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Severe Thunderstorm July 25th/26th 1985

  • 31-08-2005 11:05pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭


    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!


«1345

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,265 ✭✭✭aidan_dunne


    Yeah, I do. Remember it well, in fact.

    All that day the sky had been threatening thunderstorms. The sky was one of those hazy dark grey colour schemes, kind of similar to what we had this afternoon here in Portlaoise, actually, and it was woeful dead and heavy all day long. My whole family had been out on my grandfather's farm that day as they were bringing in some of the hay and we were helping out. When we came back into the house for our tea about 6/6.30, the sky started to get even darker than it had been all day. By the time we left the farm and were driving back home into town the place was nearly pitch black and this was only at about 9 o' clock. On the way home in the car the lightning started and scared the shíte out of myself and my little sister. The thunder and lightning that night was the worse I have ever seen in this country and I'll never forget it.

    Though as I recall, and correct me somebody if I'm wrong here, but didn't we actually have a few bad days of thunderstorms then, it wasn't just the one night? I seem to remember it going on for a couple of days at least around here anyway. Not continuously, but it seemed that we'd get some thunder and lightning at some stage every day for a few days at that time. I seem to recall the whole thing lasting across the country for nearly a week or something and remember seeing spectacular pictures on the news of the lightning different parts of the country were getting on different nights over that period and pictures of ESB crews having to repair lines all over the place. I do remember the weather forecasters saying something about it being one of the most unusual weather patterns we'd ever seen in this country, some kind of thundery weather system that seemed to have almost "parked" itself, for want of a better word, right over the country and stayed over us and stayed intensely active for several days. Am I right in thinking all that happened?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭Danno


    I don't know about it lasting for a few days, as I was quite young. However, I do remember a similar night, though not as severe on September 30th in 1985.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,999 ✭✭✭solas


    I remember it vividly. I was ten and my father had left for America the previous day, he was going to be working there for six weeks and it was the first time I he was away from home for so long. The storms started that night and I'll never forget it, even my mother was terrified, we were all in her bed. And ye..they went on for a couple of days. I remember because we couldnt answer the fone, my father hadn't a clue what was going on, had been trying to get in touch with us for almost three days.

    fraky freaky freaky. Is one of my more vivid childhood memories..and I'm still terrified of thunder.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 469 ✭✭Overlord


    yeah saw this thread and had to post.
    I was eleven. My uncle was driving my brother and sister and me home from my cousins house in kilkenny city. Think my grandma was in the car too. If anyone knows the road to callan. theres a patch of road before cuffesgrange that had just been put in at the time. No ditches on the road to block your view. I remember thinking that i couldn't look anywhere 360 degrees around me without seeing a lightning strike. Like i couldnt avoid seeing multiple strikes everywhere for the whole trip from kilkenny to callan. thats about 15 mins. It was _that_ active. Truly unforgettable and very scary.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 117 ✭✭Newshound


    I remember it well.
    Myself and my sister were daring each other to go out and sit on the swing.
    I was getting a bit brave and stayed on the swing pretending i wasnt scared.
    Next thing the tree at the end of the garden exploded with the loudest bang i ever heard in my life.
    I didnt pretend anymore.
    Straight to bed and under the covers.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭Danno


    Wonder will we ever see the likes again?

    Does it go down as the worst thunderstorm ever in Ireland?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 8,632 ✭✭✭darkman2


    Does anyone know if Ireland ever had a super cell storm? Ive never heard of it happening in my lifetime and we really dont have the conditions nessecary but still freak weather does happen! Anyone any idea?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Posts merged with this thread
    darkman2 wrote:
    Does anyone know if Ireland ever had a super cell storm? Ive never heard of it happening in my lifetime and we really dont have the conditions nessecary but still freak weather does happen! Anyone any idea?
    July 15/16th 1985,there was a supercell over Dublin,frequent lightning and went on all of the night.Flooding,power outages the works.Actually it was documented on the news the next day on RTE and talked about for a long time.Still comes up in the odd conversation from a few people.

    It was forecasted too by Gerald Fleming with his stick pointing at the old chart on the wall.I have been to a good few places on the planet a saw a lot of storms and in fairness nothing has come close to this and it was in my back yard nor did i see the likes of it since here.Frightning stuff i might add.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Snowbie wrote:
    July 15/16th 1985,there was a supercell over Dublin,frequent lightning and went on all of the night.Flooding,power outages the works.Actually it was documented on the news the next day on RTE and talked about for a long time.Still comes up in the odd conversation from a few people.

    It was forecasted too by Gerald Fleming with his stick pointing at the old chart on the wall.I have been to a good few places on the planet a saw a lot of storms and in fairness nothing has come close to this and it was in my back yard nor did i see the likes of it since here.Frightning stuff i might add.
    Try walking from Croke park to Goatstown in the middle of that.
    I was at the simple minds concert:o
    It's rare that you see power outages from lightning in Dublin.The forks were coming down all over the place.
    They looked fantastic as we passed RTÉ.
    It only started to rain just as we got to the door and boy did it pour - all night and all the next day!
    That had been a hot day in dublin - possibly high 20's.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭Trogdor


    Can't see much here atm Tristrame, alot of low cloud around. For some reason, I nearly always get hit with alot of showers in a North-Westerly flow. Hopefully the same this time.
    The outlook for today is pretty good alright!
    http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=13916&posts=20
    There was a big long thread about the Northern Ireland supercell last year on UKWW but i can't find it. Here's a pic on torro
    http://www.torro.org.uk/TORRO/php/photo.php?photo_id=454&start=0
    EDIT: found that thread
    http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=3554&start=1


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 8,632 ✭✭✭darkman2


    Snowbie wrote:
    July 15/16th 1985,there was a supercell over Dublin,frequent lightning and went on all of the night.Flooding,power outages the works.Actually it was documented on the news the next day on RTE and talked about for a long time.Still comes up in the odd conversation from a few people.

    It was forecasted too by Gerald Fleming with his stick pointing at the old chart on the wall.I have been to a good few places on the planet a saw a lot of storms and in fairness nothing has come close to this and it was in my back yard nor did i see the likes of it since here.Frightning stuff i might add.



    ERM......I know it happened but you must have your dates mixed up:

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00219850715.gif

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00119850715.gif

    Those charts definately would not produce large thunderstorms and Tristame, if it is the correct date, there is no way temperatures were even in the high teens never mind the high twenties:eek: I think the dates are mixed up. It must have been a different date.:rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    darkman2 wrote:
    ERM......I know it happened but you must have your dates mixed up:

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00219850715.gif

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00119850715.gif

    Those charts definately would not produce large thunderstorms and Tristame, if it is the correct date, there is no way temperatures were even in the high teens never mind the high twenties:eek: I think the dates are mixed up. It must have been a different date.:rolleyes:

    Right DM,its defo July as my brother got a dog for his birthday and thats the 10th,(but maybe we picked it up on the 15th).Try around the week after the 10th.
    Like its only 22years ago,please forgive mine and Tristrame's memory,were not as young as you.:p
    or else if Tristrame remembers the concert date he went too ahem SIMPLE MINDS,should be exact then.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    google simple minds croke park that should do it.

    It was 1986 snowbie that I remember and it was towards the end of june and it was the day before the world cup final of that year iirc so theres a better google.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 8,632 ✭✭✭darkman2


    More likely it was 86 looking at the charts. Specifically toward the end of June between the 26th and 30th would have been very hot:

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1986/Rrea00219860627.gif

    I will take a guess and say the 27th?

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1986/Rrea00119860627.gif

    Seems most likely to me:rolleyes: :confused:


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    If saturday was the 28th-then it was saturday the 28th
    The first forked lightning could be seen behind croke park at about 10 pm as the concert was ending.
    It took us about 2 hrs to walk from there to goatstown in booming thunder and lightning but no rain.
    The street lights were going on and off and the rain just started as we turned up the street to home 2 hrs into the storm.
    It went on all night and the next day was just a flood of rain with the thunder gone.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 8,632 ✭✭✭darkman2


    This would have been the nightime chart for the 28th - we dont see charts like that too often.

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1986/Rrea00119860629.gif


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Remember the 1986 storm but this one in 1985 was much severe in nature.
    Trying to get an archive of this and google it and came up with this.
    Anyone can remember their favourite thunderstorm?
    The worst thunderstorm I was caught in was in Dublin on the 24th August 1990. I remember going through the North Circular Road and it was getting so dark that office lights and some street lights were switched on. I was going to Aughrim Street Church at the time to a funeral and as soon as the funeral started, the thunder started at 5:45. The thunder after no time got so loud and violent that it was practically shaking the church and the lightning was lighting up inside. There were people running into the church after five minutes and they looked like drowned rats. I left the church at 6:30 and the rain had eased off at that stage but the thunder was still rumbling. The road at Aughrim Street had turned from bone dry to a torrent that was nearly level with the pavement in 45 minutes. Going across the north city back to Donnycarney, I was encountering floods up to the bonnets of cars, particularly near Fitzgibbon Street. On getting back to Donnycarney, I heard that one house had a lucky escape when lightning hit the back garden (I think it was the clothes line). The thunder was over at that stage when I got back to Donnycarney. I think for most Dublin people, the thunderstorm on the night of the 25th-26th July 1985 would be the storm of the century. I would love to hear more stories and did anyone ever capture a good lightning picture in Ireland?
    Dm try look up these dates the 25/26th july 1985.
    Got it confirmed that it was july 1985,now ill try look up an archive from somewhere that has a story bout this storm.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭Danno


    darkman2 wrote:
    ERM......I know it happened but you must have your dates mixed up:

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00219850715.gif

    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00119850715.gif

    Those charts definately would not produce large thunderstorms and Tristame, if it is the correct date, there is no way temperatures were even in the high teens never mind the high twenties:eek: I think the dates are mixed up. It must have been a different date.:rolleyes:

    July 25th and July 26th 1985 are the dates in question! Never ever will I forget that storm!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,310 ✭✭✭Trogdor


    Snowbie wrote:
    Remember the 1986 storm but this one in 1985 was much severe in nature.
    Trying to get an archive of this and google it and came up with this.

    Dm try look up these dates the 25/26th july 1985.
    Got it confirmed that it was july 1985,now ill try look up an archive from somewhere that has a story bout this storm.
    26th
    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00119850726.gif
    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00219850726.gif
    Couldn't find much on the event but this mentions severe weather in Northern Ireland on the 25/26. It's number 32 on the list
    http://www.essl.org/ECSS/2002/att2-abstracts.pdf


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    trogdor wrote:
    26th
    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00119850726.gif
    http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/1985/Rrea00219850726.gif
    Couldn't find much on the event but this mentions severe weather in Northern Ireland on the 25/26. It's number 32 on the list
    http://www.essl.org/ECSS/2002/att2-abstracts.pdf
    Yout first link shows a plume being avected northwards from spain,making it very humid and thundery.This air also crossed the bay of biscay area and took up a lot of moisture.Now with a shallow stationary LP sitting on top of a hot land with conditions already favourable to the development of storms,a severe outbreak occured.

    I never knew the extent of these storms as per the above posts,but a definite MCS(mesoscale convective system) formed probably engulfing most of the island and even with supercell characteristics which is very rare in this part of the world.Makes it such a unique event and probably once in a lifetime event.
    Frequent lightning,large hail with more than likely several funnels and probably a touchdown somewhere.
    Actually it was a terrifying experience and etched on my memory for life.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,668 ✭✭✭nlgbbbblth


    Simple Minds played Croke Park in 1986.

    I remember a violent thunderstorm in 1986. Pretty sure it was the night of the France vs Brazil World Cup quarter final. No electricity so missed it.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 16,960 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gonzo


    I remember the storm of 85, it went on for about 24 hours, I was 9 years old and back then didnt appreciate cool weather and was absolutely terrified. I remember it been very hot and sunny leading up to the event itself and there was alot of rain with it. I vaguely remember something on the news the morning after saying that in county Kildare that they had severe hail with it that killed birds and smashed car windows etc. The night of the storm we all had to move bedrooms to the opposite end of the house (away form a huge tv aerial) coz we thought it wud get stuck by lightning and fall, it really was that bad. I have never seen remotely the likes of this storm since. Its one of the 3 big storms that I remember in my lifetime, the other 2 were the famous snow of 1982 and the other was Hurricane Charlie I think in 1986, note that these 3 events covered a short 4 year period in the mid 80s. Look how boring our weather has become over past 10 years.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 469 ✭✭Overlord


    great reply gonzo. yeah the snow of '82. we had to dig ourselves out of the front door.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Found more on the july event plus more.This is massive but is a brilliant read.Enjoy:)
    5.3: Dublin's Most Severe Thunderstorms

    5.3.1: Thunderstorm and snow, 21 November 1977 (an example of a 'winter' thunderstorm): This was the time I learnt to spell 'thunderstorm', and boy, did I never forget to afterwards. For I was terrified! It was my first experience of thunder and it happened late at night. It woke me from my sleep. I screamed and cowered under the bed sheets at every rumble of thunder as I was only 6 years old.

    But God had also been good to us in a wonderful way, because the following morning came (I was almost afraid to look out the window because of the storm), IT HAD SNOWED! The thunderstorm had brought a heavy prolonged shower of snow, giving 3 or 4 inches by morning. This was an almost unheard of event for Dublin in November! I later found out that the temperature had dropped to -5C at Casement that morning. We had a day off school and lots of fun, but most of the snow had melted by the following day.

    5.3.2: The Mount Merrion Thunderstorm of 11 June 1963 (a 'home-brew' thunderstorm in a south-easterly continental air mass): Reading an old copy of the Irish Times for 11 June 1963 is quite interesting. The main headline refers to the forthcoming visit of President J.F. Kennedy to Ireland, and the possibility that phone lines may be jammed during his visit (due to the FBI taking over the GPO, I presume). This is also some comment on the recent 'Profumo' affair in London. In a small corner on the front page is the day's weather forecast, reading "Another warm and sunny day, but isolated thunderstorms will break out in Munster later" or words to that effect. Not too bad a forecast for 1963....

    Of course, later that day many Dubliners experienced their worst storm in living memory, when a violent thunderstorm over the Mount Merrion district deposited 184mm (7.5 inches) of rain in just a few hours, with 3.5 inches of this falling in one hour. It is quite possible that well over 200mm fell in an area where there were no rain gauges, indeed estimates of up to 235mm (9 inches) have been quoted. There was also violent thunder and lightning.

    Back then I wasn't even a glint in my father's eye, for I was not born until 1971. But I have interviewed and talked to many people about that famous day (including my father), and they all have their own story to tell. It is quite remarkable that no-one was killed during the storm, for many people lost their possessions and had their homes badly flooded.

    Synoptic details: A slack south-easterly airflow covered Ireland as an occluded front approached from the south-west. The previous few days had seen glorious sunshine and temperatures reaching 23-26C inland across central Ireland, although Dublin city was cooler with an onshore easterly sea-breeze, keeping temperatures at 18 or 19C.

    The 11th June started similar, but by lunchtime large cumulonimbus clouds had gathered over the Mount Merrion district. These were seen clearly by golfers in Howth on the northside of Dublin, which completely escaped the storm deluge. They wondered what the fuss was all about when they got home. However, between 1 and 2pm, 85mm of rain fell at 10 Maher Road North, Mount Merrion (measured by Mr. D. Coleman). A further 100mm fell in his gauge over the following 2 to 3 hours. Rainfall isohyets indicate that the centre of the storm rainfall may have been just to the west of Mount Merrion (perhaps even over Clonskeagh), where as much as 235mm could have fallen. There are of course many accounts of the flooding - I have been told innumerable stories, of which a few include:

    Rainwater raced down Goatstown hill, and backed up against a large 6 foot high granite wall at the rear of O'Briens farm. The water grew higher and higher, eventually bursting through the wall (like a damn bursting), causing water and debris to race across O'Briens front field. To this day, you can still see the huge boulder (several tonnes weight) lying in the middle of O'Briens garden (no longer a farm) left there by the massive flood.
    My father remembers the little Dargle river (normally just a pathetic stream, if even flowing) flooding to perhaps 6 feet in depth, making the Goatstown Road impassable.
    Prof. Gordon Herries-Davies of Trinity College told me of being unable to return home that evening due to the flood. Water was gushing down the embankment at Columnbanus (Milltown) into the river Dodder at such a rate that it looked just like a huge waterfall, several hundred yards wide. There was more water in this single outflow than in the whole river Dodder itself (which drains from Bohernabreena where between only 40 and 50mm of rain was recorded).
    Mr. Douglas Gordon of Dundrum saw ball lightning bouncing along the ground in Monkstown and may actually have been hit by lightning himself!
    For my undergraduate dissertation at Trinity College in 1992, I decided to measure the temperature pattern of Dublin city using mobile traverses. Some of my suspicions were confirmed when I discovered that horizontal temperature gradients of up to 8C per km can occur when certain weather situations develop. Warm residual fohn air tends to back up behind Mount Merrion hill in south-easterly airflows. The cold sea-breeze often overrides this warm air from the north-east, but usually fails. But could it have overran sufficiently on 11 June 1963 to cause massive surface layer instability over the Mount Merrion district?

    Meanwhile, the Irish Times of 12 June 1963 makes even better than the day before. On the front page there are full accounts of the magnificent storm, together with photos of hundreds of buses and cars stranded at Merrion Gates, Sandymount. Unfortunately, there is no weather report - for the duty meteorologist himself was stranded by the floods and unable to come into the Irish Times office to draw the midday chart! (all weather maps were drawn by hand in those days).

    An absolutely amazing and truly remarkable coincidence is that on the exact 30th anniversary of the Mount Merrion thunderstorm, that being 11 June 1993, Dublin experienced yet another massive deluge - with upwards of 110mm falling, making it the second wettest day of the century, runner-up only to 11 June 1963. I was there on that latter event, armed with my rain gauge! In a later section I have written a full account of that latter day.

    References:

    W.A. Morgan, The Mount Merrion Thunderstorm, Irish Met. Service Publication (1963)

    Graham, E, The Urban Heat Island of Dublin City, Irish Geography (1993)

    5.3.3: The Storms of 25/26 July 1985: (This is an example of a 'home-brew' thunderstorm which formed on the boundary between humid continental air and fresher Atlantic air. The storms occurred at night and were probably caused by very rapid forced frontal uplifting). They are probably the most severe in times of lightning and continuous thunder that I have ever experienced. There were repeated cloud to ground lightning strikes throughout the night with continuous loud thunder for several hours. Up to 400 strikes per hour were later estimated to have occurred. The storm gave the impression that it would move away for 5 or 10 minutes before returning again. I was terrified (age 14) that night and prayed and prayed that the storm would just move away for good, but it didn't - it kept coming back again and again. Of course, I now realise that it was a series of different storms moving north-east along a trailing cold front and it was not the same storm repeatedly returning.

    At about 5am, as the last of the cells moved away, I was brave enough to peek out the window. I saw a blaze of red and orange shimmering lights across the city, from what I presumed to be hundreds of fires caused by the lightning. The 6 o'clock news the following evening reported these storms as being the worst for 50 years (in terms of lightning and thunder). Charlie Bird showed a report from county Kildare where there were thousands of crows killed by large hailstones. Many of the hailstones were still lying in ditches on the side of the road.



    5.3.4: 27 to 30 June 1986 (These storms formed in similar circumstances to the storms of 25/26 July 1985): After the storms of the previous July, we thought we had had our share and we would be spared from further violence for another 50 years. That was not to be the case, as an unusual airflow at the end of June 1986 brought several days of violent thunderstorms to be Dublin region. Although none of the storms were individually as severe as the overnight storm of 25/26 July of the previous year, it was the 4 or more continuous days of thunder that was the most surprising. Local downpours of up to 3 inches (75mm) accompanied the storms. Two lightning bolts hit within 100 metres of my parent's house on Laburnum Road, Clonskeagh. I also discovered that the shetland pony in the field beside us was hit and probably killed by lightning. During one of the evenings, another thunderstorm (but with no rain) was coincidental with a concert given by 'Simple Minds' at Croke Park in Dublin. At Clonskeagh, there was an amazing combination of distant loud music mixed with occasional thunder. It was also the same evening of the first Dublin-Belfast Co-operation-North maracycle.

    5.3.5: 24 August 1990 (another 'home-brew' storm formed on the boundary between humid and fresher airmasses) : This was a much shorter storm compared to the examples above, lasting no more than one hour or so. It occurred at about 6:00pm on the day in question, which was at the end of a long and humid spell. I was just finishing my job at 'Spar' supermarket in Milltown that evening, but I was unable to leave for home at 6:00pm due to torrential rain and the fairly frequent thunder. After about 20 minutes waiting, I made a dash for it on my bicycle down Milltown hill. What I noticed then surprised me, for at the bottom of Milltown hill, only 100 metres or so away from where I had been waiting for 20 minutes, it was completely dry! The only evidence of water was from were the torrents of runoff flowing from the top of Milltown hill where I had been delayed! When I got home to Laburnum Road at about 6:30pm, my parents wondered what had delayed me - they did not believe I had to spend 20 minutes sheltering from the rain, for it was bone dry in Clonskeagh also. Eventually however, the rain started to pour down in Laburnum Road also, giving about 18mm in less than an hour.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,246 ✭✭✭rc28


    That was a great read, thanks snowbie. Where did you find it and I didn't know meteireann published reports on individual events?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    No it wasnt published by met.ie,it is an account of a bloke who now is a meterologist growing up and experiencing weather in Dublin during his lifetime,except for the 1963 event.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,246 ✭✭✭rc28


    Snowbie wrote:
    No it wasnt published by met.ie,it is an account of a bloke who now is a meterologist growing up and experiencing weather in Dublin during his lifetime,except for the 1963 event.
    W.A. Morgan, The Mount Merrion Thunderstorm, Irish Met. Service Publication (1963)
    I meant the above reference, do they sell these books in glasnevin?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Probably,i dont know rc.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,474 ✭✭✭✭road_high


    This is one of my very earliest memories. My brother was born at the time (his 21st was the other day) and my mother was in hospital with him.

    At home I remember lightning came in on the phone line, blow the phone off the hall. I'm form a farming background and my dad says it was possible to count animals in the fields during the storm at night as the lightning was so bright!
    Don't we have had anything near as exciting or terrfiying since :D


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,461 ✭✭✭popebenny16


    Oh wow, I remember the thunder snowstorm, it was my first one as well, but I didn't know when it was. I was living half way up a tower block in Ballymun at the time and it was very scary. For some reason I remember the sound of trees falling over - don't ask why - could have been a door creaking somewhere in it.

    Weirdly enough, I don't remember the 85 storm!!! I do remember the 86 one, though, as it kept us awake all night and there were two hits in our part of the Mun. Scary as hell. I remember how hot an humid it was that evening before it started and looking out at the lightning jumping across the sky.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,811 ✭✭✭✭billy the squid


    Tristrame wrote:
    google simple minds croke park that should do it.

    It was 1986 snowbie that I remember and it was towards the end of june and it was the day before the world cup final of that year iirc so theres a better google.

    I remember June, If I recall it was June 26th 1986, or June 27th.

    Travelling on a train from Dublin to Limerick and were caught in the middle of massive storm around 10am. sky was dark green 360 degrees around.

    The train shook with the lightning (Cloud to Ground) and we had to stop in the midlands to let the storm.

    Hurricane Charley came in August of the same year. the weather was a little mad in the Summer of 86.

    1997 we had the Hurricane Noel, I think we are overdue a major weather event.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 524 ✭✭✭DerekP11


    This brings back very very bad memories. I was 13 for the 85 storm. I remember the day so well. I was with some pals in the park. It was sunny and very warm. As the day progessed it got cloudy. By tea time the sky was very dark and I could hear distant rumblings from what appeared to be the south. At that age you didn't think much of it. Only really made an impression when the real party woke me later that night. I sat in my bedroom window watching the lightening bolts, waiting for it all to pass. But clearly etched in my mind was when the lightening flashed and the thunder clapped, very loudly, almost simultaneously. I know the science of it now. Spent the rest of the night in my parents room. It was the first time I saw real fear on my parents faces.

    I was at the Simple Minds gig for the '86 storm. While not as bad as 85, it was up there. Remember it kicking off as the band finished their set.

    Personally, as an adult now, I never want to witness storms like that again.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 131 ✭✭Dac51


    nlgbbbblth wrote:
    Simple Minds played Croke Park in 1986.

    I remember a violent thunderstorm in 1986. Pretty sure it was the night of the France vs Brazil World Cup quarter final. No electricity so missed it.

    You are correct! While reading this thread I began to remember a huge thunderstorm that took place in my youth. I remember Brazil were playing someone in the 1986 world cup on that same night!

    Here in Waterford I managed to see for the first and only time in my life, at least four or five bolts of fork lightning hit the ground at the same time and the noise from the thunder was incredible.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 651 ✭✭✭Paddy.1


    Believe it or not. but all dates are correct.

    The storm of July 1985 was severe alright. But the big storm that hit countrywide, and that we will probably never see the likes of again happened on the night of the 27th June 1986 into the following day.

    The storm of 85 was countrywide also, but lacked the severity of the 86 storm.

    The summer of 86 is on record for being extremelly thundery. With most stations recording an average of 7 storms a month between May and August.

    Station reports suggest the south and west bore the brunt of the 86 storm, whereas the east and southeast took the worst battering in July 85.

    Interestingly, 1987 was also unusually thundery, with a number of 'dry storms' reported throughout the summer. Which brought frequent night time lightning throughout june to August, and often, very little rain.

    Don't you just wish it was the mid 1980's again....:rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Paddy.1 wrote: »
    Believe it or not. but all dates are correct.

    The storm of July 1985 was severe alright. But the big storm that hit countrywide, and that we will probably never see the likes of again happened on the night of the 27th June 1986 into the following day.
    I disagree,the '85 line squall was the severist continous storms i have ever witnessed in this country.Most people i know would refer to '85 rather than '86 as the big one or in some cases most terrifying.
    The storm of 85 was countrywide also, but lacked the severity of the 86 storm.
    Thats the first i heard of the '85 storm was countrywide,never heard the west being affected but in a line moving east of the Sth midlands,midlands,east and Nth east where the places where it was most severe with the Dublin,Kildare and Meath regions badly affected by large hail too.
    1986 storms had not got a patch on that July '85 night but were spectacular too.Most noted by the 4 successive days of storms that broke out well here anyway.
    The summer of 86 is on record for being extremelly thundery. With most stations recording an average of 7 storms a month between May and August.
    A thundery summer alright with the 4 days a rarity in itself.


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 16,960 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gonzo


    I cant remember the storms of 1986 but I very much remember that famous storm in 1985, it went on for nearly 24 hours of continuous thunder and lightning! Never seen anything remotely like it since.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 651 ✭✭✭Paddy.1


    Snowbie wrote: »
    I disagree,the '85 line squall was the severist continous storms i have ever witnessed in this country.Most people i know would refer to '85 rather than '86 as the big one or in some cases most terrifying.

    Thats the first i heard of the '85 storm was countrywide,never heard the west being affected but in a line moving east of the Sth midlands,midlands,east and Nth east where the places where it was most severe with the Dublin,Kildare and Meath regions badly affected by large hail too.
    1986 storms had not got a patch on that July '85 night but were spectacular too.Most noted by the 4 successive days of storms that broke out well here anyway.

    A thundery summer alright with the 4 days a rarity in itself.

    Ok, my earlier post was badly put. Will attempt to verifiy my earlier post!:)


    The 1986 storms were actually more severe and widespread as a whole.(this I confirmed Niall Brooks of the Climatological Division in Met Eireann last year). The Storms of 85 indeed were countrywide, but, as you say. were more severe and 'felt', so to speak, within the eastern region. (this I would loved to have experienced:))

    I think where we may be crossing wires is that the June 86 storms were not as impactive in the North and East of the country as were the July 85 storms, (which was no less severe the the 86 storm, but on a more localised scale.) and vice versa.

    It also is down to reporting. Events of this scale were more likely to be reported if they happen in around the Dublin region, due to the accessiblily of resourses and so forth at the time.

    One thing the two storms have in common, though happening at different periods within various locations..was the absolute severity of them.

    Though only a kid at the time, and going by my own experience of the 86 storm, was the incessent 'nearness' and frequecy of cloud to ground lightning.
    Thunder was constant, loud and truly frightning.

    I remember I was out playing with my brother on that evening, and I will never forget the cloud formations that occured. Severe lightning started around 8 that evening, yet rainwise, very little until about 12 midnignt. The peak of the storm hit us around 3am that night, and I really thought the end of the world had come!!

    My grand uncle, who had lived in the Texas pan handle for a number of years was back over for a visit at the time, and he was to comment that he had never witness such a violent and longliving storm in the American midwest.

    Now that is saying something...

    Bring back the 80's I say...:o


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Paddy.1 wrote: »
    Severe lightning started around 8 that evening, yet rainwise, very little until about 12 midnignt.
    Funny enough,that was also the experience in the june 27 Dublin storm.
    Bolts of CG behind the stage in croke park at the end of the simple minds concert but no rain.
    The lightning continued with loud long and near/overhead booms for two hours before the rain started at about midnight.


    The 1985 event killed cows on the farm next door here and was indeed very severe here in the East aswell.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Paddy.1 wrote: »

    The Storms of 85 indeed were countrywide, but, as you say. were more severe and 'felt', so to speak, within the eastern region. (this I would loved to have experienced:))
    In all fairness,when the front was moving west and interacted with the warm air being advected ahead of it and the cooler air undercutting and force to rise too, would have to happened over the west and pushed eastwards which makes sense.

    Obviously it became more potent and severe as it crossed over a warmer land moving eastwards.You be the first one from the west i have heard of the outbreak on your side of the world.Would have loved to see a doppler image of that beauty growing and crossing the country.:)
    I think where we may be crossing wires is that the June 86 storms were not as impactive in the North and East of the country as were the July 85 storms, (which was no less severe the the 86 storm, but on a more localised scale.) and vice versa.
    Exactly,you probably would have getting something similar to what i experienced the year before.
    I do recall some of the storms(single celled in nature) on the horizon being exported from the midlands,with one being totally electrified(dry).
    My grand uncle, who had lived in the Texas pan handle for a number of years was back over for a visit at the time, and he was to comment that he had never witness such a violent and longliving storm in the American midwest.
    lol ditto, My Aunt who emigrated to Australia 5 years previously was back over here to witness the '85 storm and had not seen the likes growing up here or in Oz since she has been there.

    She been another weather nut has said recently on another visit,it has yet to been repeated in Australia and on that note has yet to been repeated here too.

    Edit:Just seen Tristrame's post.Probably the same storm he witnessed and i mentioned about the dry storm on that evening in '86.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭ian_m


    I opened my bedroom door to see a silhouette of the virgin mary on my sisters window ledge from the flashes of lightening. I was 6 and frozen with fear. I had never experienced anything like it and hardly knew what a thunderstorm was.

    My mother brought me to bed and told me it would be over soon. My father stored gas cylinders in a shed and he was afraid the shed would be struck and the place would blow to smithereens! I remember he looked out the window to check everything was alright and the place illuminated from the lightening.

    I sometimes think of that storm. It made me fear lightening for a long time but now I find it fascinating. It was a cool event. Ill never forget it.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 58 ✭✭cilamc


    Cor!

    I've just been thinking back to 1985, and my abiding memory of that year eas the massive thunderstorm in the summer, which frightened the bejaysus out of me at the time. I was 7 years old. so I Googled "thunderstorms dublin 1985" and this thread popped up. So thanks for sharing your memories and providing details you lot!

    I grew up in Balbriggan, and I remember the relentless thunderbolts and lightning flashes starting quite late in the evening. But they really did continue all night long, and none of my family had any sleep that night. Neighbours told us that our house was struck several times by the storm, not sure if that's true though.

    Another thing I'll never forget was the colour of the sky the following morning - it was the most incredible orange hue. There was a lot of flood water also. And I remember the news reports the following day also.

    I also remember the similar storm of 1986, which didn't seem quite so severe at the time. But I've no recollection at all of the August 1990 storms mentioned here. One of my earliest memories is of the snowfall of 1982, so I'll do some more googling on that I think.

    For some reason I always associate the '85 storm with the equally terrifying and apocalyptic "Threads" which was shown on BBC at the time. But that's probably my hysterical childhood imagination running riot. (You can find "Threads" on YouTube, and it remains "****-yer-pants-scary" to this day.)

    Not sure if this is of interest to anyone but myself, but I've looked up the UK Top 40 singles chart on the day of the '85 storm to see if it conjures up any other memories of the time. You can find that here:

    http://www.chartstats.com/chart.php?date=25%2F07%2F1985


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2 Deusvia


    I can remember it well. Although I was only 8 at the time it stands out in my memory because that very night my mother had her 9th child. A baby boy called Shane. My father had gone in alone to be with Mum leaving the rest of us at home with my oldest sister Maureen, 15, and brother Andy who was just 13 at the time looking after the rest of us. It was definitely the most amazing thing I have ever experienced weatherwise in my life. With only a 180 degree view of the sky from our back garden, I can remember venturing out to stand beside Andy and my sisters to watch the sky light up all around us with simultaneous streaks of lightning flashing across the purple dusky evening sky. On some occasions it was all to much and I would have to leg it to the sanctuary of the indoors. Then to top it all off when it was over our father arrived home to tell us we had a new baby brother.
    There was a magical Aura about that night.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,913 ✭✭✭Danno


    And it's 23 years ago tonight. Damn I feel ould!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,720 ✭✭✭Hal1


    I clearly remember it and have been waiting for something moderatly close to it for the past 23 years :pac:. I was eight at the time and totally fasinated by it, unbelivable storm. Its probably something we will witness maybe once every 100 years, dam those charts changing their minds at the last minute grrr.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Happy anniversary, we bloody well miss the likes of you.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,150 ✭✭✭Deep Easterly


    Ditto. I was thinking, why don't we all meet up in some central point, say the Bog of Allen, and do some sort of raindance? It just may work. The gods seem to be asleep at the moment. Thor certainly not around. So should we do it? I know it sounds mad, but madness is relative. I am sick of this non climate, and I feel I am not alone. Or maybe I am, as I could be replying to a post I imagined rather than read. Do we exist outside of my mind, or am I just nuts?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭ian_m


    It freaked the sh*t out of me at the time. I love thunderstorms now...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,720 ✭✭✭Hal1


    I'd say a visit to the time travel forum is in order to witness this storm of '85 :pac:.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭Snowbie


    Just watched the forecast on RTE just there and what a trip back down memory lane. Gerry Fleming done the forecast there, just like he done the forecast on the eve of that infamous night some 23 years ago. By then he was less thin on top ( moreof a perm:eek:) and using the magic wand (as my Dad use to call it) stick they used back then pointing at a B&W chart on a wall with a forecast in letter blocks beside it.

    I also remember the word Thunderstorm being used several times on that forecast and by God was he right. No GFS, no ECM, no graphics, just a chart and a stick and an experts view on what was going to happen.

    Gerry aka wink wink Fleming you Legend.;)

    Useless info i know but thought i share cause she wont't listen to me.:D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,520 ✭✭✭✭dsmythy


    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1985/0727/Pg001.html

    Can't really see the story unless you pay for it but it's there.


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