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Irish Weather Statistics

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    If we look at the extreme records page -

    https://www.met.ie/climate/weather-extreme-records

    It says the wettest April day was in Cloone Lake (Leitrim) and the wettest September day was also in Cloone Lake, but in Kerry. Is that a typo?

    I can confirm the wettest April day is also referring to Kerry. Leitrim is definitely a typo.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,979 ✭✭✭Slashermcguirk


    Only 408mm of rain from January to September at casement weather station in West dublin, incredibly dry year. Only 660mm fell all year at dublin airport last year. Dublin has been so dry in recent years


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    What a day it has been for stats here! Final stats of the day, the period May to September 2018 was the DRIEST on record for Dublin Airport back to 1942 with a total of only 155.7mm of rain beating the previous record of 181.8mm in 1995.

    J2ntUKx.png

    Data comes from Met Éireann.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭Artane2002


    Haven't seen anyone saying this but the air pressure of 1041.3 hPa at Cork Airport and Sherkin Island on the 24th September is the joint highest pressure on record for the month of September. The other time air pressure this high was recorded was in Malin Head on the 11th of September 2009 (nice to see another similarity between 2018 and 2009 by the way). There's 2018 at it again :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    This coming Wednesday (10th October 2018) is reminding me a lot of the stunning day of Sunday 8 October 1995 which recorded blue skies for the vast majority of the UK with temperatures as high as 25c in London, even up to 21c in the Scottish highlands. Ireland tended to be cloudier but even here for a lot of places, there was plenty of sunny spells to be enjoyed.

    Various maxima over the UK:

    25.6c at Hawarden (equal highest temperature on record for the 8th October in the UK with the 8th October 1921 - see table below)
    24.6c at Heathrow
    24.1c at Cambridge
    23.5c at Elmdon
    23.0c at Ringway

    In Ireland, places had their warmest October conditions on the 8th Oct 1995 since 1969 and 1959 including Malin Head recording 20.6c (since 1959) and Shannon Airport recording 21.1c (since 1969). Dublin (Merrion Square) recorded a maximum temperature of 22.5c whilst Dublin Airport had a maximum of 21.0c, the latter being the third highest October temperature on record at the station behind 21.2c on 2nd October 1971 and 21.1c on 1st October 1971. The southeast had nearly a full day's worth of blue skies. It certainly must have been a glorious Indian Summer day in October 1995.

    167SDaP.png

    rIQh1RW.png

    AjSS4FM.png



    Data comes from the UK Met Office and Met Éireann.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    News collection from January 1987 showing traffic travelling through snow on Stillorgan Dual Carriageway. Gritting machine in operation.

    https://www.rte.ie/archives/collections/news/21236000-weather-conditions/


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    The table below I compiled from the historical data shows the 28 June to 4 July 2018 period for Dublin Airport was the sunniest 7-day period on record at the station back to 1942. 2018 broke the 1995 record twice.

    aUBjz1N.png

    Data comes from Met Éireann.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    With all the talks on the prospects of an October 2018 cold snap courtesy of a northerly shot of Arctic air, let's take a brief trip down memory lane to 10 years ago.

    10 years later.... the cold snap of late October 2008.

    The last week of October 2008 delivered a northerly shot with air coming from the Arctic. This air was unusually cold by October standards in the UK and Ireland with the earliest snowfalls for some since October 2003 whilst the most widespread October snow in the south since 1880. Northern Ireland had its first October snow since 1934.

    The 28/29 October 2008 were the coldest October days in the UK since 1974 with maximum temperatures widely over both countries below 10c throughout each of the days. Leuchars in Scotland had a maximum of only 4.5c on the 28th October beating its previous record low October max. of 4.7c on 30th October 1974 (records go back to 1957). Aberporth in Wales had a maximum of only 5.2c on the 29th October completely smashing its previous October record low of 7.4c on 22nd October 2003 (records go back to 1957). Both Wales and Northern Ireland had their lowest October maximums on record during this period with 2.2c on the 29th at Alwen (Wales) and 2.7c on the 28th at Killylane (Northern Ireland) respectively. The afternoon maximum at Dalwhinnie in the Highlands of Scotland on October 28th was 0.9c. Topcliffe in England recorded the lowest October minimum temperature in the UK since 2003 with -6.6c on the 29th.

    In the Republic of Ireland, the lowest minimum temperature during the period was -3.0c at Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin on October 29th, its lowest October temperature since 1993 but for Ireland, this was only the lowest October minimum temperature since 2004 when -3.8c was recorded at Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim on October 20th.

    Some notable low maxima recorded over Ireland during the period:

    5.8c at Dublin Airport on the 28th and 6.3c on the 29th (both its lowest on record for October)
    5.2c at Casement Aerodrome on the 28th and 6.4c on the 29th
    5.6c at Phoenix Park on the 28th and 6.4c on the 29th
    5.3c at Mullingar on the 28th
    5.2c at Dunsany on the 28th and 6.4c on the 29th
    5.5c at Derrygreenagh on the 28th
    6.0c at Cork Airport on the 30th
    6.3c at Moore Park on the 30th
    6.4c at Oak Park on the 30th
    5.8c at Slieve Bloom Mtns (Nealstown) on the 28th and 5.8c on the 30th
    6.0c at Ardee (Boharnamoe) on the 28th
    5.3c at Carrickmacross (Dunoge) on the 28th and 4.9c on the 29th

    There was widespread lying snow on the night of the 28th/29th and the morning of the 29th October even as far south as London (see pictures below).

    5VMdJzu.jpg
    Hatfield, Hertfordshire

    GZP6mny.jpg
    Big Ben, London on 29 October 2008.

    J4JJ9xr.jpg
    Berkshire, England.

    6lSe0FS.jpg
    London on 29 October 2008.

    6ismdK3.jpg
    A drive from Enniskerry to Rathfarnham on 29 October 2008 through the Dublin Mountains. Credit: DOCARCH.

    The reanalysis chart for 28 October 2008 below shows the winds coming from a north to northeasterly direction with air originating from Arctic. There is a 1040mb area of high pressure in the Atlantic only helping to force this abnormal pattern of weather that occurred at the end of October 2008.

    ThZRvwZ.png

    VAFJWlZ.png





    More of DOCARCH's awesome pics can be found here: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57728763

    Other pics: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055407751
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57727429

    Especially check out the second link, they are superb pics that are unbelievable to see considering it was October by our good ol' friend, Supercell.

    Data comes from Met Éireann and the UK Met Office.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,834 ✭✭✭pauldry


    Very High Pressure readings today Syran.

    What is the record High Pressure in millibars for any year in Ireland?


  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 17,620 Mod ✭✭✭✭DOCARCH


    sryanbruen wrote: »
    More of DOCARCH's awesome pics can be found here....[/I]

    :p Strikethrough noted!


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  • Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 17,620 Mod ✭✭✭✭DOCARCH


    pauldry wrote: »
    What is the record High Pressure in millibars for any year in Ireland?

    All time record is 1051.9mb at Valentia on 28th January 1905.

    Record for October broken today. Was 1043.0mb at Malin Head on October 31st 1956.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,219 ✭✭✭Gaoth Laidir


    1043.9 hPa at Valentia (13Z today) is now the October record.
    AAXX 22131 03953 45670 /3303 10125 20056 30408 40439 54000 81///
    333 81/34=

    Station pressure was 1040.8 hPa, but still not as high as Sherkin Island's 1041.1 hPa this morning, which in itself must be a record for an Irish station.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Updating the Met temperature extreme tables for selected Irish stations which were produced at the end of 2010 and have not been updated since. Is there are any records you think I'm missing here? I've put 2018 in red.

    Attached the PDF files to these tables too.

    vUy8do5.jpg

    L8icPqR.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    October 2018 was another drier than average month at Dublin Airport making the May-October 2018 period the driest such period on record here back to 1942 with a total of only 198.4mm of rain beating the previous record (again like May-September) of 219.8mm in 1995.

    psGz4eS.png

    Will be editing the above post in a moment as I found more records (with aid from Kilkenny Weather) and thus edited the files.

    Data comes from Met Éireann.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,288 ✭✭✭mickmackey1


    sryanbruen wrote: »
    October 2018 was another drier than average month at Dublin Airport making the May-October 2018 period the driest such period on record here back to 1942 with a total of only 198.4mm of rain beating the previous record (again like May-September) of 219.8mm in 1995.
    And yet the total for 2018 is already 141mm more than the record low annual total in 1887. Just shows what an amazing year that was, not just for the max temp record.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    And yet the total for 2018 is already 141mm more than the record low annual total in 1887. Just shows what an amazing year that was, not just for the max temp record.

    Problem (or saviour) with 2018 was the zonal conditions in January and low pressure centred over us during March/April which led to very wet conditions at times. Unless November/December continue to be unusually dry months (which I don't expect them to, especially November), don't think 2018 will be very remarkable overall for rainfall.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Let's take a trip back to one of the snowiest Novembers of the last 100 years, November 1965.

    November 1965 is a month I don't hear talked about much. When it comes to November snow, it's nearly always the likes of 1985, 1993 and 2010 mentioned. However, November 1965 was exceptionally snowy by November standards over various parts of the UK.

    The Central England Temperature (CET) for November 1965 was 4.5c which is well below average by modern standards but not among the coldest on record, November 1985 was slightly colder for instance at 4.1c whilst November 1919 (which I've done a post on before as it too was very snowy and extremely cold) had a CET of 3.3c. It was only the coldest November for the CET and also much of England & Wales since 1952 but for Scotland, it was the coldest November since 1925.

    Deep area of low pressure pushed southwards down the North Sea on the 1st November 1965 bringing down a northerly flow of air. This deep low brought a maximum wind gust of 117 mph in Lanarkshire, Scotland. In Scotland and northern England, there were reports of mean wind speeds of 75 mph or more. 85 mph wind gusts causes the collapse of five out of the eight cooling towers of Ferrybridge Power Station in Doncaster on this day. Before this northerly brought down cold air, temperatures were well above average reaching maximum highs up to 15c in the southeast of England. Finningley reached a maximum of 15.5c on this day. Newport recorded the highest maximum of 18.3c (which it later recorded again on the 8th).

    As the cold air sank southwards, showers developed in the unstable northerly flow, turning wintry at times. There was some outbreaks of snow over the Highlands of Scotland on the 2nd/3rd but mostly of rain and sleet. It was sunny and fairly chilly otherwise during these first few days of the month with nightime frost.

    zqeGvN6.png

    An anticyclone from the southwest of Ireland ridged into the UK and Ireland built in on the 4th to the 6th with sunny conditions and frosty mornings.

    w4wkaAU.png

    By the 7th, a depression pushed into the south of Ireland and the southwest of the UK bringing rain northwards for a time and ahead from the front drawing up much milder conditions. Up to one inch of rain fell in parts of Hampshire, Isle of Wight and the southwest of Ireland. This rain cleared on the 8th to leave a mild and showery day over the UK and Ireland with variable amounts of sunshine. There was a report of a maximum of 14.8c at Ross-on-Wye on the 8th but as mentioned earlier, the max. reached on the 8th was 18.3c at Newport.

    sLUc05Q.png

    The 9th brought another band of rain across the English Channel which moved northeastwards leading to a cloudy and wet day for most.

    4i4Y75T.png

    Northern blocking established on the 11th November 1965 with high pressure stretching from Greenland all the way to Siberia and centred over the north of Scandinavia. This resulted in an easterly airflow with the source of air coming all the way from Russia. Low pressure anchored itself to the southwest of the UK and kept getting stuck here due to this blocking. It took a few days for the "real cold" air mass to arrive in the UK and Ireland but temperatures readily dropped until the 16th. By the 15th, nightime temperatures were widely below freezing and in the north, even getting below -10c. Snow showers became more frequent each day, especially along eastern districts of the UK and Ireland. Higher ground of northeast England recorded a snow depth of 5 inches on the 15th.

    Kew had its lowest daily mean temperatures for so early in the season on November 14th/15th 1965 since 1887. -13.9c was recorded at Braemar early on the 15th whilst freezing fog on the same day led to a maximum of only -2c at Ross-on-Wye.

    7Srk8I7.png

    fwmes7U.png

    A large depression reached the south of Ireland on the 16th and continued to ascend northwards over the UK on the 17th. On the 16th, this generally fell first as snow with accumulations reaching 5-10cm for lower levels of central and northern England but for Scotland and the Pennines, accumulations were up to 10-20cm. Gale force southeasterly winds made it feel bitterly cold before the depression brought the milder air. As the milder air pushed northwards later on the 16th and into the 17th, the snow turned to rain. However, due to strong blocking to the north, this low struggled to introduce mild conditions to Scotland so it remained cold there and snowy even into the 18th. In fact, the snow in eastern Scotland lasted throughout the rest of the month. Rainfall totals were between 10-50mm each day over various regions of Ireland and the south of the UK.

    Brighton had a daily rainfall of 50.3mm on 20th November 1965. Dublin Airport had a daily rainfall of 44.5mm on 16th November.

    6PZLaKO.png

    As the blocking intensified over Greenland, low pressure was forced southeastwards into Europe after bringing heavy rain to places from the 16th to the 20th November 1965 with flooding being a real concern by that stage. The winds turned into a northeasterly direction with an airstream of arctic origin so the flooding froze in parts and there was increasingly wintry conditions including snow showers even to southern England and south-coast resorts. Scarborough recorded a snow depth of 6 inches on the 22nd. Maximum temperatures were between only -2 to 7c.

    RPLrY2m.png

    A depression from the northwest of the Atlantic turned the winds into the southwest for most of the UK and Ireland on the 23rd bringing much milder conditions here and melting the snow with the risk of more severe flooding. However, the north remained cold in a northerly to northwesterly airflow. The 24th was a showery and sunnier day.

    hJ9nYG2.png

    Further rain approached from the Atlantic on the 25th bringing another wet period over the south of the UK and much of Ireland including 39.6mm at Dublin Airport.

    c5lFJRq.png

    Rain gradually turned to snow as the wind veered northerly on the 26th into the 27th. Northern districts had severe blizzards with considerable drifting including in the Durham area where there was reports of 15 foot snow drifts. Roads were blocked and impassable here significantly so. There were 7 foot snow drifts in the Lake District. There was also reports of thunderstorms mixed in with the snow.

    TISorO5.png

    One final deep area of low pressure from the Atlantic interacted with the cold air on the 28th/29th November 1965 bringing rain to southern regions of both countries but up north, there was more severe blizzards. Northern England was particularly badly affected. These were their worst snowfalls they had suffered since February 1947 and the fact they occurred in November makes them stand out even more. Snow depths up to 3.6 inches over the north Midlands, 12 inches in Co. Durham and Northumberland and up to 22 inches in the Durham area.

    S8lAPMgg.png

    In the end, there was up to 24 days where snow fell in Scotland in November 1965. It was a very wet but sunny month. It was the wettest November over England & Wales since 1940 whilst it was the sunniest November since 1923 generally and at Kew and Manchester, it was the sunniest November on record. November 1965 was certainly a unique month in many regards here and shows just how extreme snowfall can be in November in the UK if the pattern is there.

    The 500mb height anomaly reanalysis of November 1965 shows a block of high pressure over Greenland and much of the Arctic with below average heights to the south and east of the UK and Ireland. This forces the wind in from a northeasterly to easterly direction. This tended to bring very cold air into the UK and Ireland during November 1965 but the below average heights meant there was battleground scenarios between mild air attacking from the Atlantic coming up against these cold easterly winds. This is why November 1965 was so snowy but also very wet for southern parts of both the UK and Ireland.

    yxjul8A.png

    November 1965 was the fifth wettest month on record (up to October 2018) and second wettest November on record at Dublin Airport (records back to 1938).

    iVqd9KM.png

    Data comes from the UK Met Office and Met Éireann.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,550 ✭✭✭✭nacho libre


    sryanbruen wrote: »
    A year I have been mentioning throughout the season for Winter is 1978-79 i.e. the Winter of Discontent. Netweather users have been doing the same I see. Well, it should be noted that December 1978 had a Canadian Warming in the stratosphere. Mmmmmm.

    Was there a major snow event in the South west of England during the winter of 1979?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭Artane2002


    Are there any interesting rainfall stats from November 2014? I remember some very wet days from back then.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Was there a major snow event in the South west of England during the winter of 1979?

    Was going to leave the Winter 1978/79 historical post 'til a month later but I guess now is as good a time as any.

    Winter 1978/79 was the coldest since 1962/63 at the time and it has not been beaten for most since by any succeeding Winters - 2009/10 was the coldest since 1978/79. It was the third coldest Winter of the 20th century behind only 1962-63 and 1946-47.

    Of course, this was infamously known as the 'Winter of Discontent' and 2018/19 will be the 40th anniversary of this Winter. I hear this Winter mentioned a lot for the UK but rarely by Irish people, overshadowed by 1981/82 which happened a few years after? 1978-79 was so called the 'Winter of Discontent' because it was when there was an onset of widespread strikes by trade unions in the UK demanding larger pay rises following the ongoing pay caps of the Labour Party government led by James Callaghan against Trades Union Congress opposition to control inflation.

    After a cool Summer with the coldest July of the 1970s, Autumn 1978 was very mild for much of the season (in fact the equal warmest of the century for the CET) with a lot of high pressure influence to the south of Ireland and the UK whilst in the north and over Scotland, it tended to be more unsettled especially in mid-September when the remnants of ex-hurricane Flossie brought gusts up to 104 mph in Fair Isle.

    archives-1978-9-17-0-0.png

    October 1978 was very dry with only 0.1mm of rainfall at Gravesend, Kent all month. Monthly rainfall totals for selected Irish stations during October 1978 with percentage of average rainfall if available:

    Valentia Observatory - 59.6mm (42%)
    Dublin Airport - 31.9mm (51%)
    Galway (University College) - 48.8mm
    Shannon Airport - 46.6mm (54%)
    Ardee (Boharnamoe) - 26.2mm
    Kilkenny - 34.7mm (41%)
    Mullingar - 41.9mm (46%)

    November 1978 would continue the mild theme for much of the month with very dull and dry conditions too. It was the dullest November on record at Valentia Observatory (since its records began in 1880) at the time with only 54% of the average November sunshine, this would later be beaten by an exceptionally dull November in 1983. Up to November 23rd, November 1978 was at a CET of 10.4c. To compare, the warmest November on record for the CET is 1994 with a CET of 10.1c, showing just how warm the period November 1st-23rd 1978 was by November standards.

    With all this very mild weather in the Autumn of 1978 (far warmer than Summer 1978 in terms of anomalies from average), one must have wondered when Winter would start showing its hand or if there even was going to be a Winter. 1976-77 was a front loaded Winter with a cold December and start to January whilst a very mild and wet February. 1977-78 was the opposite pretty much with a severe cold spell and blizzard during February 1978 though even February had a mild start and end.

    The pattern changed somewhat in the last week of November. High pressure built over Greenland and northeastern Canada sending a cold front southwards down the UK and Ireland on 24th November veering winds into a cold northwesterly behind the front. Once the low pushed eastwards into Scandinavia on the 25th/26th, the winds turned more to a northerly bringing air straight down from Arctic origins. There was a few outbreaks of wintry and even snow showers to the north of Ireland, Scotland and the east of the UK. Depths between 5-20cm of snow were reported in these regions especially in northwestern Scotland and Northern Ireland. Between the 26th-28th, high pressure from the northwest and west exerted influence over Ireland leading to severe frost but dry conditions with freezing fog. Over west Munster, some rain belts brought relatively milder conditions on these days compared to most of the country.

    Winds veered more southeasterly on the 29th and 30th as Atlantic rain belts pushed eastwards and there was a gradual rise in temperature. The UK remained very cold 'til the start of December though still under the influence of a cold easterly wind.

    Minimum temperatures recorded in this late November 1978 spell:

    Mepal, Cambridgeshire at -11.5c on the 30th
    Oak Park, Co. Carlow at -5.3c on the 28th
    Mallow, Co. Cork at -3.5c on the 28th
    Glenties, Co. Donegal at -4.5c on the 28th
    Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin at -2.4c on the 28th
    Lucan, Co. Dublin at -5.4c on the 28th
    Lullymore, Co. Kildare at -6.1c on the 28th (including a grass minima of -12.2c)
    Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny at -6.0c on the 28th
    Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim at -5.0c on the 28th
    Ardee (Boharnamoe), Co. Louth at -6.5c on the 28th
    Dunsany, Co. Meath at -5.5c on the 28th
    Birr, Co. Offaly at -5.4c on the 28th

    Not quite November 2010 standard but still very good by November standards.

    archives-1978-11-27-0-0.png?

    December 1978 was a pretty unusual month. Overall, temperatures were close to average for most though Scotland was on the quite cold side. The month was dominated by a battleground scenario with the Atlantic bringing in plenty of wet conditions at the same time as easterlies tried to bring in cold weather. This battleground led to a very wet month for most places. At Dublin Airport, it was and still is the wettest month on record with a rainfall total of 217.0mm of rain. The closest to this since was December 2015 at 193.5mm. Killarney (Muckross House), Co. Kerry had 5 five days with 25mm or more during December 1978 and two of these days had 50mm or more including 64.0mm on the 6th. Northern Ireland had its wettest December on record since records began in 1900 - until December 2015. England & Wales had their wettest December since 1934. Persistent heavy rain caused extensive flooding over Ireland and the UK with the worst floods since 1947 recorded in York. The River Ouse was nearly 5m above its normal latter. In Silent Valley, Co. Down, 214.3mm fell in a 48-hour period ending at 0900 GMT on the 27th December 1978. Whilst 205.5mm fell at West Baldwin Reservoir, Isle of Man during the same period. The periods around the 4th to 6th and then again around Christmas were particularly wet.

    In contrast to all of the above, northwestern Scotland had around only 20-25% of its average December rainfall which is normally among the wettest places in an average month so something was seriously up here.

    December 1978 had the potential to be an exceptionally snowy month but the blocking to the north and easterlies just weren't strong enough to win the battle against the Atlantic - until the end of the month. If the forums had been around during this month, think there'd be a lot of frustration and disappointment. As they say though, patience is a virtue!

    Fairly typical chart for December 1978 on the 13th:

    archives-1978-12-13-12-0.png?

    Now, the fun begins here. You're about to witness one of the most epic Winter spells of the 20th century. This is THE week people mainly remember Winter 1978-79 for when you hear it mentioned. From the 28th December 1978 onwards, a strong east to northeasterly airstream became the dominance over the UK and Ireland with temperatures progressively getting colder. It took a bit longer to get to the south of the UK as mild southwesterlies were apparent here until the 30th along with more heavy rain. But when it changed, it was absolutely amazing! In this easterly flow, there was frequent snow showers almost everywhere and even blizzards especially on New Year's Eve though the west of Ireland had somewhat lighter showers. Snow depths on the 31st December and 1st January were up to 15-25cm widely whilst gale force easterly winds led to drifting of up to 2m even as far south as southwestern England (the second time in a year that the region had a blizzard then - the other was in February 1978. This period must have been a godsend for snow lovers in the southwest of England). This was the first New Year blizzard since 1962 and up to 2017 is the most recent New Year blizzard. According to Met Éireann's Snowfall in Ireland PDF, snowfall depths at Irish stations during this spell included 26cm at Casement Aerodrome, 16cm at Claremorris and 15cm at Cork Airport. Remember these were official stations so there would have been much larger depths in rural regions.

    All the floodwaters froze from this spell and the 1st/2nd January featured frosts of unusual severity especially in Ireland. Lullymore, Co. Kildare had an air minimum temperature of -18.8c on 2nd January 1979. This was the lowest air temperature in Ireland during the 20th century and the second lowest known on record in the country behind -19.1c at Markree Castle, Co. Sligo during an even more epic cold spell in January 1881. The closest we've seen since to this temperature in January 1979 was -17.5c at Straide, Co. Mayo on 25th December 2010. Other very low temperatures recorded include:

    -14.1c at Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny on the 2nd (air minimum)
    -19.5c at Lullymore, Co. Kildare on the 2nd (grass minimum - a new grass minimum record for Ireland which was later beaten in January 1982)
    -5.8c at Lullymore, Co. Kildare on the 1st (air maximum, the lowest in Ireland since December 1882)
    -15.5c at Oak Park, Co. Carlow on the 2nd (air minimum)
    -7.4c at Shannon Airport, Co. Clare on the 1st (air minimum)
    -10.1c at Mallow, Co. Cork on the 1st (air minimum)
    -12.4c at Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin on the 1st (air minimum)
    -8.1c at Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin on the 1st (air minimum)
    -5.6c at Valentia Observatory, Co. Kerry on the 1st (air minimum)
    -15.2c at Ardee (Boharnamoe), Co. Louth on the 1st (air minimum)
    -10.0c at Claremorris, Co. Mayo on the 1st (air minimum)
    -16.0c at Dunsany, Co. Meath on the 1st (air minimum)
    -14.9c at Mullingar, Co. Westmeath on the 1st (air minimum); -14.6c was recorded on the 2nd
    -6.2c at Malin Head, Co. Donegal on the 1st (air minimum)

    The severe frosts were as a result of very clear conditions and deep snow cover on the ground. Perfect Winter days on 1st/2nd January 1979 with light winds, snow cover and blue skies.

    In terms of the UK, -17.5c was recorded at Magherally, Co. Down on January 1st which was the record low for Northern Ireland for any month before December 2010. Parts of Cornwall struggled below freezing all day on the 1st including Stithians having a maximum of only -4c all day and an overnight minimum around -16c which was a new record for Cornwall.

    What a chart for 31st December 1978!

    archives-1978-12-31-12-0.png

    archives-1978-12-31-12-1.png

    Now some pictures from this spell:

    These first two pictures were taken in Ireland during the first few days of January 1979.

    Cyt77tt.jpg

    vMIlfL9.jpg

    A snow scene at Marazion Station, Cornwall on New Years Day 1st January 1979 as a Class 47 heads an express, possibly the Cornishman to Leeds and Bradford. Credit: Roger Winnen

    5G2E3ib.jpg

    TheWeatherOutlook shared some UK weather photos from this Winter here: https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoother/twocontent.aspx?type=bg&id=1625
    https://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoother/twocontent.aspx?type=bg&id=1626&title=Readers+photos+from+the+winters+of+1979+-+Part+2

    It was the coldest January overall since 1963 with a CET of -0.4c and this was the last time (up to 2018 at least when writing this) January had a CET under 0c. Out of the three Winter months, January is the most overdue for a subzero CET month as the last time December had a subzero CET was 2010 and the last time February had a subzero CET was 1986.

    It became less cold during the middle and latter part of the first week though there was a prolonged period of snowfall in the Channel Isles on the 4th/5th but conditions continued to be dry and frosty. The weather became fairly changeable from there on with generally milder weather. However, it was still colder than average for the most part with further severe frosts at times. Some heavy snowfalls occurred widespread on the 9th-10th, 19th-20th, 25th and 28th-29th. In the strong winds, these snowfalls tended to drift. It was the snowiest January since 1963.

    A ridge of high pressure built in on the 12th to 14th January 1979 bringing more very low temperatures to the UK and Ireland. Carnwath, Strathclyde recorded a minimum temperature of -24.6c on 13th January which was the lowest for any month in the UK since 1955 at the time and the second lowest since 1895. On the same night, Claremorris, Co. Mayo recorded an air minimum of -10.3c whilst Clones, Co. Monaghan recorded -11.2c.

    It was a sunny January for most and the sunniest in 20 years (since 1959) whilst Torbay, Torquay had its sunniest January on record since records began in 1898 with 105.1 hours of sunshine. This meant the station had an average of 3.4 hours of sunshine per day.

    February 1979 continued the cold Winter with a CET of 1.2c making it the coldest February in 10 years (since 1969). Ireland and the south of the UK tended to alternate between mild and cold during the month whilst the north was locked into cold through the majority of the period. A front on the 7th February pushed northwards leading to rain over most of Ireland, England and Wales but this turned to snow over northern England. This was pushed back southwards as a ridge from an anticyclone to the north extended south-southeastwards over the North Sea with further fronts becoming stuck over the southwest of the country. The 8th/9th February 1979 was a very cold night for parts with Lagganlia, Highlands of Scotland recording a minima of -16.4c on this night.

    A strong easterly flow developed on the 14th dropping temperatures back to well below average including subzero daytime temperatures and heavy snowfalls.

    Snowfall depths during the 14th-16th easterly again accumulating to 50cm in parts of northern England though strong winds led to deep drifts. East Anglia had between 20-30cm. Buxton, Norwich and Great Yarmouth were all cut off.

    Glenties, Co. Donegal got down to a minimum of -9.7c on the night of February 15th/16th. Other temperature observations from Irish stations during the period:

    Station|Maximum temperature|Minimum temperature|Date
    Birr|-0.2|-5.8|15 February 1979
    Kilkenny|-1.6|-5.7|15 February 1979
    Mullingar|-0.6|-5.8|15 February 1979


    archives-1979-2-14-12-0.png

    archives-1979-2-14-12-1.png

    The last week of February 1979 was rather milder as an anticyclone developed over both countries by the 23rd. The south Midlands of England reached a mean sea level pressure observation of 1045mb on February 25th. The meteorological Winter season ended on a benign note.

    archives-1979-2-25-12-0.png

    CETs for different periods of the Winter:

    27th Nov-1st Dec; -0.6
    31st Dec-6th Jan; -2.9
    21st-28th Jan; -1.7
    14th-18th Feb; -1.8

    The CET maximum for 31st December 1978 was only -2.4c making it the coldest New Year's Eve in terms of CET maxima known on record (records back to 1878).

    That wasn't the end of the Winter though as the rest of the first half of 1979 continued colder than average including a notable cold spell for the time of year in May. It was a very wet Spring mind you.

    Data comes from the UK Met Office & Met Éireann.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 599 ✭✭✭Captain Snow


    sryanbruen wrote: »
    Was going to leave the Winter 1978/79 historical post 'til a month later but I guess now is as good a time as any....

    [/I]

    I look forward to the Day you write your first book. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Artane2002 wrote: »
    Are there any interesting rainfall stats from November 2014? I remember some very wet days from back then.

    Personally loved November 2014 and remember it as vividly as I do with 2010. 11th November 2014 was my 14th birthday and it was lashing, very dark in fact.

    At the time up to the 14th and then the 21st again, I thought it was going to be a record breaking wet November. It didn't turn out that way and just ended up fairly unremarkable compared to say November 2009 (and 1965 too as shown above). Nevertheless, parts of Dublin had nearly double their average November rainfall.

    Here's a graph of daily rainfalls for multiple Dublin stations during November 2014:

    k8iHFSL.png

    The 13th was a particularly wet day. I remember a very thick outbreak of fog during the evening of the 20th.

    Data comes from Met Éireann.

    Some pictures from November 2014:

    Think this first pic is of Cork on the evening of 6th November 2014 (Cork Airport had a daily rainfall of 27.0mm on this day). Dublin wasn't the only place that was very wet in November 2014..... still pales in comparison to November 2009 though.

    R4oeAI7.jpg

    Taken on 7 November 2014, I forget where this was.

    eGyyRQ9.jpg

    Taken on 11 November 2014, I again forget where this one was at.

    J6cA9bx.jpg

    Young kids trying to get school in Cork on 13 November 2014.

    2nVooMg.jpg

    Flooding in Dublin on 14 November 2014.

    Gx0nwhR.jpg

    The fog of 20 November 2014 in Dublin.

    23C4H7P.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,235 ✭✭✭Oneiric 3


    Once again, a terrific set of posts there Syran. Amazing amount of work - and well researched work that is done from the heart and not for any personal or monetary gain.

    Contrast this to the endless clickbaity headlines that we see on an almost daily basis by media outlets, written by soulless people who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, yet still get to have biggest say in the public sphere, because it is profitable to them, their advertisers and their so-called companies.

    New Moon



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Annual Ireland maximum and minimum temperatures for 1910-1940, using UK Met Office monthly weather reports.

    Maximum temperatures

    1910: 26.1c at Limerick (Mungret College), Birr Castle and Killarney on July 14th
    1911: 31.1c at Killarney on July 13th
    1912: 24.4c at Roches Point on July 15th/16th
    1913: 26.7c at Wexford on August 14th/Waterford Trg. Coll. on August 15th
    1914: 27.2c at Mountmellick on July 11th/Kilkenny on July 21st
    1915: 25.6c at Killarney on June 22nd
    1916: 29.4c at Killarney on August 6th
    1917: 26.1c at Glasnevin on July 13th
    1918: 28.9c at Killarney on June 1st/2nd
    1919: 27.2c at Carrick-on-Suir on August 14th
    1920: 25.0c at Birr Castle on May 25th
    1921: 32.2c at Killarney on July 12th
    1922: 27.8c at Killarney on May 30th/Foynes & Glasnevin on May 31st
    1923: 30.0c at Waterford (Gortmore) on July 12th
    1924: 23.9c at Dublin City on July 15th
    1925: 30.0c at Killarney on June 9th
    1926: 29.4c at Mountmellick, Kilkenny & Killarney on July 14th
    1927: 26.7c at Mountmellick on May 7th
    1928: 28.3c at Killarney on July 22nd
    1929: 27.2c at Kilkenny, Foynes and Mountmellick on July 14th (also July 15th at Foynes)
    1930: 27.2c at Newcastle on August 27th
    1931: 25.6c at Foynes on August 5th
    1932: 27.2c at Newcastle on July 9th
    1933: 30.0c at Kilkenny on July 4th
    1934: 32.2c at Foynes on July 9th
    1935: 27.2c at Newcastle on July 13th
    1936: 26.7c at Glasnevin & Hazelhatch on August 29th/Cork on August 31st
    1937: 27.8c at Hazelhatch on August 2nd
    1938: 25.6c at Birr Castle & Foynes on August 3rd
    1939: 28.9c at Carrick-on-Suir & Cork on June 6th
    1940: 28.9c at Glasnevin & Trinity College on August 9th/Birr Castle & Rathfarnham on June 8th

    Minimum temperatures

    1910: -13.9c at Markree Castle on January 7th
    1911: -10.6c at Markree Castle on February 1st
    1912: -11.7c at Limerick (Mungret College) on February 3rd
    1913: -10.0c at Clongowes Wood College on January 13th/14th
    1914: -10.0c at Markree Castle on December 24th
    1915: -9.4c at Phoenix Park on January 25th
    1916: -7.8c at Phoenix Park on December 27th/Markree Castle on March 4th/Cahir on December 16th & 17th
    1917: -15.0c at Clongowes Wood College on February 6th
    1918: -7.8c at Limerick (Mungret College) on January 9th
    1919: -11.1c at Markree Castle on November 14th
    1920: -8.9c at Cahir on December 16th
    1921: -6.7c at Baldonnel on March 7th
    1922: -6.1c at Phoenix Park on April 2nd
    1923: -8.3c at Kilkenny on November 25th
    1924: -7.8c at Markree Castle on January 11th
    1925: -8.9c at Markree Castle & Phoenix Park on December 23rd
    1926: -8.3c at Markree Castle on October 31st
    1927: -6.7c at Markree Castle on November 13th & 20th/Mountmellick on December 31st/Phoenix Park on February 13th
    1928: -10.0c at Mountmellick on March 13th/14th
    1929: -13.9c at Markree Castle on January 1st
    1930: -8.3c at Markree Castle on February 10th
    1931: -7.8c at Hazelhatch on March 10th
    1932: -7.8c at Markree Castle on February 19th
    1933: -7.8c at Kilkenny on January 26th
    1934: -6.7c at Birr Castle & Hazelhatch on February 27th
    1935: -11.1c at Markree Castle on December 23rd
    1936: -7.2c at Glasnevin & Phoenix Park on January 13th
    1937: -7.2c at Markree Castle on December 9th/Birr Castle on December 8th
    1938: -11.1c at Markree Castle on December 20th
    1939: -11.1c at Markree Castle on January 5th
    1940: -11.7c at Markree Castle & Glasnevin on January 17th (also January 18th at Glasnevin)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭Artane2002


    Summer 1924 sounds very grim with a max of not even 24c.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Artane2002 wrote: »
    Summer 1924 sounds very grim with a max of not even 24c.

    Here's what the 500mb height anomaly reanalysis looks like for Summer 1924 :pac:.

    8zXG4f9.png


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Daily mean temperatures for Dublin Airport during selected Winters (November to March). Could not include 1955-56 and 1995-96 due to them being leap years.

    Look at November/December 2010 standing out against all the rest.....

    Wonder how the Summers would look in terms of daily mean temperatures. Any particular stations you guys would like me to take a look at and compare?

    xE6deca.png

    Data comes from Met Éireann.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,477 ✭✭✭✭sryanbruen


    Mid-November 1996 contained a cold spell that is rather forgotten as it wasn't too remarkable historically wise compared to let's say 1919, 1965 or 1993 for three examples (and later 2010 too). Nevertheless, the spell did provide some interest. It was frequented by northerly winds for most of the period (18th to 24th November 1996).

    The winds briefly turned westerly on the 18th as a deep depression of 965mb approached from the Atlantic into the southwest of Ireland and ran along the south of the country into the UK on the 19 November 1996. The depression struggled to push eastwards due to high pressure to the north and as a result slid to the southeast forcing northerly/northeasterly gales to occur. There was plenty of heavy rain over England, Wales and eastern parts of Ireland. Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin recorded a daily rainfall of 58.4mm on the 19th, its wettest November day on record until 5 November 2000.

    The north recorded very little rain on the 19th whilst uphill areas under the depression had heavy snow including Blessington in the Wicklow Mountains and the Welsh Mountains where depths reached between 5-12cm of snow. By the 21st, the Pennines in the north of England had a snow depth up to 26cm.

    The 18th and 20th-23rd were generally frosty and sunny with a lot of dry weather but some scattered wintry showers over various parts of the UK and a weak band of rain in the west of Ireland on the 21st. Minimum temperatures regularly got below freezing throughout the period including England, Wales and Ireland. The table below shows the daily temperature records in the UK for 18th-24th November 1996. Three consecutive nights where -10c was recorded somewhere in the UK and every night had a grass minimum at least -10c or lower somewhere in the UK.

    k2dvA9V.png

    Ireland's temperature records during the spell included an air minimum of -5.7c at Straide, Co. Mayo on the 21st, the lowest November temperature in Ireland since 1993 and a grass minimum of -12.3c at Kilkenny and Derrygreenagh on the same day, again the lowest for November in Ireland since 1993.

    Cork Airport had its lowest November grass minimum temperature on record on the 21st with -8.9c, as did Mullingar with -9.7c.

    You can see how the spell evolved with this GIF of reanalysis charts.

    tjt2ujU.gif

    Extract from Met Éireann's weather bulletin for November 1996.

    Obj8tHG.png

    This spell was a big contrast to how the month initially started including a maximum of 17.9c at Merrion Square, Co. Dublin on the 1st and 18.1c at Heathrow Airport on the 2nd.



    500mb height anomaly reanalysis for November 1996. It was a fairly cold, wet and sometimes stormy month overall but very sunny and the sunniest November since 1965 for many.

    g2FCk7M.png

    Youngsters in Colwyn Bay, Wales made the most of the unexpected blizzards in November 1996 (likely the 19th) which caused pupils to be sent home early from schools.

    TsYfhVt.jpg

    Data comes from the UK Met Office & Met Éireann.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭Artane2002


    Where can I access data for sunshine hours, maximum wind gusts and days with snowfall in 2018 for the following stations:

    Dublin Airport
    Belmullet
    Cork Airport
    Malin Head
    Ballyhaise


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭Artane2002


    Artane2002 wrote: »
    Where can I access data for sunshine hours, maximum wind gusts and days with snowfall in 2018 for the following stations:

    Dublin Airport
    Belmullet
    Cork Airport
    Malin Head
    Ballyhaise

    Nevermind, found it on the MÉ website.


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