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Rain all day but nothing on radar or forecast

  • 01-08-2018 5:07pm
    #1
    banjolin
    Registered Users Posts: 199 ✭✭


    Could someone explain to me how, despite there being nothing on radar and the forecast has no rain for West Waterford, it has been lashing here all day with no sign of it letting up? It may look heavier than it is because of the wind but it is horizontal drenching rain.


Comments

  • #2
    pawdee
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭pawdee


    It's God's will and not for us to try to understand.


  • #3
    M.T. Cranium
    Registered Users Posts: 14,316 ✭✭✭✭M.T. Cranium


    If really not on radar, sounds like heavy drizzle from marine layer that might be too shallow for Shannon-based radar to show much of a return. Must admit, on holiday and not into the current weather pattern very much, perhaps other forum members will have a better answer.


  • #4
    banjolin
    Registered Users Posts: 199 ✭✭banjolin


    I suppose it could be described as heavy drizzle, but emphasis on heavy, and it was relentless. The reason it is an issue for me is that I was scheduling outdoor work and based on the forecast and radar I gave the go ahead and it was a total washout. I wasn't aware that this type of precipitation was under the radar.


  • #5
    skeleton_boy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,579 ✭✭✭skeleton_boy


    I noticed the same thing happening here in Cork City yesterday. The precipitation could have been described as a heavy drizzle so maybe the above explains it?


  • #6
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 28,775 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    Sounds like heavy drizzle, if so, seems very difficult to predict from models, and to detect via radar. Can be a pain in the arse


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  • #7
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    Yeah I find the met radar does not pick up on drizzly rain, it's a limitation of the tech I suppose.


  • #8
    DOCARCH
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 17,681 Mod ✭✭✭✭DOCARCH


    ....in addition, Waterford is a bit of a rainfall radar black spot. Coverage for Waterford not good!


  • #9
    Sycamore Tree
    Closed Accounts Posts: 796 ✭✭✭Sycamore Tree


    Drizzly rain in Galway all day but there was nothing on the radar earlier. There is now.


  • #10
    Rebelbrowser
    Registered Users Posts: 3,133 ✭✭✭Rebelbrowser


    DOCARCH wrote: »
    ....in addition, Waterford is a bit of a rainfall radar black spot. Coverage for Waterford not good!

    Twas the same in Cork city all day and evening. Had me flummoxed


  • #11
    banjolin
    Registered Users Posts: 199 ✭✭banjolin


    M.T. Cranium wrote: »
    If really not on radar, sounds like heavy drizzle from marine layer that might be too shallow for Shannon-based radar to show much of a return. Must admit, on holiday and not into the current weather pattern very much, perhaps other forum members will have a better answer.




    I would have said that being in a radar blind spot could be an issue because we are in the Nire Valley, but as the phenomenon apparently wasn't limited to just this area (and we have a fairly clear line of sight to Shannon) it seems that heavy drizzle from the marine layer (assuming this is quite low) is the real issue. We are prone to weather that rolls in from the coast between the Comeraghs and the Knockmealdown mountains. Galway and Cork are both coastal so this would reinforce the thesis.


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  • #12
    Jpmarn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭Jpmarn


    I presume the Shannon Radar is shielded by the Galtee and Comeragh mountains and Dublin by maybe Slievenamon and Mt. Leinster. I presume the drizzle is coming from a low base. I don’t regard rainfall radars as 100% accurate.


  • #13
    MrDerp
    Registered Users Posts: 990 ✭✭✭MrDerp


    Slightly tongue-in-cheek, but why not email John Halligan and get him to demand weather radar for the south east?

    With tongue out of cheek, do we follow best practice when it comes to location and number of weather radars? It seems unfortunate that the OP would lose out financially based on the observed data. I know that MÉ do a good job, and no forecasting is perfect, but one really ought to be able to do some decent educated guesswork or now-casting from the website.


  • #14
    skeleton_boy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,579 ✭✭✭skeleton_boy


    skeleton_boy wrote: »
    I noticed the same thing happening here in Cork City yesterday. The precipitation could have been described as a heavy drizzle so maybe the above explains it?


    I've noticed the same thing again today. There's been a varying light to heavy mist in Cork City since 8am but nothing showing on the radar. Must be the same type of occurrence.


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