Despite temperatures soaring to more than 30 degrees last month, it is beginning to look a lot like an average Irish summer, according to data compiled by Met Éireann.
With the monthly weather report for July due to be published on Wednesday preliminary data gathered by the national forecaster indicates variable temperatures and rainfall amounts, but few if any records, across most of the country.
The hottest temperature was recorded at Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon, on July 19th when the high was 30.4 degrees. While this was nominally a record for the weather station, such data has only been collected there for six years.
Indeed the absence of three consecutive days of high temperatures means the Mount Dillon temperature, among the highest ever recorded in Ireland, does not even officially qualify as a “heatwave”. The highest air temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.3 degrees at Kilkenny Castle on June 26th, 1887. The highest air temperature recorded during the 20th century was 32.5 degrees at Boora, Co Offaly, on June 29th, 1976.
Rainfall levels at the driest place last month, Oakpark , Co Carlow, were about 50 per cent of what might be expected for July, when compared with a 30-year, long-term average.
The wettest place during July was Sligo, where some 120 per cent of the long-term average rainfall was recorded.
From the data already published on the Met Éireann website it is possible to discern that the driest areas were the midlands and the east, while the wettest areas were the northwest and the southwest.
‘Heatwave’
Temperatures in the 20s were recorded in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on three days in July, (15th, 18th and 19th), which being close together suggested a nice spell. However, since the three days were not consecutive they did not qualify for the definition of “heatwave”.
The long-term averages are compiled from average monthly totals recorded from 1981-2010. To get a picture of what July 2016 was like in weather terms Met Éireann looks at data in about seven different categories including soil temperature, from 25 weather stations across the State, on each of the 31 days of the month and compares this data with the long-term averages. This makes the monthly weather report a complex assessment.
Soil moisture for the month was also variable and weather report compiler Ruth Coughlan warned of the danger of making predictions for winter flooding using current moisture levels.
While she said it was entirely possible that in some areas the soil is still “like a sponge” this does not necessarily imply that winter floods are on the way. Ms Coughlan said location and drainage of soil can have local impacts while two days of rainfall or sunshine can make a significant difference to the soil moisture levels.
Stressing on Tuesday that the data had not been completely reviewed Ms Coughlan remarked; “It is looking like an average summer.”
