[Oneiric 3]

Originally Posted by sryanbruen

A selection of the lowest April maxima (<3.0C) from old stations and some synoptic stations.



Not a one to one comparison however as early 20th century values were based on maxima recorded between 09-09 whilst those from synoptic stations are midnight to midnight. So this should be kept in mind.

The Blacksod Point value of -0.6C also seems very skeptical given its location out at sea and not far from Belmullet so I would personally disregard it. The Malin Head 0.6C also seems skeptical. Clones' 1.6C on 15 April 1966 probably the most reliable low max.

Just terrific stats Syran. Thanks a million.

I would share your scepticism on that Blacksod low, but at the same time, I'd not rule it out either. A supplement that came with the Met Eireann April 1986 climate summary focused on the snow storm of early April 1917 and according to it, west Mayo was hit particularly bad with some incredible amounts falling in relatively short periods of time. Not sure if this supplement is attached to the online version of that monthly summary, but I am sure I have a hard copy of it here (somewhere!) that I kindly got from Met Eireann themselves years ago. I'll try and root it out and post a snap shot of it here if no online version is available.

[Nqp15hhu]

510dam line almost touches the north coast on this run! Unbelievable!

[An Ri rua]

Originally Posted by External Association

Snow is more common at Easter than Christmas, regardless of whether Easter falls in March or up to mid April.

April snow. Off the top of my head from memory given my age, 2nd April 1987, first week of April 1992, early April 1994, 9-11 April 1998, 16th April 1999 in Rathfarnham for the am, early April 2008, and in early April 2010 it hung around much of Highland Leinster after the fall of 30/31 March.

Posts like 'snow in April can fcuk right off' show no knowledge of our climate. It has never done that. Eddie Graham's Dublin Weather diary is excellent on convective potential for snow showers in April.

Great post.

Question: Is Christy Moore your grandfather?

[Birdnuts]

Originally Posted by Oneiric 3

Just terrific stats Syran. Thanks a million.

I would share your scepticism on that Blacksod low, but at the same time, I'd not rule it out either. A supplement that came with the Met Eireann April 1986 climate summary focused on the snow storm of early April 1917 and according to it, west Mayo was hit particularly bad with some incredible amounts falling in relatively short periods of time. Not sure if this supplement is attached to the online version of that monthly summary, but I am sure I have a hard copy of it here (somewhere!) that I kindly got from Met Eireann themselves years ago. I'll try and root it out and post a snap shot of it here if no online version is available.

Yes - it mentioned 6ft snow drifts on the Erris peninsula and the following night the UK recorded its lowest ever April min of -16c in Cumbria.

[sryanbruen]

Originally Posted by Oneiric 3

Just terrific stats Syran. Thanks a million.

I would share your scepticism on that Blacksod low, but at the same time, I'd not rule it out either. A supplement that came with the Met Eireann April 1986 climate summary focused on the snow storm of early April 1917 and according to it, west Mayo was hit particularly bad with some incredible amounts falling in relatively short periods of time. Not sure if this supplement is attached to the online version of that monthly summary, but I am sure I have a hard copy of it here (somewhere!) that I kindly got from Met Eireann themselves years ago. I'll try and root it out and post a snap shot of it here if no online version is available.

Do show that if you can.

The UK Met Office monthly weather report for April 1917 mentions Blacksod having 8-10 ft drifts in the space of an hour and a half on the 1st.. which is just unimaginable to think today in winter, let alone April.

When you look at the source where the air was coming from at that time, it becomes less of a surprise why it was so extreme. Svalbard was surrounded by sea ice and had seen temperatures dipping down close to -50C in late March that year.

[M.T. Cranium]

The record low values for 5th and 6th in the CET come from 1911 but that turned out to be an easterly set-up so my guess would be that Ireland was around 3-5 C with mixed sleety bands of showers in that outbreak.

The 1917 outbreak was more of a northeast backing to northwest pattern with low pressure moving past the south coast.

April snow cover can reflect a lot of incoming solar radiation, I recall it being around -8 C in the daytime after an unusually heavy snowstorm where I used to live in Ontario in April 1975 (and that was at 45 deg N lat).

In this coming event despite the impressive looking uppers I suspect the relatively warm ocean temperatures may prevent records from being broken although it will certainly be cold enough for snow to fall especially from more active showers, snow pellets and ice pellets are quite likely to be in the mix too.

I'll guess that some locations in NI if not in the north of the Republic will have maxima of around 2 C but perhaps more significant, temperatures will be oscillating depending on shower activity and it could fall to near freezing at times during the warmer part of the days.

We'll have to see if the recent tendency of models to overestimate cold parameters especially in northerlies is repeated on this occasion (if so the culprit is probably the longer time being spent over 5-8 C water when compared to analogues built into the modelling).

[TheMilkyPirate]

Originally Posted by External Association

Posts like 'snow in April can fcuk right off' show no knowledge of our climate.

Or maybe just maybe the people saying that just don't want cold weather and snow at this time of year.

Whatever your into but cold windy rain with a few ice pellets mixed in isn't exactly what I'm looking for in spring.

[Gaoth Laidir]

For now it looks like the coldest upper pool (700-500 hPa air from the Greenland ice cap) will be focused more over the east and the UK later Monday and Tuesday, so that's where the heaviest hail and snow showers would be. Slightly less intense further west, given the slightly shallower convection, but still an interesting couple of days, if not a pain in the ass.

[Nqp15hhu]

The north will have the heaviest precipitation, it’s a northernly.

Anyway Met Office has heavy snow showers all Sunday night for me

[sryanbruen]

Originally Posted by M.T. Cranium

The record low values for 5th and 6th in the CET come from 1911 but that turned out to be an easterly set-up so my guess would be that Ireland was around 3-5 C with mixed sleety bands of showers in that outbreak.

-5.6C min at Markree on the 6th but I see nothing else that stands out about that particular spell or month. 2 days of falling snow at Roches Point and in Dublin City. Maxima were pretty modest on both days for Ireland in the 4-9C range of the stations in the daily weather report.

It's clear the most notable Irish April cold spells are first half of April 1917, the middle period of April 1966 which was also an exceptionally wet month and late April 1908 which also contained a snowstorm for England. In terms of low max, no April spells since have quite matched these, at official stations anyway. Has this been because of the increased moderation of northerlies with warmer SSTs/less sea ice and or the lack of an April snowstorm to suppress temperatures during the day for a prolonged period of time? It's interesting to ponder at.

[External Association]

Originally Posted by An Ri rua

Great post.

Question: Is Christy Moore your grandfather?

Seamus Ennis wrote Easter Snow. But fair enough.

[Gaoth Laidir]

Originally Posted by Nqp15hhu

The north will have the heaviest precipitation, it’s a northernly.

Anyway Met Office has heavy snow showers all Sunday night for me

I meant the northeastern half of the country. There will be around 20-25 degrees of a difference in 500-hPa temperature between the northeast and southwest, with near -40 C around Antrim and -17 C in Kerry.

[External Association]

Originally Posted by TheMilkyPirate

Or maybe just maybe the people saying that just don't want cold weather and snow at this time of year.

Whatever your into but cold windy rain with a few ice pellets mixed in isn't exactly what I'm looking for in spring.

I understand but that's what Spring can deliver and regularly does. We've had 25c temps in mid to late September. Summer weather in autumn. That's how it works, regardless of what any of us are looking for.

You are particularly vulnerable to cold outbreaks in March and April as oceans are still relatively cold. Solar power is much stronger than winter but still you're only 10 days past the equinox today for example.

It's a very idyllic picture of 'Spring' to not expect this type of colder weather and feel entitled to pleasant conditions, telling colder weather it can 'fcuk right off'. We live in Ireland and that's the reality of our climate.

[External Association]

With regard to farming, April 1989 was one of the coldest on record over much of Ireland, colder than Jan, Feb, March that year at most stations.

Yet grass growth in April was better than expected and silage first cuts in May (which had a mini heatwave mid-month) were near normal in volume. Maybe some of it is down to daylight length, I don't know.

[Nqp15hhu]

Originally Posted by External Association

With regard to farming, April 1989 was one of the coldest on record over much of Ireland, colder than Jan, Feb, March that year at most stations.

Yet grass growth in April was better than expected and silage first cuts in May (which had a mini heatwave mid-month) were near normal in volume. Maybe some of it is down to daylight length, I don't know.

Where I live the grass turns brown after a prolonged period of subzero soil temps... usually a week or more. So it’s possible the sun warmed the ground enough above freezing then.