Category: Commentary

Sunday was again a mixture of sunshine and showers with a daily total of 2.0mm that brought the monthly total to 32.2mm when the average is 66.7mm.

Temperatures by day and night were down a little on Saturday’s figures, but still above average, with a maximum of 21.2C (+0.2C) and 12.8C (+1.2C).

The wind was still brisk, but having veered a few degrees came from the west with a maximum gust of 22mph, the lowest for six days.

Monday opened with a totally cloudy sky and drops of rain, not enough to call a shower, as a fragmented rain band began to cross the area. The temperature at 08.00 was 13.6C making it the coolest start to a day since 20th July.

As Storm Ellen eased away on Saturday the wind slowly subsided, although still blustery with a peak gust of 31mph. The increased sunshine of 7.2 hours meant a slightly warmer day than on Friday with a maximum of 21.4C (+0.4C).

Saturday was a dry day but in the early hours of Sunday, between 01.00 and 02.15, rain fell totalling 1.7mm, briefly quite heavy just before 02.00.

Sunday arrived with total cloud cover but beginning to thin producing brighter intervals at 08.00 after another mild night with a minimum of 13.9C (+2.3C). With the departure of Storm Ellen there has been a consequent variation in the wind direction. Saturday’s breeze was from a predominantly southwest to west-southwest direction whereas on Sunday it had veered a little more now coming from the west but very light in strength.

After the lowest barometric pressure for over two months on Friday the barometer has been rising steadily over the past twenty-four hours to reach the highest pressure in two weeks with a reading of 1016.0mb at 08.00, Sunday.

The effect of Storm Ellen was very noticeable on Friday as we experienced a very windy day with frequent gusts well over 30mph and a peak gust of 44mph at 13.55. This was the strongest gust in August that I have recorded since the station started in 1984. The previous August record was set in 2019 with a maximum gust of 38mph on the 10th.

No rain fell in the past twenty-four hours even though showers were prevalent around the country. The August rainfall total now stands at 28.5mm with a 36-year average of 66.7mm. Evaporation far exceeds what has seemed a very wet few days with the equivalent of 59mm of rainfall lost to the atmosphere.

The thermometer rose just above the average during the daytime on Friday with a maximum of 21.1C (+0.1C) then another mild night that produced a minimum of 13.7C (+2.1C).

Today is definitely Saturday that saw bright periods after dawn with the wind, thankfully, much subdued with a peak gust in the last hour or two of 15mph, now from the westsouthwest. By 08.00 there were breaks in the cloud that allowed the sun to appear.

After a relatively calm day on Thursday with 10.5 hours of sunshine and an above average maximum 22.2C (+1.2C), the wind began to increase in strength around 23.00 Thursday evening. This was due to the very deep depression to the north west of the country named Storm Ellen by Met Eireann.

It has been another very mild night with a minimum of 15.9C being 4.3C above the 36-year average. A little before dawn on Friday, at 05.13, a maximum gust of 33mph was recorded.

Friday brought broken cloud and bright intervals to start the day with the wind very gusty and still rising in strength with the occasional light shower giving a rainfall total for the past day of 2.3mm.

Update on Friday at 18.00: maximum gust of 43mph at 13.55.

The rain on Wednesday started at 06.05 and continued all day easing off early evening with drizzle and the occasional shower. It has been dry since midnight. The total rainfall during the past twenty-four hours amounted to 15.9mm making it the wettest day since 25th July when 17.7mm was recorded.

Thanks to a south easterly air flow for most of the daylight hours and low cloud, it was a warm day with the thermometer slowly rising to 19.2C at 18.29 and hovering around that peak until midnight when it slowly fell away to 12.4C just after dawn. The peak temperature was 1.8C below the August average. It was the third sunless day in August.

Thursday morning was in direct contrast to Wednesday as we had continuous sunshine after sunrise, muted at first, but the sunshine recorder came alive at 07.16 set at 100w/sq.m. This lifted the thermometer to 16.1C at 08.00.

The barometric pressure, just before and after midnight, fell to its lowest since 5th June with a low of 996.6mb as Storm Ellen, named by Met Eireann, approached from the Atlantic. The peak gust on Wednesday was 26mph, the strongest gust since 5th July, but this is forecast to be superseded on Friday as the storm closes in over Ireland.