End of an era

dasa29

Hi This is taken from the local paper.

End of an era at Mullingar Met Office this week.:mad:

On tuesday morning of this week April 8 at exactly 09h00 Greenwich mean time (10am irish time) the last manned observation was taken and sent from the Mullingar Meteorological Station at irishtown, bring to an end 65 years of continuous weather reporting from the town.

Continues
The Mullingar station will continue in its present location and automatic readings will still transmit from there to Met Eireann's headquarters at Glasnevin, in Dublin.

The Mullingar Meteorological Station is manned by Hugh Kiernan and Simon Boland, Who will continue to be based there and will be involved in handling, preparing and scanning archive material for inclusion on Met Eireann's web site (www.met.ie).

Contrast
In direct contrast the met stations in clones and kilkenny also ceased maned observations at 10am on Tuesday of this week, but unlike Mullingar , which will remain open, they will be replaced by automated readings from new sites at Ballyhaise, Co Cavan and Oak park, Co Carlow Respectively.

Sorry for the long post, But as my father(deceased) worked there till he died i felt i had to post this.

D Daly

Mothman

I didn't know Clones was going as well,

and to add to OP, Rosslare seems to be gone as well to be replaced by Johnstown Castle.

The sunny SE is not so sunny anymore. Despite being I think 6 miles away, Johnstown Castle records on average about 10% less sunshine.

1583 vs 1433 hours 1961-90 annual mean.

Danno

FFS. Kilkenny closed too. :mad:

darkman2

Yeah we wont be getting any more official reports from what is officially the warmest place in the country! Its a shame but technology does, in this day and age, render manned observations unnessacary. I can understand why - met eireann are underfunded and thats the reality.Its not their fault - its down to government.

Another irritating thing is the new locations. I mean I dont actually know where Johnstown is or high it is!? Whereas I automatically have a good idea about Clones and Kilkenny.

Paddy.1

I am hugely disappointed to hear that Dasa29, but unfortunatly it is the way things are going at the moment. Speaking for my own area, Claremorris now manned as well, so there is no such thing as basic weather reports from the west anymore either. Belmullet is next in the firing line. Knock, while giving an indication, is so high up it does not represent the plains of Connacht at all. Now with midland stations going automated, it would seem that day to day weather is now not the concern of Meteorological Institutions anymore, but just basic climate trends, which are not only unhelpful, but useless for people who have to work out in the weather everyday, such as farmers and so forth.

Mothman

Oak Park is in north outskirts of Carlow Town.

Johstown Castle is about 8 km inland of Rosslare, about 5k SW of Wexford Town. Despite the proximity to Rosslare, it is an inland location, and as already mentioned, records about 10% less sunshine.

Ballyhaise is about a third of the way between Cavan and Clones

They are all Teagasc research centres

DOCARCH

Mothman wrote: »

Johstown Castle is about 8 km inland of Rosslare, about 5k SW of Wexford Town. Despite the proximity to Rosslare, it is an inland location, and as already mentioned, records about 10% less sunshine.

Have a look at www.xcweather.co.uk - changes in met stations have already been reflected except that Johnstown (Castle) has now been moved to Dublin.

Somebody obvioulsy looked for Johnstown on the map and found Johnstown, Co. Dublin. Somebody should let them know!

It's a real shame that Ireland, with such a varied climate, is going to have less and less manned or visual stations. This will obviously effect reporting of thunderstorms, snow, etc., etc.

Mothman

DOCARCH wrote: »

Have a look at www.xcweather.co.uk - changes in met stations have already been reflected except that Johnstown (Castle) has now been moved to Dublin.

Somebody obvioulsy looked for Johnstown on the map and found Johnstown, Co. Dublin. Somebody should let them know!

:eek:

Snowbie

[thread=2055220022]Discussed here too[/thread]

jd

and here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055136885

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055060770

DOCARCH

DOCARCH wrote: »

Have a look at www.xcweather.co.uk - changes in met stations have already been reflected except that Johnstown (Castle) has now been moved to Dublin.

Somebody obvioulsy looked for Johnstown on the map and found Johnstown, Co. Dublin. Somebody should let them know!

It's a real shame that Ireland, with such a varied climate, is going to have less and less manned or visual stations. This will obviously effect reporting of thunderstorms, snow, etc., etc.

The power of the interweb...
Have a look now

Mothman

Kilkenny People 9th April

At precisely 10am, the last remaining meteorological officer in Kilkenny, Noel O'Keeffe (pictured by Eoin Hennessy above) took the readings and there was a tear in his eye as he made his way back down the steps from the observation tower 68 metres above sea level to the station below where a few retired colleagues including PJ Ryan had gathered to show support.
From today (Wednesday) the weather for this region will come from Oakpark, outside Carlow town on lands belonging to Teagasc, the agricultural training and advisory body. An automatic station has been in dress rehearsal mode there for the last few months.
So, tonight when you look at the RTE news and it shows the temperatures, it will not highlight Kilkenny as one of the coldest parts of the country but Carlow.
"It is a sad day no doubt and it is the end of an era," said Mr O'Keeffe who is originally from Killarney, Co Kerry. He has been stationed in Kilkenny since 1971 and has seen many changes. He will miss the job and the visits of schools to the station to find out about the weather. He noted that as a boy, Kilkenny College teacher Paul Cuddihy was a frequent caller, having lived down the road, and he has been returning with students in recent years.

The Anglo-Celt 26th March

A new weather station will begin collecting meteorological data in the grounds of Ballyhaise Agricultural College in the coming weeks. The new automated observation station is intended to replace Met Éireann`s existing partly automated station in Clones, which is due to close on April 7.
Met Éireann explained that housing development adjacent to the Co Monaghan station
had made it increasingly difficult for the station to collect data and give accurate reports. This necessitated a move and the Ballyhaise Agricultural College emerged as the most suitable location for the new station.
After over 50 years operating in Clones, the local community is sad to see the weather station going, having become accustomed to very specific weather forecasts. Station manager Sean Bonner and Michael McDonnell are both employed at the Clones station. They are not losing their jobs but will be transferred to another division.
There will be no staff based in the automated station in Ballyhaise but it will be regularly serviced by Met Éireann staff.
The data collected by equipment at the Ballyhaise station will be transferred digitally every hour to Met Éireann headquarters in Glasnevin.

Mothman

Deleted User wrote: »

The power of the interweb...
Have a look now

Miracles

DOCARCH

Not to be a fuddy duddy but still looks in the wrong place (slightly)! Should be a little further inland (north)?