Drought/Low Rainfall Watch - Summer 2018

Graces7 · 01-08-2018 6:42am

sryanbruen wrote: »

The thread was originally opened for stats on the drought (I also posted daily sunshine tables) but then it quickly turned into a chat about the grass and stuff too.

It was needed!

Gonzo · 01-08-2018 12:36pm

the drought is well and truly over here in Meath. It's rained every day since last Friday, today is a wash-out and looks like there will be plenty of showers up to Friday evening here.

Grass here is mostly green everywhere except maybe on the edges of footpaths.

appledrop · 01-08-2018 12:39pm

I think this thread could now be closed. Hasn't stopped rain since last Friday. No drought anymore.

sryanbruen · 01-08-2018 12:52pm

Up to 292% of average rainfall for 25th-31st July 2018 at Shannon Airport.

Soil moisture deficits are still above 70mm for some but getting close to going below that threshold.

Mobhi1 · 01-08-2018 1:00pm

There has been rain here every day since last Friday, but not very much. The grass is beginning to look green again. There's been 0.2mm so far today.

Gonzo · 01-08-2018 1:07pm

sryanbruen wrote: »

Up to 292% of average rainfall for 25th-31st July 2018 at Shannon Airport.

I'm heading to the Shannon region tomorrow for the long weekend. It was looking very promising there from tomorrow a few days ago with high temperatures and lots of sunshine. Now the forecast is very different with wet conditions tomorrow and Friday. I am hoping that at least Saturday and Sunday stays dry there.

pauldry · 01-08-2018 1:35pm

Drought over!!

Lashing

Maybe South n some of east have issues but in Sligo over 20mm more today and for first time since May Garavogue is a "river"

uck51js9zml2yt · 01-08-2018 2:33pm

In Donegal for the first time in 7 years and it's pouring rain like last time... bloody typical!

appledrop · 01-08-2018 3:50pm

Met Eireann have now lifted drought warning. Definitely time to close this thread.

DOCARCH · 01-08-2018 4:11pm

appledrop wrote: »

Met Eireann have now lifted drought warning. Definitely time to close this thread.

See that....

I have removed the warning but still a useful thread to keep going to keep track of a drier than normal summer (especially for those in the south and east) and soil moisture deficits.

uck51js9zml2yt · 01-08-2018 4:19pm

Can we use it to discuss the" drought" of sun that we are now experiencing?

It's a shocking state of affairs

appledrop · 01-08-2018 4:23pm

Mariam Beautiful Blank wrote: »

Can we use it to discuss the" drought" of sun that we are now experiencing?

It's a shocking state of affairs

Ha ha brilliant. I would take my annual leave this week:rolleyes:

DOCARCH · 01-08-2018 4:40pm

DOCARCH wrote: »

....keep track of a drier than normal summer (especially for those in the south and east).

Just had a look at my rainfall records (for Dublin 16)....

For (all of) May, June and July, this year, a total rainfall recorded = 56.4mm.

Same period for 2017 = 160.0mm, for 2016 = 183.0mm, for 2015 = 164.6mm, for 2014 = 211.2mm, for 2013 = 127.0mm, and, for 2012 = 411.3mm!

So, despite recent rain, it has overall been an exceptionally dry 3 months (in Dublin 16).

pauldry · 01-08-2018 5:55pm

Wait until you see the exceptionally Wet August September October....etc

sryanbruen · 01-08-2018 5:58pm

The 21 June-14 July 2018 absolute drought (minimum 15 consecutive days with 0.2mm of rain or less) at Dublin Airport was the joint 4th longest on record with 24 days.

The same station (plus Phoenix Park) had partial drought (minimum 29 consecutive days in which the mean daily rainfall for the period does not exceed 0.2mm) conditions for a total of 53 days from 28 May to 19 July 2018. I will look at the records for historical partial droughts to see how 2018 compares.

Met Éireann have released on an update of their preliminary report of the dry, warm weather for Summer 2018 here: https://www.met.ie/cms/assets/uploads/2018/08/DryWarmWx06072018_SS.pdf

Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen · 01-08-2018 9:37pm

So the 2018 partial drought at Dublin Airport was the second longest in its records with 53 days, only beaten by the 1972 partial drought which lasted for 58 days.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

Pa ElGrande · 06-08-2018 8:15pm

Came across this in passing while looking into the British Isles 1921 drought

FEBRUARY, 1922. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW.

THE DROUGHT OF 1921 IN THE BRITISH ISLES.
By C. E. P. BROOKS AND J. GLASSPOOLE.

The general rainfall in England and Wales was the least in 1921, so far as can be ascertained, since 1788. Individual long records indicated that over a considerable part of the southeast of England 1921 was the driest year for at least a century and a half.

The months of 1921 were not individually so remarkable as was shown by a comparison with the driest month known to have occurred in the British Isles generally. As shown by a map of standard deviation of annual rainfall 1881-1915, for the British Isles, the least fluctuations of annual rainfall occurred along the coast in the
northwest, increasing to a maximum in the southeast and center of the land masses. Constructing charts showing the distribution of, barometric pressure over the globe during and preceding droughts, beginning with 1864, it is found that the conditions which commonly prevail during dry spells are high pressure over the British Isles, the
greatest deviation from normal being usually over southeast England; low pressure over the Arctic regions, especially near Spitzbergen; and, generally, low pressure near the Tropics.

The first factor is related to the 11-year sun-spot cycle, occurring most frequently two years after the sun-spot minimum and three or four years after sun-spot maximum, so that it tends to recur every five or six years. Great droughts occur only when both of these factors are favorable. With pressure low over the Arctic, two or three months warning of as drought would be given by the development of high pressure over northern Russia.

source

This story map shows the spatial extent and severity of three major historical drought periods in Ireland (1854-1860,1884-1896 and 1932-1933). Archived documentary evidence showing drought impacts are also presented.

source

sryanbruen · 10-08-2018 10:15pm

Here's the daily rainfall totals for 2018 so far up to August 10th at Dublin Airport and the dry spell since May (including August so far) is extremely notable. In fact, Dublin Airport has just exceeded 25% of its whole average Summer rainfall.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

sryanbruen · 10-08-2018 10:34pm

Here's a Cork Airport version of the chart above, up to 9 August.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

hinault · 11-08-2018 12:15am

Yes, rainfall amounts are still very small where I am, despite the long since passed heatwave.

The temperatures may well have paired back to normal levels but the rainfall amounts are nowhere near normal levels.

Regardless, I water harvest anyway but the amounts being harvested are minute compared to other years, at this time of year. Unfortunately.

JJayoo · 11-08-2018 1:13am

In Sligo we have had enough fecking rain

mg1982 · 11-08-2018 2:53am

Despite all the rain we had last week the land is still bone dry around where i live. Possibly still quite a moisture deficit in the soil. South sligo.

Cantona's Collars · 11-08-2018 9:49am

Heavy drizzly rain here in Wexford, it'll keep the dust down.

sryanbruen · 11-08-2018 10:14am

Here's how the rainfall fared during the same period in 1995 at both stations shown above. April 1995 was exceptionally dry unlike 2018. Both Winter 1994-95 and 2017-18 were wet though 1994-95 was wetter and at the time, the wettest on record for some.

Data comes from Met Éireann.

Elmer Blooker · 14-08-2018 5:15pm

Less than 10mm at Dublin Airport this month and 6mm of that fell on the 1st so the soil is again as dry as dust like it was a few weeks ago, my grass is still green though but that can explained by the ever present cloud cover.

Mobhi1 · 14-08-2018 5:34pm

8.6mm with me here in Glasnevin this month and most of that was on the first three days.

DOCARCH · 14-08-2018 5:40pm

Just 6.0mm in Dublin 16 so far this month.

JJayoo · 15-08-2018 1:56am

DOCARCH wrote: »

Just 6.0mm in Dublin 16 so far this month.

Damn didn't realise it was still so dry over east.

South Sligo had a light mist for a good part of the day ending up with 6mm of rain.

pauldry · 15-08-2018 1:44pm

Weather is still drier than normal even though its wet.

I know that sounds silly but apart from one or two stations seeing a lot of rain theres none of the daily downpours that have characterised most Summers in the 2000s

Last week when I was off I expected a deluge after watching farming forecast the previous Sunday but it was predominantly dry even here in Northwest.

Wednesday was quite showery is all

Supercell · 16-08-2018 8:45pm

7.4mm rain month to date here (including todays showers), ground is absolute dust below top 1cm or so. My veggies this year are a disaster as I havent been able to water. The few tomatoes there are on my spindly plants are ripening just fine and splitting...need to get a bigger rainwater tank.

Artane2002 · 16-08-2018 9:10pm

Supercell wrote: »

7.4mm rain month to date here (including todays showers), ground is absolute dust below top 1cm or so. My veggies this year are a disaster as I havent been able to water. The few tomatoes there are on my spindly plants are ripening just fine and splitting...need to get a bigger rainwater tank.

I was in Dundrum earlier and the grass there was much yellower than up here in Artane. There was still a lot of green there but noticeable yellow.

Oops69 · 16-08-2018 9:26pm

Artane2002 wrote: »

I was in Dundrum earlier and the grass there was much yellower than up here in Artane. There was still a lot of green there but noticeable yellow.

The grass is always greener on the NORTHside ...

Artane2002 · 16-08-2018 9:33pm

Oops69 wrote: »

The grass is always greener on the NORTHside ...

The grass is 100% green here, only around 50% green where I was in Dundrum. I know it is usually greener here but it's still a bigger than usual difference...

MJohnston · 16-08-2018 9:53pm

Presumably there's a small rain shadow for a lot of south Dublin that's near the mountains?

JJayoo · 16-08-2018 11:07pm

From 3pm yesterday until now we have had 22mm of rain in south Sligo.

JJayoo · 17-08-2018 2:04pm

JJayoo wrote: »

From 3pm yesterday until now we have had 22mm of rain in south Sligo.

15 hours later and we are up to 45mm of rain

Mobhi1 · 17-08-2018 2:59pm

JJayoo wrote: »

15 hours later and we are up to 45mm of rain

We have only had 15.7mm rain in the whole of August. 1.2mm since midnight.

JJayoo · 17-08-2018 3:25pm

Mobhi1 wrote: »

We have only had 15.7mm rain in the whole of August. 1.2mm since midnight.

Are you south or east?

Crazy how big the difference is.

Mobhi1 · 17-08-2018 3:39pm

JJayoo wrote: »

Are you south or east?

Crazy how big the difference is.

Glasnevin, north Dublin.

mg1982 · 17-08-2018 10:04pm

JJayoo wrote: »

15 hours later and we are up to 45mm of rain

Whats crazy is if you go on met eireanns site Markree castle got 2.9mm of rain yesterday. The highest for any weather station was finner at 9.8. Im in south sligo too and it feels like we got a lot more than any of those totals.

JJayoo · 17-08-2018 11:23pm

mg1982 wrote: »

Whats crazy is if you go on met eireanns site Markree castle got 2.9mm of rain yesterday. The highest for any weather station was finner at 9.8. Im in south sligo too and it feels like we got a lot more than any of those totals.

Ya I have a rain guage sitting in the lawn and it was a washout.

JJayoo · 18-08-2018 11:10pm

Horrible day, raining from about 3pm onwards.

17mm so far today.

Oneiric 3 · 21-08-2018 2:35pm

Given that the rainfall totals have more or less returned to normal now - at least over the last 28 days which nationally, is just shy of 100% of normal (down mostly to a wetter west balanced out by a drier east), I think this thread should be put to death, or at least, confined to the archives of history!

As an aside, the front which is expected to move down over the country tonight and first thing tomorrow looks potentially quite sharp:

The models still not showing much rain from this for the still parched east of Ireland, but with so much moisture in the air, hopefully this front will trigger some spurts of heavier rain for these regions as it passes over.

giveitholly · 21-08-2018 2:39pm

Far from over in my area,grass has slowed down again and becoming burnt in patches,ground is like a rock and many small streams/water courses are still bone dry

Mobhi1 · 21-08-2018 3:51pm

Rainfall totals are still way below normal in eastern, midland and southern areas and I'm not even sure if summer totals will be reached for other areas.

RobertKK · 21-08-2018 4:24pm

I'm at 10.2mm for the month of August, so it is way drier than normal here still in Kilkenny - north of Kilkenny city.
Kilkenny city is at 7.4mm of rain for the month.

Oneiric 3 · 21-08-2018 5:11pm

Here's some rainfall data for the last 28 days as reported by Met Eireann, and calculated using the 'Ag reports'.

Reggie. · 21-08-2018 6:10pm

We are near the bottom of the league

Cantona's Collars · 22-08-2018 2:15am

The total for Johnstown Castle seems unusually high. I think the total was skewed by one exceptionally heavy couple of hours of rain about 10 days ago down that way while the majority of the county had very little rain in comparison.

RobertKK · 22-08-2018 3:27am

The end of July rain will be falling out of the 28 average soon and it will reflect the much bigger contrast that has happened over the country this month.

Drought/Low Rainfall Watch - Summer 2018

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