Summer Review so far 2010

So far Summer of 2010 has been quite mixed . After a quite dry start in May and June things have quickly gone downhill for the month of July. However things are looking to improve now for at least 10 days as an Azores High attemps to press some heat but how far North this comes over Ireland is open to debate at present. Some of the Long Range models show it coming right over Ireland or somewhere to the East and if this happens temperatures will respond and shoot upwards and we could see them in the upper twenties for the first time this month.

One thing is for certain is that there will be a lot of warm or very warm weather next week with sunny spells most prominant in the South and East.

Rainfall for the Summer is running in the High category once more this year due to the very wet conditions that have prevailed so far in July. The monthly totals are running in the range 150% to 200% with the West of the country worst affected. Though the June figure was a lot lower than average and it was the driest June in Malin Head for 71 years, the fact that it has been such a wet month in July has brough Summer rainfall figures well above normal. This wet July pattern has been in evidence for the past 4 Julys now but it does look like the rainfall figures will drop somewhat for August and weathergossip would seem to favour a normal rainfall for this month.

Temperatures the Summer in Ireland have tended to be above normal despite the weather not always being on the Sunny side. In June it was quite warm and sunny, in fact the temperature was nearly 2c warmer than normal in some places. The normal average temperature for June in Ireland would be between 12 and 13c but in 2010 it was between 14 and 15c. July has been slightly warmer than average with an average of 14.9c the normal it has been 15.3c so far this July and this figure is going to rise to about 15.6c by the end of the month. Overall the temperature will show a warmer than average Summer by the end of August its the Sunshine that will confirm just where Summer 2010 will lie in the Ireland Summer hall of fame.

Sunshine was way above average in some parts of Ireland in June and was above average everywhere. The percentage above normal ranged from 120% to about 160%. This gave people the impression that we were in for a scorcher of a Summer this year. Unfortunately the first part of July has been littered with some very heavy rain episodes and some thunder and lightning thrown into the mix also. The sunshine figure for Ireland for July up to halfway was 80% of normal in most places and this figure is expected to rise a few percentages in the coming few days to the end of the month. This will probably mean that the month of July will end with near normal sunshine.So despite all the rain we are having a pretty sunny Summer in 2010.

Becoming Drier in next few weeks

After quite a wet period of weather the general pattern in the coming few weeks will be for drier than normal weather everywhere especially in the East and South. The West and North should still have some rain at times but it wont be at the same intensity as it was for the first couple of weeks of JUly when over 600% of the normal rainfall was recrded in some parts of Co Mayo. Generally it will be dry and warm at times too but there will be a few low pressure systems that will pass by Ireland that will be bringing cloud and rain to the Northern Half. The temperatures for the coming few weeks look likely to be in the range 17 to 21c but they will be up to 23 or 24c in any prolonged sunshine and below 17c if it rains for a sustained period of time.

Dry June, wetter July

June is looking like being a very dry month in some parts, esp in the West, though the end of the month is going to bring some much needed rain for the gardens. Before that temperatures will be up to the early 20s for the next week or so with just a brief interuption on Thursday. It now looks like a Low pressure will move over us from the East toward the end of the month, while the High will be pushed out to the West. This could set a pattern of more showery weather for the month of July but watch this space.

Contrasting June

June has so far been a month of contrasts in Ireland with the West and North seeing much less rain than the East and South. In these parts the totals so far for the month have reached over 50% of normal on the back of a wet bank holiday weekend. The West and North saw more in the way of sunshine and very little if any rain in some parts of Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. Here the total for the month rainfall wise is only at 5%. The next few days promise some more rain for all areas though these parts of the North and West may escape until the end of the week when they too will get some rain. Last June started off dry in the West and North only to be followed by a really wet Summer but this year the medium range forecast is a pretty dry one with High Pressure moving in after 13th June, though a Northwest wind may bring weak fronts and mist to the North and West at times.

June starts off cool

After quite a dry May which could be the driest in some areas since 1991 we now head into June which promises a mix of warm and cold spells at present. The warmth seems to be signalled to the end and the cool weather will be more especially at the start. Precipitation amounts are quite uncertain as yet but it does look as though the Atlantic influence will return for a time unlike in May when we had an unusual ly quiet atlantic.

People looking for heatwaves like the couple of really hot days we got in May (26c was recorded in Mount Dillon in Roscommon and near 30c was recorded in the Southeast of England) may be quite disappointed. Apart from a few warm days here and there it does not look like a prolonged warm spell will occur for at least the first half of the month. Again we would hope the second half brings about a better spell of weather.

So to finish..May will for certain record below average rainfall, above average sunshine and temperatures slightly above the seasonal average. Not a bad start to the Summer season at all.

A Warm end to May

The month ends on a dry and briefly warm note with temperatures of up to 24c over this weekend. Then as the High shifts to the West of Ireland we see the return of the cursed volcanic Northerlies and the temperatures plummet once more. One advantage of the lack of a continuous stream of warm Southerlies is that the warm air is having little chance to influence our weather in the form of heavy and thundery rain and any rain coming from the North is being blocked by the High out in the Atlantic. It looks like the High will stay near the Azores for the start of June too keeping our weather cooler than we would expect for this period.