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Child Item

Severe Thunderstorm July 25th/26th 1985

Danno

Looking at the weather today, I expected a re-run of that famous night in 1985 when Ireland was blitzed by lightning. It almost came off, as most of the Shannon region was hit today.

Anyone with memories of that famous night? I would love to hear them! Please post!

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Mayo Exile

Thermal infrared satellite image at 0400 on 26 July 1985.

Credit to: NERC Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, Scotland
Link: http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/

torrentum

25 years ago today since that storm.
Will we ever see anything like it again??

(Thanks to Deep Easterly for the reminder)

Mr Benevolent

torrentum wrote: »

25 years ago today since that storm.
Will we ever see anything like it again??

Very likely.

Realtine

omg I've only just noticed this thread and I can tell you I remember that night very well. My boyfriend and myself were living in a basement bedsit in Belgrave square Rathmines at the time and I love thunderstorms so I was super excited when it started. I insisted on going outside and walking around the square dragging himself reluctantly behind me - very shortly after we realized that this wasn't going away and wasn't like our usual 10 minute storm - we legged it back to our basement hovel and sheltered under the barred up window realising that we were actually living in a death trap - there was only one way in and out and if the electrics were hit or the house went on fire we were probably done for because there was only one way out through the front door and as I said the one window we had was barred on the outside.
was there some concert on that night RDS maybe?
Anyway

I was so scared I thought it would never end and we didn't get much sleep that night - I can't remember when it ended but I swear we moved out the next day.
Still love storms - just don't seem to get enough of them, although tonight feels just right for one for some reason.

Oh no wait this was in 1986 not 85 - wrong storm! Still a belter tho. 85 I was living in UK - me mam told me about that one alright.

Mayo Exile

The storms of 27 (one poster above mentioned the 27th) & 28 July 1986 have also been mentioned in this thread. Here are two sat pics in the visible spectrum taken in the afternoon of both days. Whats probably most noticable is the fine structure of the depression SW of Ireland. No images are available of the actual times of T-storms over Ireland.

Credit to: NERC Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, Scotland
Link: http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/

Su Campu

Here's an excellent analysis of the 25/26th July 1985 thunderstorm, concentrating on Northern Ireland, but still valid for the south too.

loup

Su Campu wrote: »

Here's an excellent analysis of the 25/26th July 1985 thunderstorm, concentrating on Northern Ireland, but still valid for the south too.

Thanks Su,I read the synopsis but they are charging $35 dollars :eek: for the whole article! If you have access is there any chance you could post the summary maybe? Thanks!!:D

snowjon

Su Campu wrote: »

Here's an excellent analysis of the 25/26th July 1985 thunderstorm, concentrating on Northern Ireland, but still valid for the south too.

Cool! That's written by Nick Betts - my old lecturer in Queen's!

Su Campu

loup wrote: »

Thanks Su,I read the synopsis but they are charging $35 dollars :eek: for the whole article! If you have access is there any chance you could post the summary maybe? Thanks!!:D

Oops, sorry, I forgot that! :rolleyes: I don't think I can post it as it's copyrighted material.

Basically the situation arose when a slack area of low pressure in the Bay of Biscay moved northwards through the Irish Sea, interacting as it did so with a sharp upper trough which was moving eastwards from the Atlantic. The lower atmopshere was unusually rich in mositure for these latitudes, and that coupled with the cooling upper layers from the trough led to high instability, with strong updrafts giving hail up to 3cm in diameter. Cloud tops were at around -56°C, at a height of around 11kms (250ha). There was a 5 hour period of continuous lightning from 0400GMT (in Ulster - it was earlier down south).

They noted that there was no orographically enhanced rainfall, as surface winds were very light, so the lift mechanism was due to a frontal boundary lying SW-NE, with the warm front moving westwards as the low moved northwards through the Irish Sea. It then retreated back eastwards as the low moved up over Scotland.

Some rainfall totals:

Dungannon - 85mm (44.2mm from 2300-2400GMT)
Glarryford - 65mm
Newry - 55mm

loup

Thanks Su..OMG the rainfall totals were mad, 44mm in one hour, wow!

Deep Easterly

Su Campu wrote: »

Basically the situation arose when a slack area of low pressure in the Bay of Biscay moved northwards through the Irish Sea, interacting as it did so with a sharp upper trough which was moving eastwards from the Atlantic. uous lightning from 0400GMT (in Ulster - it was earlier down south).

Thanks for posting up that link and the summary, and thanks to Fionagus as well.

Made for very interesting reading. Here are the synoptic charts that were posted in the article. Only showed surface pressure charts from 0000hrs 26th July to 27th July, with geopotential chart from 1200hrs 25th:

Very explosive set up. Warm and very unstable contiental/Biscay plume coming in contact with unstable polar maritime.

Pow!!!

Ravomix

irish_bob wrote: »

Danno wrote: »

Indeed the eighties were interesting, but I was quite young and can only remember the July 1985 storm as my first weather memory. I do recall that every summer from 1985-1989 was crap with the exception of the first week of April 1988 or 1989 which was pure class for sunshine and heat.
The winter floods of 1989 were awful.
The winter snow of 1987 was mega, being 4ft high and trundeling through 3ft difts was quite a treat!

i remember 89 being a fantastic summer , not as good as the summer of 95 overall but a few days in the summer of 89 were warmer than anything in 95 , i was only 6 in 1983 but i think i remember (those 3 days as the older generation refer to them ) a particulary sweltering period

anyway the storm of 85 and 86 , the one in 85 lasted longer but i remember the storm of 86 being incredibly violent also where i live , the phone in one of my neighbours ( live in the country ) house was mounted on the wall and blown to smithereens or so the legend goes
i was often told about a storm years ago where 2 horses who lived in a field close to my house were incinerated , all you could see was the marks in the field from there hooves

i dont remember a storm from 1990 but i do remember one from around august of 91 , along with my parents i came across a traffice accident involving a lorry around 4.30 pm and by the time we got through and got home around 5.30 pm ,. the storm began , it only lasted about 2 hrs but was a good un , that one may only have been in a relativly localised area though ,

There was a major thunderstorm confined to mainly south kilkenny/tipperary on monday night 29th july/into tuesday morning 30th july 1991,alot of damage done,made the front page of the tipperary star newspaper that week.Back to the 1985 storm,i was 8 at the time,remember being on my grandparents farm outside thurles when at 7.30 pm a huge clap of thunder went off.I made my way back to the house,my grandmother kept asking where my grandfather was.it was getting dark at that stage andthe storm was getting severe.It turns out he was in a hayshed about a mile from the house afraid to walk home.And he was normally afraid of nothing.Tells you how violent that storm was.He didnt get back till around 4 am when the storm finally eased off.A number of cattle he had were killed.We dont seem to get much in the way of thunderstorms anymore for some reason.One or two rumbles with a heavy shower is as much as get nowadays.

CorkMetMan

I remember this storm well, even though I was only 9 at the time. I've seen a few good ones since, but none compare to the 1985 event for sheer violence and longevity.

I always had a keen interest in the weather, but this sharpened it even more! I remember the day of the 25th in Cloyne, Co. Cork, was unremarkable to begin with, but by midday and early afternoon it had become noticeably clammy and humid, with some sea fog coming and going in a very light southeasterly breeze. Nothing too unusual about that; and nothing untoward about the sky either, just low stratus with stratocumulus above. No mention on the radio forecasts of the violence to come at this stage either.

Around 3.30pm local time, the sky cleared enough to allow some very pleasant sunshine through, in fact this clear gap would remain until the very worst of the storm approached at 8pm. With the added effect of the sunshine, it felt very warm indeed, although the maximum temperature reached that day was 19.8c, again unremarkable for late July.

The first warning that all was not quite as it seemed came at around 6pm when large altocumulus castellanus clouds began to form to the east and southeast; these rapidly developed into high based CB, with rumbles of thunder audible from 6.30 local time onwards. This band of CBs continued to grow steadily until the sky to the east and southeast was the most terrifying I have ever witnessed; purple black with a hint of green with frequent CG lightning and constant thunder. The storm appeared to be still offshore Ballycotton and Shanagarry, with the sky still clear overhead and to the west with the sun still shining!

After about 90 minutes of gradually approaching thunder, the first huge drops of rain began around 8pm, with the sky becoming even more hideous as the storm approached. I still remember the setting sun still shining as the thunder raged! From 8.30 to 11pm was pure bedlam; constant lightning; the strokes were too frequent to even attempt to count them, with constant deafening thunder. Several strikes in our garden alone, with the phone blown off the wall at 9pm. A brief lull followed from 11pm to 1am, as in the storm moved more to our west and north but not quite overhead anymore. A second pulse arrived from 1am to 3.30am, with some really incredible thunder and large hail. The storm finally moved away to the northeast after that, but the entire family had by that stage decided to remain in the one room; my brave self and sister having joined our parents in terror!

Although similar storms occurred in June 1986, along with the curious "clear gap" arriving before the storm, they were not as violent at as the July 1985 event. I think we are overdue some serious thunderstorm action; so maybe we'll get one soon that I can appreciate as an adult!

Elmer Blooker

I can remember another brilliant storm on August 25th 2000 though nowhere near as violent as 1985 it was a fantastic electrical display.

Sponge Bob

There was a localised Galway event in 1995 during the races, I'd say around weds the 3rd or 4th of August 1995.

It generated around 700 strikes in County Galway alone and one strike was caught live by RTE on Camera when it hit a High Voltage pylon on the S Side of the racecourse.

Min

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

I can remember another brilliant storm on August 25th 2000 though nowhere near as violent as 1985 it was a fantastic electrical display.

Was that a squall line?

I have been trying to remember when a squall line crossed the country, it was very intense and had several funnel clouds on the back edge, one even looked like it might have been a tornado. I wonder if this was it.

Elmer Blooker

This (Aug '00) is the only Spanish plume event that I know of in this country. The 1985 storm was during a cold and wet miserable summer.
I can remember sitting in the garden on a very warm night (until the rain got too heavy) with spectacular lightning high in the clouds, often called "sheet" lightning even though there's no such thing. It was as good as anything I've seen in a Mediterranean country.

squonk

I think I remember that event myself. We were doing silage and I remember it being very hot during the day. It was a hazy day but quite fine and there were no real indicators of anything happening til about 8 or so. I remember it raining then and later I remember some terrrible thunder and lightening. That maybe the 86 event too actually. I was only 10 and 11 when both events happened so wasn't entirely sure.

I'm struggling to remember that August 2000 event actually. Did it hit Dublin? I was based there at the time. I have no recollection of any particularly bad lightening around that time.

I do remember a night in 1996 around late September or early October when there was a long lasting thunderstorm with IC lightening that went on for hours in Dublin. I don't think any of it turned into CG. I actually think it was October 24 1996, a Thursday night.

20silkcut

If you want thunder then surely new York or anywhere in the north east united states in August is the place to be. Long way back to 1985.

lolie

Min wrote: »

Was that a squall line?

I have been trying to remember when a squall line crossed the country, it was very intense and had several funnel clouds on the back edge, one even looked like it might have been a tornado. I wonder if this was it.

Was there a squal line 10/11 years ago around new years day??
Vagly remember been woken up about 10am by the rain, as heavy as i've ever seen.
Then hearing reports on the news later on about roof's damaged by a small tornado in co meath.

dloob

I think there was some activity in Galway in August 00.
I moved to Galway in August 99 and there was definitely some good storms that August.
Those two years really set me up with some false expectations for Galway thunderstorms. :pac:

Hammer Archer

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

I can remember another brilliant storm on August 25th 2000 though nowhere near as violent as 1985 it was a fantastic electrical display.

Remember that vividly. I was 12 years old and the sky was lit up from around midday to nightfall. Also, our house was struck by lightning while myself and a friend were playing video games. Quite the shock it gave us :pac:

lolie wrote: »

Was there a squal line 10/11 years ago around new years day??
Vagly remember been woken up about 10am by the rain, as heavy as i've ever seen.
Then hearing reports on the news later on about roof's damaged by a small tornado in co meath.

That was New Years Day in 2005 I think. A good few houses in Clonee were damaged. A number of trees around my area were uprooted that day from straight line winds.

Edit: Yup http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0101/weather.html

lolie

Hammer Archer wrote: »

That was New Years Day in 2005 I think. A good few houses in Clonee were damaged. A number of trees around my area were uprooted that day from straight line winds.

Edit: Yup http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0101/weather.html

Thats it alright, remember hearing about the houses in clonee on the news.

Thought it was earlier than that.

djhaxman

20silkcut wrote: »

If you want thunder then surely new York or anywhere in the north east united states in August is the place to be. Long way back to 1985.

Florida. Anytime between March and September.

shedweller

Sorry to dig up an old thread but it makes sense to me to keep this info in one place. Anyway, i was talking to my dad last weekend about the storm in july 85 and he described the lightning to me. At the time i was cowering under the bedsheets so i missed the visuals. Man am i regretting that. He said that amongst the constant lightning was what i can only describe as a plasma. Going by his description it reminds me of those plasma balls where you touch the glass ball and all the tendrils become one at the contact point. He said that he saw a purple-ish glow covering the barn roof and rising at its highest point into a tendril not unlike those plasma balls i mentioned and shooting slowly into the air. Slowly compared to lightning i suppose. He said it also covered the yard at a height of maybe a foot off the ground and randomly rose in tendrils into the air. Some of it wound around a tree nearby and he said it looked like you heated an iron rod to white heat and wrapped it around the trunk of the tree, up a few branches and off into the sky.
I have spent some time trying to find what this was but perhaps my search terms are incorrect.
I have never heard of this type of phenomenon before so id be interested to hear what the experts here think.

maquiladora

shedweller wrote: »

Sorry to dig up an old thread but it makes sense to me to keep this info in one place. Anyway, i was talking to my dad last weekend about the storm in july 85 and he described the lightning to me. At the time i was cowering under the bedsheets so i missed the visuals. Man am i regretting that. He said that amongst the constant lightning was what i can only describe as a plasma. Going by his description it reminds me of those plasma balls where you touch the glass ball and all the tendrils become one at the contact point. He said that he saw a purple-ish glow covering the barn roof and rising at its highest point into a tendril not unlike those plasma balls i mentioned and shooting slowly into the air. Slowly compared to lightning i suppose. He said it also covered the yard at a height of maybe a foot off the ground and randomly rose in tendrils into the air. Some of it wound around a tree nearby and he said it looked like you heated an iron rod to white heat and wrapped it around the trunk of the tree, up a few branches and off into the sky.
I have spent some time trying to find what this was but perhaps my search terms are incorrect.
I have never heard of this type of phenomenon before so id be interested to hear what the experts here think.

St Elmo's Fire.

shedweller

maquiladora wrote: »

St Elmo's Fire.

I guess my search terms were way off then. Although i have heard of st elmos fire i thought it was where bog gas burnt off. I shall now youtube the hell out of st elmos fire for the night!

maquiladora

shedweller wrote: »

I guess my search terms were way off then. Although i have heard of st elmos fire i thought it was where bog gas burnt off. I shall now youtube the hell out of st elmos fire for the night!

Ive seen a couple of videos of it taken from the cockpit of a plane that shows the plasma very nicely.

DOCARCH

maquiladora wrote: »

St Elmo's Fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVf4_WglzWA

Cheesy! :P But appropriate for the year!

Like shedweller, I too now very much regret cowering under the sheets/blankets. I was 12 at the time and I don't think I was ever so scared in my life! The constant lightning and thunder was simply unreal.

dopolahpec

shedweller wrote: »

Sorry to dig up an old thread but it makes sense to me to keep this info in one place. Anyway, i was talking to my dad last weekend about the storm in july 85 and he described the lightning to me. At the time i was cowering under the bedsheets so i missed the visuals. Man am i regretting that. He said that amongst the constant lightning was what i can only describe as a plasma. Going by his description it reminds me of those plasma balls where you touch the glass ball and all the tendrils become one at the contact point. He said that he saw a purple-ish glow covering the barn roof and rising at its highest point into a tendril not unlike those plasma balls i mentioned and shooting slowly into the air. Slowly compared to lightning i suppose. He said it also covered the yard at a height of maybe a foot off the ground and randomly rose in tendrils into the air. Some of it wound around a tree nearby and he said it looked like you heated an iron rod to white heat and wrapped it around the trunk of the tree, up a few branches and off into the sky.
I have spent some time trying to find what this was but perhaps my search terms are incorrect.
I have never heard of this type of phenomenon before so id be interested to hear what the experts here think.

I was 6 during that storm and my neighbour's house caught fire *sitting room anyway* after a lightning strike. I also saw purplish/pink ball lightning hovering mid-air (seemingly) and also rolling about on heaped topsoil behind our house - quite slowly too.

My father, mother, sister and neighbours experienced it also. None of us ever saw anything like it before or since, to the extent I've questioned whether it even happened. But my family and neighbours assure me it did. For some reason it felt paranormal at the time. Like the regular thunderstorm was merely a cloak for something stranger. A sense that is not helped by never having experienced anything similar since