Denis Lehane: Six storms and 27 inches of rain in three months
“Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long...”
Later in the day, with the sky anything but blue, as I put on my rain-gear for yet another evening of farming, I had to wonder where indeed had Mr Blue Sky gone?
He certainly had been well hidden for the past couple of months. Put bluntly, the weather has been depressing, and here are the facts.
Over December, January, and February, we experienced six storms. Storm Desmond hit us on December 4-5. Storm Eva touched down on December 23. Storm Frank rattled us on December 29-30, while Gertrude stopped by on Jan 29. Henry blew in on February 1, and Imogen hit us on February 7-8.
The season’s highest gust of 135 km/h was reported at Belmullet, Co Mayo on December 23 (Storm Eva) and Sherkin Island, Co Cork on Feb 8 (Storm Imogen).
The highest 10-minute sustained wind speed was at Sherkin Island on December 30 (Storm Frank), an impressive 102 km/h.
And the rain too was never far away. In the three months of the winter, 27 inches of rain fell in Co Cork (measured at the Roches Point weather station).
Over half of Met Éireann stations reported their wettest winter on record.
All seasonal rainfall totals were above the Long-term Average, and were double the Long-term Average (or more) in parts of the South, East, and Midlands.
It was the wettest winter on record for 74 years at Dublin Airport and Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford (with rainfall totals of 371.6 mm and 514.6 mm).
Malin Head reported its wettest winter since 1885 (567.3 mm), with 80.6 mm on December 5, the season’s wettest day and the wettest day at the station since 1955.
That was after a November in which nearly double the average rainfall was recorded in some parts of the North, Midlands, West and Southwest.
That month featured the wettest November day recorded since 1968 at Newport, Co Mayo, with 66.2 mm.
In the West and Southwest, November had 26 wet days.
