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THE LAST WEEK in March and now the first week of April, we have witnessed some extraordinary weather across Ireland in the space of just a few days.
The warm and fine spell of weather was noteworthy due to the number of records broken at several long-term climatological stations for high temperatures around the country. The highest temperature of the warm and sunny spell was 22.2C in Belmullet, Co Mayo. Considering that the highest temperature recorded for 2011 was 26.0C in Athy, Co Kildare and in Drumconnick, Cavan on 3 June, these high temperatures – which ranged widely across parts of the south, the west and north – were very impressive for the month of March.
The table below shows the records broken at the climate sites and by how much they were exceeded:
(Table compiled by Niall from IWN. More info here).
The change
The gradual change occurred as the high pressure which brought us the fine settled weather drawing up the warm continental winds had now drifted across the country and out into the Atlantic Ocean. A cool airflow was now coming in from the north west with cloud and patchy rain moving down over the country last weekend.
Instead of the flood gates opening to the Atlantic weather fronts – which would bring mild and wet weather – another high pressure cell built to the north of Ireland. This, in turn, blocked the Atlantic weather systems from crossing the country. What tends to happen when there is a high pressure system is that all the low pressure systems which bring unsettled weather are deflected around the periphery or the outside of these high pressure cells where the winds move in a clockwise direction.
The changeover to the very cold and wintry weather was due to the high pressure to the north of Ireland now slowly being nudged more to the west and allowing low pressure to move south in the northerly airstream around the outside of the high. With the weather fronts moving ahead of the centre of the low pressure, a spell of wet weather was experienced across the country.
The snow
Then, as the cold front moved south, a polar airmass was introduced – the cold air quickly dug in behind the weather front leading to a significant drop in temperature. The winds blew in from a northeasterly direction – they got up to gale force across Leinster and a significant windchill was felt everywhere. Showers merged in the Irish Sea and fed in along eastern coastal counties – turning to snow over higher ground where snow started to settle.
Wintry showers also moved into Northern Ireland and across parts of Co Mayo with a dusting over higher ground here. With the low pressure moving slowly down the spine of the UK, the showers continued to feed into the east and particularly the south east corner of the country right through the night. Mostly of rain or sleet by the immediate coast, these where falling more wintry inland where a dusting of snow occurred at lower levels with totals of 5 to 10cm over higher ground in Wicklow.
Some of the Irish Weather Network member stations in Co Kildare, which had reported temperatures of 20C some six days previous, woke yesterday to 1 to 2cm of snow this morning from showers that moved in from the Irish Sea overnight on Tuesday.
This kind of weather can be typical of April and it is not uncommon to see snowfall at this time of year. What makes this event stand out, is how quickly it followed the summer-like conditions of a few days previous.
Look at this side-by-side satellite image of Ireland and the UK of the recent fine weather and cold polar conditions. In the picture on the right you can see the veil of cloud over our south coast – that is the cold front which moved south with the showery speckled cloud in over the rest of the country.
(Image courtesy of University of Dundee)
Karl Mehlhorn is a meteorologist who runs the Irish Weather Network. You can check them out on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and sign up for regular forecasts. The site has a live weather map of Ireland which is available here.
If you’re interested in owning a weather station yourself, they’ve written this handy guide.
They should just vote to dissolve the party before the electorate do it for them on election day.
Haha, “Fianna Fáil think-in”. Now there’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one.
It sounds to me that the report is focusing mostly on how to win votes, and not on how to improve our country. If politicians focused on bettering our nation, the votes would follow. Or am I being naive?
Either way, FF are burying themselves while Martin is in charge. He couldn’t care less about the country, let alone the party, and in my opinion is just trying to ride out the time until he gets Taoiseachs pension. If FF have any hope they need to get rid of him. Or maybe it’s a good thing as he will be the end of FF at last
@HectorPickaxe: well said
@HectorPickaxe: exactly right. How to stay in power at all costs, nothing to do with how to better the country … oh and how to squeeze the last drop of tax out of everyone!
A think-in? Or get everyone together to come up with ideas and excuses to deflect away from their disregard and incompetence of the job they are not doing well at?
Just disband and regroup under a new name. The brand is dead.
The last time FF had a proper think in Sean Lemass was party leader…………
No doubt it will be like a Party meeting from Orwell’s 1984.
They spent the lifetime of the last government in a cosy arrangement with FG that was a quasi coalition, for the duration of the present government they are in an actual coalition with FG and the Greens, but today they are going to have a think in, to reassert themselves as an opposition party to fight the next election!
The only people more deluded than these self-serving politicians in FF and FG, are the people that blindly vote for them in every election, without once holding them to account for their actions.
There’s many political actions happening without thinking and much thinking happening without actions…If they can not resolve that conundrum there is hardly any point in a think in……I think.
Too much dead wood in FF. They love giving the impression of doing constituency work but achieve little. Totally out of touch with the real issues of real people. Head office needs a clear out. Policy formulating processes comprise “give me an idea that sounds good” rather than any serious strategic evaluation of community needs. Style over substance. Micheal Martin has proven he is not a good leader, but may be the best of what exists within the FF Universe.
They should have a party as it’s unlikely to have another opportunity ..FF the PDs of the next election…..
Barry Cowan….he hasn’t gone away, you know…
The ff think in is taking place in fgs back pocket
Stopped voting for this gang after the crash along with the Greens.
What a complete shambles of a party, they were bad going into gov. and with the fine leadership of MM they have managed to become even worse. Nothing but FG’s female dog’s
@Derek Lyster: Have you seen the alternative dog.
@Tim Quigley: You mean F.G. Wonder will Varadkar and Coveney send messages of thanks to Martin for his unwavering support in trying to get them off the hook concerning Varadkar ‘s leaking of confidential government documents and Coveneys Zappone fiasco. The spineless Taoiseach Martin will need all the help he can get .
They’ll be using white envelopes instead of brown?
Fianna Fail Think-In
Cavan 9/9/21
“How we get the power back and use that power to shaft every single citizen in the country by diverting taxpayers wealth to ourselves and our “partners”, also known as project “Feather My Own Nest”. We will achieve this by not investing in the Health Service, in Transport, in Justice or any other sector unless it has some benefit for the golden circle party members. Collusion with Fine Gael optional but not preferable. The Willie O’Dea model of hanging around for decades, achieving nothing and taking maximum “money, money, money” will be our main approach”
FF traitors and turncoats. They will have to vote confidence in a FG Minister soon. How embarrassing is this going to be in the history of our State. A Civil war party endorsing a rival FG minister with a bad memory and a wonky phone. Don’t know on my door you cheating,immoral,unethical party.
What is their support level at this stage. 9-15% ?
Unfortunately for Fianna Fail, they have little clue as to their own constitution, what the party now stands for at constitutional level, what constitutional differences there are between them and others – and on top of that, they have become synonymous with being attacked to Fine Gael.
Mr Martin and his constant defence of his political foes, is certainly not helping. Let’s be honest. If he wasn’t in office with them, he and the whole Fianna Fail party would be up in arms many times over since January 2020 at the antics of Fine Gael members alone. Instead, now Mr Martin and his party are sucking up to their old foe, turning a now regular blind eye to their antics and being their lapdog.
Fianna Fail fans and members might not like it – but the public sees this and more. It’s no wonder the Fianna Fail Party is declining in support. They doom themselves and do so in big part by still allowing their own top people to help dig the party grave.
@UnitedPeople #StopCETA: TYPO ERROR: * They have become synonymous with being ATTACHED to Fine Gael.
Rumours abound ‘The Paymaster’ himself has organised this sit down in Cavan.
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