A Cold Wet Miserable August

This August will start as it means to go on with cold wet and miserable weather for Ireland. Although not as wet as the Summers of 2007 - 2012, 2015 has been noted as the "cold" Summer. Parts of the Northern half of Ireland have not seen the temperature pass 22c at all which is highly unusual. 

Furthermore some parts of Ulster and Connaught have had only 4 or 5 days all season that the temperature has passed 20c. Normally there are at least 16 to 18. This week in line with the way that Summer 2015 has gone so far there has been a lot of evenings where it was like it was Autumn and only 9 or 10c whereas in 2013 it was 20c at the same time on the same date.

So what does August have in store. Cool and Showery with breezy conditions. Well it still looks more likely to snow than there be a heatwave in Ireland this Summer. It certainly would seem that the temperature of 14c will be the modal value of the Summer. Here in Sligo weathergossip has collated the temperature data for May, June and July in what Met Eireann calls our Summer and there are some astoundingly cold figures. 

For example a temperature of 5.5c has been recorded in Co Sligo this July on nights that are normally 12 or 13c. The maximum July temperature of 22.4c on 3rd July is the highest of the entire year in Sligo. Normally we see 24 or 25 at least 2 or 3 occasions so we are fast running out of time.

Sligo Summer Weather Data 2015

May - Days over 20c - 0
           Days over 15c - 7
           Days over 10c - 21
           Days below 10c - 2

June - Days over 20c - 3
           Days over 15c - 14
           Days over 10c - 12
           Days below 10c - 1

July - Days over 20c - 3
           Days over 15c - 10
           Days over 10c - 18

           Days below 10c - 0

Heres a more Summer like image to end the article and maybe bring better weather

What a blue sky looks like

A Cool Summer

The 2nd half of Irish Summer is going to be cool with occasional rainfall. A North or Northwesterly wind is going to dominate but there will be some dry or bright spells too.

Nights will be quite cold with the possibility of seeing temperatures close to freezing in August.

June 2015 to bring Warmer spells

After a quite nightmarish May of cold wind and rain it looks like June will bring an improving situation for Ireland. The temperature for May was 9.9c Mean which is over a degree below what we would normally expect. June averages about 12.6c in Sligo and after day 1 we are on 8.8c!! But dont despair this figure will creep up as the month goes on and there is certainly strong signals of temperatures exceeding 20c in the next 7 to 10 days.

Weather Forecast for Summer 2015

May 

Mostly dry and warm at first but becoming more unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain and temperatures of 13 to 18c

June 

Warm and thundery with some quite heavy showers but a few warmer and sunnier days especially in the East and the South. 17 to 22c

July 

Warm and even hot at times but quite a number of wet days too due to the Atlantic Southwesterlies.
17 to 25c

August 

Warm and mild at first but wet and windy later in the month with heavy rain
14 to 18c

Hazlewood Co Sligo

Summer 2014 will be hot!

Thats the overall prediction as a warmer than average season is forecast.

Dry weather over Europe will spread over Ireland and bring warm temperatures of 23 to 27 at times and there will be many days when the temperature is over 20c.Overall 30c may be reached.So far this is the current forecast.

Scenes like this for 2014?

May 2014

Top Temperature 22c
Days over 20c - 3
Rainfall Below Average

June 2014

Top Temperature 26c
Days over 20c - 10
Rainfall Average

July 2014

Top Temperature 30c
Days over 20c - 12
Rainfall Average

The higher rainfall is as a result of thunderstorms.The 2014 Forecast for Summer will adjust with the passing of each day and week

Warm Summer ahead for Ireland

2013 will see a lot of warm weather in the Summer for Ireland after the washouts of the last few years.

May 

May will be a cool month though and thought will immediately turn to all the wet Summers we have had.
The temperatures for May will be around 10 to 15c only getting higher toward the end of the month. There will be a lot of breezy and wet days with the wind coming down from the Northwest. Rainfall for this month will be above normal overall and sunshine and temperatures will be below normal.!

June 

June however is looking a lot drier and warmer.Sunshine will break out more readily as the month goes on especially for parts of the East and the South of the country. Temperatures will be up to the low twenties at times too creating a very pleasant month. Sunshine and temperatures for this month will be above normal and the rainfall below normal especially in Leinster.

July

Also July could be quite hot too. Temperatures of the mid twenties are possible at times but because of the heat there will be a tendency toward more thundery weather and this will cause rainfall figures for this month to be well above normal in some places while in other locations there will be just about normal rainfalls. Overall the Summer will be a warmer one than is relative.

August 

It cools down again in August but there will be some pleasant days at times also. There will be temperatures in the midteens most of the time as the wind comes from a cooler Northerly direction after being in a Southerly direction for most of the season. Rain and wind could break out at the end of the month more widely and of course the nights will get cooler into single figures at times.

weathergossip 

How accurate is weathergossip for Long Range Weather Forecasts? Well most long range models tend to aspire to a 50/50 success rate. In fact we are slightly above this overall for the past 12 months with a 52% correct rate of predictions for temperatures, wind, rainfall and sunshine. In the past 3 months out success rate has been nearer 60% so are we getting more accurate. Well as the depth of weather knowledge and information increase on the Web all forecasters are learning more for the future even if the main weather companies like Met Eireann and the UK Met Office place little faith in Long Range Forecasts.

Rest of Winter Cold

The rest of this Winter is set to be cold or very cold with snow at times.

The rest of January will see the cold weather take hold before February sees an Easterly blast of air with some very cold frosty nights possible. These details are uncertain for Ireland as of yet but the warning signs are certainly there.