The Summer of 2016 has started off in scorchio mode in Ireland as the Leaving Cert exams are just around the corner. Temperatures in the midwest have been as high as 23c with a max of just 13c reported in poor old Malin Head. Over the coming weeks warm weather dominates but there will be a tendency for some more wetter episodes to ensure that it is not a continuously warm picture. Also bad news if you live in the North of Ireland because as the month of June progresses the High that has ensured warm and sunny conditions in the North tends to move South which may mean a return to drizzly conditions here in the coming weeks. However elsewhere there is a possibility of some very warm weather at times this June with 20c likely to be breached regularly.
The rest of May sees more normal weather for Ireland after a mini heatwave in the West when temperatures in Belmullet peaked at 25.4c. Overall the West has done much better than the East from this fine spell of weather with over 200% of the normal sunshine recorded here while over in the East there were a number of cloudy days and even some light rain at times. All the way until the end of May now we are going to see the normal sun one day, shower another and rain the other type of weather. Temperatures will be around 16 or 17c most of the time but may get higher in long sunny spells and lower in showers. June is looking like one of those thundery type months where everything is borderline. If the shower activity stays South there may be a number of dry days with warm sunshine mixed with the odd downpour but then again if there is more shower activity then the temperatures wont be a high. However as the weathergossip Summer forecast shows this year is going to be a lot warmer than previous Summers if not sunny.
A much warmer Summer than 2015. There will be temperatures of 25c in July.May and July will be the best months. MayMixed weather but dry and warm midmonth with temperatures over 20c. Later in May it will be cooler and unsettled. JuneA high number of showery days with temperatures of just 14 to 17c. There will be some even cooler days too. However at the end as July approaches High Pressure will build to the South. JulyA warm month with some Thundery outbreaks. The temperature will be near 20c a lot and some days could reach 24 or 25c in the South. The warmest day is usually 27c. AugustVery cool the past number of years but this Summer could be different especially for the first half. Rain and showers more prevalent in the second half of the month. Overall the North and West never get as much sun as the South but this year will not be freezing cold like 2015. more at www.weathergossip.com
After such a deluge of rain over the Winter where some parts of the South saw over 3 times their normal rainfall the good news is that Spring will be a lot drier if a bit on the cool side. There is certainly a change in conditions and a lot of calm and quiet weather is to be expected in the coming months. We had 9 named storms over the Winter and I wouldnt rule out one more in March but April could yet see some very pleasant weather this year.
Despite all the predictions of a cold Winter there looks to be a very mild November on the way this year with a bit of dry weather at times but other periods of rain. Temperatures will hit 14 or 15c a lot of the time which is quite unusual for the month of November. Rainfall will be around or a bit below normal and the sunshine figures will just be around normal as it is rare to get a sunny November due to the shortness of the days. Later on the Winter still looks like it will be very cold especially during the month of December but the mild weather in November will last all the way through the month as a predominantly Southerly airstream is over Ireland. This will be as a result of a High Pressure to the East of Ireland and a Low Pressure out in the Atlantic brushing the West and North Coasts at times
so there areas will of course be likely to see some rain at times and temperatures will be 13 or 14c here but on the plus side places like Galway Mayo Sligo and Donegal will see mild nights and temperatures not falling below 8c a lot of the time. For more detail on the weather go to www.weathergossip.com
Sligo, Mayo and Galway have had their coldest Summer for nearly 50 years in some parts. In Claremorris station for example the temperature was below normal on every day bar a few days at the end of June and at the start of July and a couple of days in August. In most stations in Ireland temperatures have been below normal in every month bar April when they have been normal. What caused this? Well it looks like the El Nino in the Pacific and the Low Pressures residing to the West of us in the Atlantic are mostly to blame. Warm air from the Pacific rose up the West of the United States and along Alaska into the Pole. This pushed all the Ice toward the pole from this side creating a downward pressure toward the North Atlantic. This resulted in cold Summers for Ireland and a lot of Scandanavia too.
In better news the weather is improving for September and www.weathergossip.com is back up and running again. There are changes afoot though as www.weathergossip.ie will run in tandom with its sister site as weathergossip is a uniquely Irish site based in Sligo. The material on both sites will be the exact same just that if you are abroad you will probably be directed to weathergossip.com whereas in Ireland you will be sent to weathergossip.ie . The dot ie domain name is currently pending approval and I announce its arrival on facebook and here.
