Irish Summer 2020

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As for the weather, the summer of 2020 was bad.

Met Éireann’s summer statement, released today, confirmed that rainfall was above the long-term summer average across the country.

To make matters worse, the amount of sunlight received was also below average throughout.

Dublin Airport even had the dullest summer on record. Temperatures were below the average for the summer season at 20 of the 25 Met Éireann synoptic weather stations.

And all of that was capped off by wind, strong gales, storm-force winds, and the very rare occurrence of two named storms during the month of August.

It all started well with temperatures on the first day of summer hitting 27.1C in Newport in Co Mayo.

But it turned out to be the highest temperature of the season, a kind of false dawn. After that it all went downhill and the weather became unreliable everywhere.

Nearby, the Met Éireann weather station at Knock Airport recorded the lowest average temperature for the summer at just 13.2 ° C.

Temperatures elsewhere, such as Ballyhaise in Co Cavan, Dublin Airport, Markree in County Sligo, and Shannon Airport in Co Clare, averaged 0.5 degrees below what would normally be expected during the summer of 92 days.

It was also a lot duller than normal at Casement Airfield in Co Dublin, where the summer sun was as low as 78% of the normal level for the season.

The sunniest place in the country was Cork airport, with a total of 451 hours of sunshine during the three months. But that was still only 89% of the sunlight normally expected during the season at that location.

And think of those who live near the Gurteen region of Co Tipperary.

They had to endure the lowest level of sun in the entire country with just 275 hours between the beginning of June and the end of August, almost 40% less than Cork airport.

read more
Floods and power outages as storm Ellen hits the south coast
Storm Francis brings floods and strong winds
‘Unprecedented’ flooding in Clifden after torrential rains

If anyone has any doubts about how disappointing the summer weather turned out to be for a nation grappling with Covid-related restrictions, one has only to remember that on the first day of summer, June 1, Irish Water issued a warning that It was considering a national ban on hoses, which is officially called a water conservation order. Within days they had officially introduced that ban.

The public noticed his passage animated by the expectation that it seemed that we were ready for a good summer.

But it was as if the hose ban put a spell on the weather because it was followed by a huge amount of rain in every corner of the country.

Valentia in Co Kerry received 81% more rain than normal during the summer, Shannon Airport 79% more, Ballyhaise in Co Cavan and Finner in Donegal received 58% more than expected.

Mullingar in Co Westmeath, Casement, Dunsanny in Co Meath, Claremorris in Co Mayo received 50% to 60% or more summer rain than normal this year. The list goes on and on.

Even the region with the least amount of summer rain, Oak Park in County Carlow, received 13% more rain than normally expected during the season.

The highest precipitation in a single day occurred at the Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry, where in a single day, on July 29, a whopping 55% of normal monthly precipitation fell in just one day.

It was also windy. The sheds were registered in five days or more with Storm Ellen and Storm Francis bringing strong gales during August.

Average wind speeds were the strength of the storm and even reached the strength of a violent storm 11 on the South Coast during Storm Ellen when 190,000 homes were without power due to downed power lines.



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