Irish Examiner view: Forecasting good days ahead

Dark clouds above Cobh, Co Cork, in August.

There is an old adage about the unpredictability of Irish weather: if you don’t like the forecast, just give it 10 minutes. 

As a nation, we’re weather-obsessed, it dominates conversation with no shortage of opinions, no shortage of experts.

With the World Meteorological Organisation warning that extreme weather events are the new normal, it’s more important than ever to provide accurate and timely forecasts.

To do just that, Met Éireann has joined forces with weather services in Iceland, Denmark, and the Netherlands to operate a new supercomputer to improve short-term forecasting.

Met Éireann, says the “high-performance computer” will perform 4,000tn calculations per second and handle millions of weather observations every 24 hours.

The data and technology will allow weather services better predict weather patterns and provide faster and more detailed warnings.

Met Éireann director Eoin Moran said the warnings would improve safety for the transport, agriculture and marine sectors and give households, communities and businesses more time to protect lives and livelihoods.

Located in Reykjavik, the supercomputer will be powered by “renewable Icelandic hydropower and geothermal energy sources”.

Met Éireann said running costs and CO2 footprint “will be kept to a minimum in line with the four nations’ commitments towards net-zero”. Money well spent.