It has turned out to be a very dry April despite the inconvenience caused by the volcanic ash on the flights in and out of Ireland. The rest of the month should not see too much rain and in any case it will be another drier month than normal. Since that very wet November of Last year we have had a run of drier than normal months. Unfortunately this does not bode well for the Summer although we are promised a lot more dry spells this year. However if an Atlantic pattern develops it could get "stuck" again like the last 3 Summers because more and more we are seeing that in the modern weather the pattern that emerges at the start of the Summer tends to be the one that remains for the rest of the season. Just for the record here is a record of the past few months weather.
NOVEMBER - EXTREMELEY WET 200 TO 300MM
DECEMBER - DRY AND COLD 50 TO 70MM
JANUARY- DRY AND COLD 40 TO 70MM
FEBRUARY - DRY AND COLD 50 TO 80MM
MARCH - SLIGHTLY WETTER 60 TO 90MM
APRIL - EXTREMELY DRY AND MILD 30 TO 60MM
Normally in Ireland after a couple of dry months we get a deluge. I am just afraid that this could happen again this year. The Donegal postman promises dry weather and Ken Ring is also promising a few good weeks. I just think that as I heard one forecaster put it "whatever May brings the Summer will bring the opposite"(who can forget the cold wet May of 1995) But to end on an optimistic note I think that we will surely get one good month in the Summer.