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Top of the Pops: Boards Weather Edition
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12-02-2025 01:15AM#1
Somebody was asking about a top of the pops for weather events on Boards. I thought it would be fun to have a look back at some of the event threads of the past and look at their posts/view counts. This might be the most pointless bit of stats I've produced on here though it took some effort. I manually went back through all the pages of threads so I hope you appreciate it - I remember using the old Boards that you could order threads by view count or comments. With the current Vanilla one, you can't as far as I'm aware.
For this, I considered main event threads where much of the discussion happened and secondary technical threads are also included where relevant. To do this, I listed the relevant threads under a specific event and put their titles into an Excel file with their view counts and number of comments beside each. The view numbers are not exact as Boards rounds the values on the thread list page and whilst I can see exactly how many comments there are by looking at the last comment of the thread, I do not know a way of seeing the exact view count so bear that in mind. I went back as far as the February 2009 cold spell. Before that, event threads were not really big enough or the Boards weather forum was in its relative infancy that none of them would land into the top rankings here anyway if I did consider them (I had a brief flick through to confirm this, not just saying it on the spot).
To start off, here's a list of the biggest event threads by view count. This is only on a thread by thread basis, there will be one on overall events/periods further down below. I will keep these to a top 5 and the final top of the pops listing to a top 10.
- "Severe Winter Weather, Snow/Ice - Sun 25th Feb (Onwards)" for Beast from the East 2018 with a view count of 1.8 million.
- "Severe Weather Snow / Ice Weds 28th FEB ( Onwards)" for Beast from the East and Storm Emma 2018 with a view count of 1.4 million.
- "National: Severe Cold/ Snow Discussion" for the second severe cold spell of December 2010 up to Christmas with a view count of 1.4 million.
- "Storm Ophelia - General Discussion/Local reports" for the remnants of ex-hurricane Ophelia in October 2017 with a view count of 1.2 million.
- "Cold Spell - Feb 7th to 13th 2021 - Chat" for the cold spell of early to mid-February 2021 with a view count of 984k.
Here's a list of the biggest event threads by comments or replies. These will be related to the above but a slightly different order.
- "National: Severe Cold/ Snow Discussion" for the second severe cold spell of December 2010 up to Christmas with a comment count of 11,827!
- "Severe Winter Weather, Snow/Ice - Sun 25th Feb (Onwards)" for Beast from the East 2018 with a comment count of 9,006.
- "Severe Weather Snow / Ice Weds 28th FEB ( Onwards)" for Beast from the East and Storm Emma 2018 with a comment count of 8,746.
- "Cold Spell - Feb 7th to 13th 2021 - Chat" for the cold spell of early to mid-February 2021 with a comment count of 6,575.
- "Storm Ophelia - General Discussion/Local reports" for the remnants of ex-hurricane Ophelia in October 2017 with a comment count of 6,399.
- Bonus: "Storm Éowyn - Fri 24.01.25" for the exceptional windstorm of Éowyn that broke national wind records in January 2025 with a comment count of 5,288.
Biggest event threads by weather type using view count. In some cases, there was overlap such as windstorms and rain but I separated them with the primary risk of said event. Others such as thunderstorms tended to have their discussion in a seasonal thread so may not be entirely reflective.
Cold and snow: "Severe Winter Weather, Snow/Ice - Sun 25th Feb (Onwards)" for Beast from the East 2018 with a view count of 1.8 million.
Windstorm: "Storm Ophelia - General Discussion/Local reports" for the remnants of ex-hurricane Ophelia in October 2017 with a view count of 1.2 million.
Summer heatwave: "Turning very warm/hot, heatwave conditions likely; Sunday 24th —>" for the record sunny and prolonged heatwave of late June and early July 2018 with a view count of 559.4k.
Rain: "Leinster flooding - 24th October 2011" for the historic floods in the east from record rainfalls in October 2011 with a view count of 201.4k.
Thunderstorms: "Thursday/Friday: Lightning Storms, Flash Flooding Event Thread" for an outbreak of thunderstorms on 25th/26th June 2020 with a view count of 112.3k.
Last but not least, this is the Top of the Pops: Boards Weather Edition. Drum roll please…..
At number 10, we have Summer 2018 which included some of the most prolonged dry, warm and sunny conditions from late May to mid-July 2018 that Ireland had seen since 1995. The total thread view count was 684.5k.
At number 9, we have Storm Éowyn which brought historic number of power outages across the country on 24th January 2025 with hardship particularly felt on midland, western and northwestern counties. New national wind records being set beating long standing records from 1945. The total thread view count was 737k and impressively did this with one single thread to consider unlike all the others in this top of the pops.
At number 8, we have the prolonged cold spell from mid-March to early April 2013 which encompassed a severe snowstorm for Northern Ireland and many snowfalls scattered throughout but rarely amounting to much culminating in the coldest March since at least 1962. The total thread view count was 738k.
At number 7, we have the remnants of ex-hurricane Lorenzo which broke records for being the easternmost Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. However, its effects were nothing remarkable on Ireland on 3rd/4th October 2019. The total thread view count was 854.5k.
At number 6, we have the February 2021 cold spell which brought cold easterly winds and later localised heavy snowfalls to parts of the west in the second week of the month. The cold and snow was not noteworthy otherwise. The total thread view count was 1.2 million.
At number 5, we have the cold spell from late December 2009 to mid January 2010 which brought frequent snowfalls and eventually record-breaking cold temperatures. The most prolonged cold spell of its kind since 1963 at the time. Its total thread view count was 1.8 million.
At number 4, we have the severe cold spell from 16 December 2010 and lasting up to Christmas which broke all kinds of cold temperature records bringing some of the coldest weather to Ireland in the past two centuries. On top of that, lots of snow for many with northern and southern counties at first before becoming focused on the east later. Its total thread view count was 2.09 million.
At number 3, we have the remnants of ex-hurricane Ophelia. Ophelia was the easternmost major Atlantic hurricane on record and brought record strong winds to the southern coast with severe damage whilst its impact for much of the country was mediocre compared to past storms. Its total thread view count was 2.1 million.
At number 2, we have the severe cold and snowy spell from late November to mid-December 2010 which broke all kinds of cold temperature records for both November and December. Plentiful snow fell throughout with a rare appearance of thundersnow. Its total thread view count was 2.5 million.
At number 1… we've got the Beast from the East and Storm Emma from late February and early March 2018 which brought exceptionally cold weather for the time of year. Cold that would be able to compete in severity for some of the most severe mid-winter spells on record on the Emerald Isle but the main thing was the snow. Storm Emma brought some of the deepest snow drifts seen in the south and east of Ireland since January 1982 with a smashing total thread view count of 4.7 million.
Photography site - https://sryanbruenphoto.com/
Post edited by sryanbruen on23
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