 1989 was on another level. 1989 was probably the best May in Cork to this day… just 8mm, 250 hrs of sun and a mean temp over 2C above average.

Robwindstorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122585841#Comment_122585841

Thanks syran. I actually was reading back an archive piece you done for them years back here on 2019.

I member two 'young ones' sunbathing on a beach in Dublin, photographed on the front page of the Irish indo. In May 1989.

Edgardo.

I feel cold just looking at it.

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/bungalow-aisling-davis-road-clonmel-co-tipperary/5834194

NIMAN

What a day today! Glorious.

And same for tomorrow apparently, may actually be warmer. Shame I'm workikg.

But sunshine and bone dry for 3 successive days. If only we could have it more often.

Rugbyf565

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122584515#Comment_122584515

You’re wrong, met eireann have confirmed it https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024/09/04/met-eireann-coldest-summer-in-nine-years-is-part-of-natural-variability/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFG5p9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHboYmGCy3GV3b_FGTsmG4Hn7Yg2DeR9VAJQMA6wQ593EJ1gstWYQo5z7Eg_aem_SevGLivGmwPvL7oagyaIfQ#