Shannon radar down again.

ronnie3585 · 09-08-2019 4:46pm

Today's update on the ME website:

Friday 9th August: A major repair is being carried out as a matter of top priority by Met Éireann especially given the current unsettled Atlantic weather pattern. The progress will be updated here on Monday.

Come on lads.....I've gotten soaked twice this week because of the lack of radar coverage.

Discodog · 09-08-2019 6:04pm

If it was the Airport radar it would be fixed in hours.

Joe Public · 10-08-2019 10:15am

Discodog wrote: »

If it was the Airport radar it would be fixed in hours.

At least, they would have a plan B

JCX BXC · 10-08-2019 1:41pm

Bsal wrote: »

Looking at netweather's radar it looks like they are not using data from the Dublin airport radar, you can see the range ring ends just before Shannon airport which suggests they are only using Belfast radar, but if you go to met.ie website you can see the range ring from the Dublin airport radar extending as far as Cork.

No, that's just the format they use, they are using the Dublin radar.

Phileas Frog · 10-08-2019 1:42pm

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Today's update on the ME website:

Come on lads.....I've gotten soaked twice this week because of the lack of radar coverage.

Ball.cocks. you got soaked because it rained.

Jpmarn · 10-08-2019 3:28pm

We are in a part of the country that depends on Shannon radar for accurate rainfall coverage. Here in Limerick we do get coverage from Dublin but we don't have a clue how intense the nearby rainfall is. I noticed other posters reporting getting caught out because of the lack of coverage towards the south west. Kerry and West Cork have absolutely no coverage at all.

seefin · 11-08-2019 3:06pm

Does Shannon radar cover Cork city? No mention of rain on met.ie today yet a horrendous downpour a half hour ago. Am going to have to stop checking weather online as invariably it's pretty unaccurate on all the sites. Noticed this especially this summer

JCX BXC · 11-08-2019 3:10pm

It would cover the cork area yes. The Dublin radar is very poor at picking up precipitation from that distance. (Curvature of earth, hills in the way etc)

ecowise · 11-08-2019 5:02pm

"Does Shannon radar cover Cork city? No mention of rain on met.ie today yet a horrendous downpour a half hour ago. Am going to have to stop checking weather online as invariably it's pretty unaccurate on all the sites. Noticed this especially this summer"

In theory but it is not reliable in practice. We are located in west Waterford and it sometimes picks up precipitation and sometimes not. Besides the Earth's curvature the W-E line of high ground from the Galtee's to the Comeraghs is presumably part of the reason for this. It appears to me to work better (but not perfect) at this range for precipitation coming from a greater height such as in a warm front but appears less able to pick up showers.

flazio · 11-08-2019 9:28pm

Do these radars have to be based at airports? I'm thinking one in the Slieve Blooms would provide a good range for most of the island.

JCX BXC · 11-08-2019 9:47pm

flazio wrote: »

Do these radars have to be based at airports? I'm thinking one in the Slieve Blooms would provide a good range for most of the island.

Slap bang in the middle of Dublin and Shannon though, it would provide very little extra coverage to the country, and would probably just be a waste of money.

Would terrain not be an issue here?

Rougies · 11-08-2019 10:56pm

flazio wrote: »

Do these radars have to be based at airports? I'm thinking one in the Slieve Blooms would provide a good range for most of the island.

They don't have to be at airports. For example what we refer to as the "Belfast radar" is not actually at Belfast airport, but on the south shores of Lough Neagh near Lurgan.

Here's the exact location, you can see the shadow of the tower and radar housing clearly.

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/54%C2%B030'07.1%22N+6%C2%B020'34.4%22W/@54.50196,-6.3442331,306m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d54.5019598!4d-6.3428864

But it does make sense for them to be at airports or at least close to airports for a few reasons. One is because they are more accurate at close range and that's obviously a good thing for warning air traffic about the current weather situation.

Here's a great read about the "British Isles" (not my words) weather radar network.

https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/badc_datadocs/nimrod/factsheet15.pdf

ecowise · 11-08-2019 11:06pm

Based on the total weather radar coverage for UK/Ireland it would seem Belmullet (or Knock Airport) would be the most useful place to add an extra station (if there is a more up-to-date coverage map please let us know).

RoisinD · 12-08-2019 8:33am

Hopefully Shannon back today. Looked at it around 5.00am and thought it had been fixed as it was showing the whole area.

coillsaille · 12-08-2019 11:31am

I see on the coverage chart in the document posted above that the boundary between the 2km and 5km resolution for Shannon is around 10km to my west. Sometimes while watching for upcoming breaks in showers I have seen seen showers materialise out of nowhere around this point on the map. Just curious if the transition to higher resolution at that point explains that?

JCX BXC · 12-08-2019 11:33am

That document seems to imply that Shannon airport is in Limerick city, so in reality it would be shifted slightly to the west for Shannon's coverage.

coillsaille · 12-08-2019 11:36am

JCX BXC wrote: »

That document seems to imply that Shannon airport is in Limerick city, so in reality it would be shifted slightly to the west for Shannon's coverage.

True indeed. Didn't spot that!

ecowise · 12-08-2019 12:19pm

coillsaille wrote: »

I see on the coverage chart in the document posted above that the boundary between the 2km and 5km resolution for Shannon is around 10km to my west. Sometimes while watching for upcoming breaks in showers I have seen seen showers materialise out of nowhere around this point on the map. Just curious if the transition to higher resolution at that point explains that?

There may be a resolution effect happening sometime but showers do often materialize out of nothing (as most of us have experienced sometime while enjoying the great outdoors)!

JCX BXC · 12-08-2019 5:23pm

No update as was promised.

Portsalon · 13-08-2019 9:22am

JCX BXC wrote: »

No update as was promised.

Yep - I assume we can take it that no news is bad news.

Perhaps Met Eireann should have written: The progress, if any, will be updated here on Monday.

mickger844posts · 13-08-2019 1:52pm

Emailed Met Eireann this morning and got this reply

“Unfortunately, we are still awaiting repair and looks likely it will take another few days”

foxy farmer · 13-08-2019 2:15pm

mickger844posts wrote: »

Emailed Met Eireann this morning and got this reply

“Unfortunately, we are still awaiting repair and looks likely it will take another few days”

Complete radar installations have been built from scratch in less time than this is being repaired.

flazio · 13-08-2019 5:41pm

Tuesday 13th August: We are awaiting delivery from Germany of replacement parts for the Shannon radar this week. Some additional maintenance work and testing will be required when the replacement parts are fitted.

We will update this article on the expected resumption of service date this Friday.

Knowing our luck there won't be a drop of rain for weeks after the fix.

Comhrá · 13-08-2019 6:20pm

flazio wrote: »

Knowing our luck there won't be a drop of rain for weeks after the fix.

Indeed......we're overdue a long visit from the Azores high. He'll probably arrive for a 3 week stay the same day the radar gets fixed.

foxy farmer · 13-08-2019 6:32pm

Tuesday 13th August: We are awaiting delivery from Germany of replacement parts for the Shannon radar this week. Some additional maintenance work and testing will be required when the replacement parts are fitted.

We will update this article on the expected resumption of service date this Friday.

God almighty what happened. Did it burn to the ground or what.

pauldry · 13-08-2019 9:22pm

A spider went in and built a web in it.

Thats how all my rain gauges fail anyways.

Rougies · 13-08-2019 10:18pm

foxy farmer wrote: »

Tuesday 13th August: We are awaiting delivery from Germany of replacement parts for the Shannon radar this week. Some additional maintenance work and testing will be required when the replacement parts are fitted.

We will update this article on the expected resumption of service date this Friday.

God almighty what happened. Did it burn to the ground or what.

Maybe the giggling pin wore out or it needs some new sky hooks. In fairness it's pretty specialised equipment, it's not like they can just go to Woodies for replacement parts.

foxy farmer · 13-08-2019 10:28pm

Rougies wrote: »

Maybe the giggling pin wore out or it needs some new sky hooks. In fairness it's pretty specialised equipment, it's not like they can just go to Woodies for replacement parts.

Considering there's threads on the Shannon radar breakdowns on here going back yrs I think that they must indeed be buying the parts from Woodies. Would explain the frequent outages.
:pac:

Rougies · 13-08-2019 10:31pm

foxy farmer wrote: »

Considering there's threads on the Shannon radar breakdowns on here going back yrs I think that they must indeed be buying the parts from Woodies. Would explain the frequent outages.
:pac:

There's a saying "you can fix anything with WD-40, duct tape and a hammer". Maybe they're buying the wrong tape? :eek:

Comhrá · 13-08-2019 11:49pm

Update on longer term planning

Shannon Airport Rainfall Radar Not Operational

The Met Eireann rainfall radar at Shannon Airport is currently not operational due to a technical issue, hence the loss of rainfall radar coverage in the west and south-west of Ireland.

We apologise for this significant loss in coverage especially given the prevailing unsettled Atlantic weather pattern.

Tuesday 13th August: We are awaiting delivery from Germany of replacement parts for the Shannon radar this week. Some additional maintenance work and testing will be required when the replacement parts are fitted.

We will update this article on the expected resumption of service date this Friday.

(Update on longer term planning: Met reann is in the development stage of a major programme to modernise and expand the weather radar network of Ireland in order to meet the State’s needs to 2040)

LoxontheRox · 14-08-2019 10:54am

Rougies wrote: »

There's a saying "you can fix anything with WD-40, duct tape and a hammer". Maybe they're buying the wrong tape? :eek:

Anyone got MacGyvers numberðŸ˜Š

Phileas Frog · 14-08-2019 10:56am

foxy farmer wrote: »

Complete radar installations have been built from scratch in less time than this is being repaired.

Where?

munsterlegend · 14-08-2019 11:25am

LoxontheRox wrote: »

Anyone got MacGyvers numberðŸ˜Š

Probably need the A team as well considering the time it’s taking.

arccosh · 14-08-2019 11:37am

would be interesting to know the make and model of the radar, can guage a bit better the possible logistical issues.

dohouch · 14-08-2019 12:21pm

Have a look at this radar picture Will it rain today?

Where is the data in these images coming from?

Iancar29 · 14-08-2019 12:32pm

dohouch wrote: »

Have a look at this radar picture Will it rain today?

Where is the data in these images coming from?

Thats a forecast model , not radar.

namloc1980 · 14-08-2019 1:06pm

Comhra wrote: »

Update on longer term planning

(Update on longer term planning: Met reann is in the development stage of a major programme to modernise and expand the weather radar network of Ireland in order to meet the State’s needs to 2040)

2040 being the expected delivery date no doubt.

ecowise · 14-08-2019 1:21pm

arccosh wrote: »

would be interesting to know the make and model of the radar, can guage a bit better the possible logistical issues.

It's made by Selex Gmbh (parent companyLeonardo Gmbh) in Germany, don't know model details.

http://www.de.selex-es.com/selex_de/capabilities/meteorology/products/weather.html

arccosh · 14-08-2019 2:24pm

ecowise wrote: »

It's made by Selex l

well there's your first issue :pac:

DOCARCH · 14-08-2019 5:07pm

It's back!!!

Oscar Bravo · 14-08-2019 5:08pm

From met eireann

The maintenance of our Shannon rainfall radar has been completed and it is operational again as of 4:30pm this afternoon

Comhrá · 14-08-2019 5:27pm

Bring on the rain hail & thunder!

ronnie3585 · 14-08-2019 5:28pm

Excellent. I see that Netweather hasn't yet picked back up the feed from Shannon.

ecowise · 14-08-2019 5:59pm

Great that it is back. For the record that is 13 days downtime as far as I can tell. Is that correct and has it ever been out of service that long before (other than for upgrades)?

ronnie3585 · 15-08-2019 9:52am

Netweather is back using the Shannon feed.

redsteveireland · 16-08-2019 8:46pm

Is it a new version of the radar?

sumtings · 16-08-2019 11:33pm

redsteveireland wrote: »

Is it a new version of the radar?

It looks different alright

mickger844posts · 16-08-2019 11:51pm

redsteveireland wrote: »

Is it a new version of the radar?

Comparing past screen grabs it seems they have put a black outline around the Island which makes it stand out more. The radar echoes are the same so not a big change.

Donegal Storm · 17-08-2019 1:41pm

Still can't zoom out to see the whole country and the NI radar is gone again :rolleyes:

Discodog · 28-08-2019 10:44am

Shannon down again?

Shannon radar down again.

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