I have been interested in the weather since 8 or 9 years of age though I have been obsessed with Geography all my life. It was a time of record breaking floods with the onset of one of the wettest months known in the UK & Ireland on record: November 2009. I was only born in the year of 2000 so have a rather limited amount of years with experience in the weather community compared to most. However, I think I've seen a lot of interesting weather in my years on the Emerald Isle to make a top 10 favourite weather events/periods that I have experienced. This is indeed what this blog post is going to be about. I previously did my top 10 favourite weather events to research or discuss about which did not take into account whether I got to experience them for myself or not. However, this one does so there'll be no January 1881 severe cold spell/blizzard or Summer 1947 for example on this list.
I hope you enjoy this list! I have been working hard on it as it's relatively difficult to look at every weather event I've experienced and cut it down to a top 10.
#10 - 9 August 2008 heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms
On 9th August 2008, a cold front which pushed eastwards over the country gave away to heavy thunderstorms and intense rainfall for parts of Ireland. Unstable air behind the cold front helped to develop these thunderstorms following the passage of the front. The front brought outbreaks of light to moderate rain early in the day with totals reaching between 6-8mm and during the early afternoon, a cell developed over west Offaly. This spread to other parts of the east such as Kildare, Dublin and Meath during the afternoon and evening. At 16:00, Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome reported thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall. This rain kept going and going until just after nightfall. Dublin Airport had a daily rainfall of 76.2mm on the 9th August 2008 which at the time was the station's second highest daily fall on record only beaten by 11th June 1993 which recorded 92.6mm; it is now the second highest on record as 2nd August 2014 recorded 84.0mm at the station.
I just about remember this severe weather event with my neighbourhood severely flooded and made road driving really difficult. I could only imagine the fun I would have today if such a scenario occurred again and watching the torrential rain fall along with the thunderstorms.
The following photos were taken at Santry, Dublin from this heavy rainfalls. Santry is very close to where my grandparents' house is and is definitely a place that is iconic to my childhood. Seeing it flooded like this these days is sort of unbelievable as we have not seen events that bad since although 24 October 2011 must have been similar in some way.
I should be thankful we haven't but where's the fun or drama in that? :D
#9 - November/December 2015 heavy rainfalls and exceptionally mild weather
This pick might be very surprising to some of you and unpopular too as this pair of months is infamous in the UK & Ireland. However, if it's going to be mild in Winter rather than cold, I like the extremes to go the other way as in rather than snow, heavy rainfall. This is what November and December 2015 did in style. November 2015 was the wettest since 2009 but not quite as wet for most whilst December 2015 was exceptional. December 2015 was phenomenally mild, more than a degree warmer than the previous warmest December for the Central England Temperature (CET) (the dataset goes back to 1659). What makes it even more remarkable is the fact November 2015 was very mild too (the third mildest on record for the CET behind 1994 and 2011) with a CET of 9.4c but December 2015 was 0.2c milder at 9.6c! If this doesn't show how extreme December 2015 was, I don't know what does. As a statistician, I find this very fascinating and it's small things like this that make me like it.
Cork Airport had a monthly rainfall total of more than 400mm in December 2015, first time since its records began in 1962 and a good 50-60mm wetter than its previous record wettest month in January 1974. The previous highest monthly rainfall total for Ireland set in October 1996 was beaten THREE times in December 2015.
Did I mention the extraordinary mild days of November 1st/2nd? The November maximum temperature records were broken in both the UK & Ireland. The UK had a maximum of 22.4c on the 1st breaking the previous November record of 21.7c all the way back in 1946. Similarly, Ireland had a maximum of 20.1c on the 1st breaking the previous November record of 20.0c all the way back in 1946 too. The 10th was another really mild day that stands out to me; Murlough, Northern Ireland recorded an afternoon high of 18.5c.
The 18th November 2015 particularly stands out to me. It was a normal Wednesday going to school in Fairview, Dublin. I usually have a taxi bringing me to school but in this particular instance, I did not and my mother brought me down to school. On the way there down the Howth Road around 8 o'clock in the morning, the rain was pouring down heavily like I hadn't seen before in my weather years (August 2008 one does not count in this instance as I only just abouts remember the floods). Rainfall rates were surpassing 60mm/hr, was akin to monsoonal type rain! I usually take stats over people's recollections but this was one case scenario that you needed to experience to really see how extreme it was. Around 8-9mm fell in that single hour on my way to school making it difficult to get to school on time. The roads were flooded in the blink of an eye. Another student was nearly going down the same route as me on his bike. I feel sorry for him as he was all soggy. His coat was unwearable for a good few hours after that downpour. He did not have a coat for the rest of the school day then but thankfully, the rain did not go on so he was sort of lucky but wow, that was an eventful morning!
I enjoyed the named storms too whether it was Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond (the rain storm that forced Met Éireann to issue a red status rainfall warning), Eva or Frank. They were all justified for naming in my honest opinion (though the stats do not show them as overly impressive) and I do think 2015-16 was their best naming season. Ironic because that was their first naming season!
#8 - Winter 2009/10
Going by what I've said to people, you wouldn't expect Winter 2009/10 to appear here but it has as it has provided me with childhood memories that I do cherish. It was also a very cold, snowy and sunny Winter which is exactly the kind of Winter I like. I don't give this enough love due to what followed later but we'll get onto that in a bit below later in the top 10.
As mentioned, November 2009 floods were what mainly got me into weather and they were followed by this lovely Winter which revitalised my love for the season.
There was a prolonged cold spell from mid-December to mid-January, the longest cold spell in Ireland since 1963. In that time, there was plenty of frosts, days with snow showers (most notably early January) and crisp Winter sunshine.
I was over at my auntie's old house on New Year's Day 2010 and played around on the trampoline. It was bitterly cold with subzero temperatures but I did not care as I was enjoying myself. There was some snow showers falling but all in all, it was just a very sunny, cold day with a scene akin to the below (without all the deep snow as it wasn't as deep as that).
Christmas 2009 was one of my favourites waking up to -6c. Although, it was the transition day to relatively milder conditions for a few days up to December 30th.
7th January 2010 was a particular cold day with a MAXIMUM of -3.1c at Dublin Airport. Mt. Juliet, Kilkenny got down to -16.3c, the lowest for January and any month in Ireland since 1979.
This is such an iconic picture of the Ha'penny Bridge, Dublin in January 2010.
Temple Bar, Dublin in January 2010.
The top of Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo in the northwest of Ireland on 1st January 2010.
#7 - The very warm spell of May 22 to 24 2010
After a relatively cool but sunny May up to that point, the third week of the month started to warm up gradually but by the weekend of May 22/23, temperatures had peaked over Ireland. It was perfect timing for warm weather as I was in primary school and they normally wouldn't give me homework over the weekend so I was free to do whatever I wanted. The Sunday was a particularly stunning day with perfect blue skies all day long and a maximum temperature of 23.6c at Dublin Airport which became its highest May temperature on record (back to 1939). To make the most of it, my family and I pulled out the inflatable water slide we had at that time. I really do remember it very vividly and what a blast it was. Sunday, 23 May 2010 is one of my favourite days of my life. Ardfert, Co. Kerry got up to 26.8c on that day, the highest May temperature in Ireland since 1997 although it was bettered by another very warm spell for so early in the season in May 2012.
On the Monday (24th May), I went for an end of year trip to Newbridge Farm & Park in Donabate and it was a cooler day in Dublin but it was still pretty much blue skies all the way so I was not complaining at all!
This period is not one you'd find the average person reminisce about and it's very personal to me.
Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures from this period so only have this one from May 2018 to compare in similarity (May 2018 might make an appearance later in the top 10 :).
#6 - November 2009 rainfalls and floods
I cannot do a top 10 favourite weather events I've experienced without the November 2009 rainfalls and floods! They were after all the reason why I got into the weather.
I remember staying up to 4 a.m. on Halloween night into the 1st November 2009 in my auntie's old house. Around an hour before, the rain had started and hearing the sounds of it falling was pleasing for some reason. It was really heavy (although not 18th November 2015 heavy mind you). There was plenty of days with rain after and this was only the first. I escaped the very wet day of the 19th November 2009 which caused severe floods in not only Ireland but also Cumbria where they suffered really badly. I went to Paris but I was looking at the BBC weather forecasts on my computer and saw the rain over Ireland and the UK. Was really something else with a long trailing weather front back to the Gulf of Mexico and long fetched southwesterly winds only intensifying any moisture.
I hope there was some lessons learned from November 2009! University College Cork (UCC) was built on the flood plain of the river Lee. They built a state of the art, art gallery on the BASE level of the campus in 2005 with a good few irreplaceable paintings. Who passed this during urban planning? The art gallery was flooded in November 2009 as a result of the extreme rainfalls and many paintings were completely destroyed. As they were irreplaceable, it was a real tragic incident. But that's the comeuppance you get for such poor urban planning!
There's nothing much to say other than that. It was raining a lot of the time and in decent intensity too leading to extreme amounts of rainfall for many and it became the wettest November on record or even wettest month on record for some including the long-term station of Valentia Observatory.
An iconic picture of Cork flooded in November 2009.
#5 - Beast from the East/Storm Emma
Another surprise in this top 10 might be the #5 spot which is the Beast from the East 2018 and Storm Emma. I bet you all thought this would be at least in the top 3. Well, not really. Sure, it was a brilliant period for heavy snowfalls and bitterly cold weather here in the east of Ireland. It was exceptional with records set including the coldest March days on record and the coldest weather for so late in the season at least since 1785 (in terms of the CET). Snowfalls were the biggest seen in Ireland since January 1982. However, I have a few problems with it that I'm not a big fan of. One was the fact that it occurred right at the end of the meteorological Winter and start of meteorological Spring. I'd much prefer such a spell to be in the heart of Winter in January. Second, it was a very dull spell of weather with little to no sunshine for a good 7 days including 4 consecutive dull days to start March (1st to 4th). My favourite Winter days tend to be those with crisp sunshine and snow lying on the ground. This is why I loved 2010 so much.
Regardless of what I said above, it was a very memorable spell of weather and not like any other I've seen in my life so far. I was off school for 3 days because of the snow. Drifts were huge from Storm Emma. I went on a walk in the blizzard on March 2nd with my parents and it was fun. The drifts seen in Kildare were unreal and was reminiscent to something like 'The Day After Tomorrow'.
The model watching was amazing. Usually what happens is we receive stonker charts from model runs in Fantasy Island (FI) (a very unreliable timeframe and should be only just for fun) and they downgrade to the point where they are non-existent by the time comes. However, with this Beast from the East spell, it was not that at all. There was some backtracking at first with the spell two weeks away but that's to be expected. By the third week of the month, the upgrades started incoming one by one. We were like "Surely it can't upgrade further".... the models begged to differ and amazed us every time. It eventually came true in the end with subzero daytime temperatures and heavy snowfalls.
Here's a slideshow of many photos I took during the spell.
Now here's a slideshow of photos taken in Ireland during the spell by others including the many unbelievable pics taken in Kildare with drifts from Emma.
#4 - July 2006 heatwave
Undoubtedly the oldest event I can remember without looking at stats. I was only 5 at this time but I was on holidays throughout the month in a mobile in Donabate. It felt oppressive at times and very close if you know what I mean especially in a confined space like a mobile. It was very sunny and as I was only 5, I did not get to make the most of it unlike say if it were to occur again nowadays.
July 2006 was the hottest since 1989 in Ireland and was quite a similar month in ways. Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin recorded 31c on 19th July 2006, its highest temperature on record.
My favourite Summer month of my life until June 2018 came along.
July 2006 was also exceptional for the UK with the highest July temperature on record set (until 2015) with 36.5c on the 19th and the hottest month on record with a CET of 19.7c beating the previous record of 19.5c in July 1983. It was the sunniest month on record back to 1929 too for the UK & England (although July 1911 was likely sunnier). A real classic of a Summer month.
#3 - Spring 2011
One of the more forgotten weather periods in history, Spring 2011 with a particular focus on March and especially April. Both months were very sunny and dry away from the north of the UK and Ireland. March had instances of air frost but fine Spring days with temperatures in the mid-teens whilst April had temperatures in at least the mid-teens throughout with up to 20c on as early as the 10th in Dublin, the earliest 20c in Dublin since March 1965. April 2011 became the warmest April on record for a good few parts including the CET series beating April 2007. It was a gorgeous month and a great way to start off the extended Summer season though sadly Summer 2011 was cool (coolest of the 21st century so far) and dull.
I have several memories from this season. First, I went to see the Tutankhamun exhibition in the RDS, Dublin with my class on 1st March and it was already a lovely start to the season with plenty of sunshine.
I went to Bray, Wicklow on 17th March and the evening there was beautifully cool and clear.
My cousins stayed over in my house on 17th April. We went to the beach on the day after. It was a Monday and we were on our Easter holidays. It was beautiful with temperatures in the mid teens here in Dublin though some of Ireland were in the high teens or touching 20c. This remains the earliest time in the year I've been to the beach and do things like swim in the sea or just rest taking in the stunning sunshine. Fun fact also is that 2011 holds the latest date in the year that I've been to the beach and do things like those named - 28 September when it was unusually warm with 24c.
I went to the National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts & History on the 20th April and it was like rinse and repeat, very sunny with temperatures in the high teens.
A typical scene from March/April 2011:
#2 - May to July 2018
Ok, I thought July 2006 was a tough one to beat but 2018 said "hold my beer" with the period May to July as I recorded very little rain, lots of sunshine and perfect feeling temperatures here on the east coast of Ireland. May 2018 was not as sunny as May 2010, 2016 or 2017 in Dublin but it was still a very sunny month that should not be moaned about. I do remember the days very well and I certainly made the most of them unlike previous events named above. June 2018 then..... oh my, what a beauty. It was one of the sunniest months on record in Dublin and was the sunniest month I've experienced in my life so far. The end of the month into the start of July broke records for consecutive days with sunshine in Dublin. I rate this spell very highly as a result and with temperatures in the 20-26c range too, heaven, what perfect Summer weather. The start of July continued really nice with some gorgeous sunny days scattered here and there during the rest of the month. Was kind of a disappointment due to how great June was but hey, still a really nice month with good spells of sunshine and warm days. Not my favourite July but it's up there - I preferred July 2006, 2013 and 2014.
I loved June 2018 to bits. It easily bet July 2006 as my favourite Summer month and was probably up there in my top 5 months which is saying something because nostalgia tends to be a large influence on my favourite thus modern months having very tough competition in impressing me. This pic I took below at Bray Seafront on 24th June 2018 is a reflection of the beauty that June 2018 delivered in terms of weather.
Spent so many days in my back garden pool with my sister soaking up the sunlight and cooling down. Was great fun!
#1 - November/December 2010 cold spells
I feel like this #1 spot is very obvious for anybody who knows me. It's the cold spells of November/December 2010. I had these also at my #1 spot in my top 10 favourite weather events to research or discuss about. I will reiterate what I said in that in case you did not see it and add a few extra points.
These two months are my favourite pairing ever to talk about, to research, to study or to experience. Unlike all the rest named on this ranked list, I have actually experienced these cold spells for myself and I can safely say, what a time it was to experience them. I would be very sad if I did not see something that would rival the two in my life in terms of severity of cold, number of days with snow, the length of the cold with little ease etc.
November 2010 broke records for Ireland and Wales in terms of cold. Clonroche, Co. Wexford recorded an air minimum of -11.5c beating the long standing November 1919 record. The same station had a grass minimum of -17.1c which was a new November record for Ireland. Also, the same station again recorded an air maximum of -4.5c on November 28th which was another November record for Ireland. Mucker Broughderg, Northern Ireland had an air minimum of -11.9c on the 28th which was its lowest since 1919 for November and second lowest on record. Llysdinam, Wales recorded a minimum of -18.0c on the same day which was a new November record for Wales.
December 2010 was the second coldest December on record for the CET with -0.7c whilst only December 1890 was colder at -0.8c. December 2010 was likely far more remarkable though because 1890 was during a time of great pollution and the Clean Air Act hadn't been introduced so would have influenced the temperatures at the time to be lower than what they actually would have been. When you look at it this way, December 2010 stands out a lot more. It was the first month with a CET below zero at this time since February 1986. Ireland had their lowest December minimum temperatures on record. Straide, Co. Mayo recorded -17.5c on December 25th, the lowest December minimum ever recorded in the Republic of Ireland. -18.7c was recorded at Castlederg, Co. Tyrone on December 23rd, the lowest December minimum ever recorded in Ireland as a whole. Cavan, Co. Cavan recorded a maximum of -9.8c on December 21st, the lowest ever maximum on record for any month in the Republic of Ireland. Castlederg had a maximum of -11.0c on December 18th and Edenfel, Omagh, Co. Tyrone had a maximum of -11.3c on the 19th, both Ireland and Northern Ireland's lowest all-time maximum temperatures. Altnaharra recorded a maximum of only -15.8c on December 22nd, the lowest in the UK since December 1995 and the second lowest on record. Ten nights were recorded in the UK during December where the minimum dropped beneath -18c somewhere in the UK. Overall, the month had the highest number of days with air frost for December on record for the British Isles with a total of 23 days on average in the UK recording an air frost beating 21 days in December 1981.
The fact that all these cold extremes occurred within a warmer era compared to say November 1919 is what makes it that much more phenomenal if you ask me. Not going in-depth about it bar mentioning stats above because I'm aware that the majority of people understand how severe and historical this period in late 2010 was as it was the most recent severe cold spell of its kind.
I was only in school for 4 days from November 27th to January 9th. I was sick for some with a cold (no surprise given the weather) whilst school was closed for the rest due to the snow. Best time to be a kid in Ireland since 1981-82.
Been working on a research project of it for the past few months as you can see showing how passionate or obsessed I am with these months!
Thanks for reading!
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