Query re weather in West and North West Ireland

rhonin

Hi everyone.

I'm a total newbie when it comes to weather so please bare with me on this one. I'm still learning
I live in Sligo now but my home place is near Belmullet. Is it true that the west and north west gets more wet weather than the rest of the country? If so why? The reason I ask is I'm looking at todays forecast and its says "scattered showers of rain or hail, mainly in west Munster, Connacht and Ulster" and for tonight "Cloudier and less cold in western coastal counties with patchy rain or drizzle developing". This seems to be the pattern for the next few days. What is causing the showers to be confined to the west?
In summer time we seem to get a lot of drizzle and rain while the rest of the country is enjoying nice sunny weather.
Thanks.

Danno

Blame the Atlantic Ocean. The transfer of heat from the Ocean in to the atmosphere causes a lot of evapouration. This forms shower clouds. As these shower clouds move in over land they die out as the heat source (The Ocean) is replaced by the land.
Funnily enough, the opposite happens in mid-late spring as the land is warmer than the sea and showers grow in size the closer they get to the east.

rhonin

Ah ok, that makes sense. Thanks Danno.

Nearness to the Atlantic as Danno says as thats where our prevailing winds are sourced.
In general terms the rest of the country gets the same rain when sourced from there but often but not always ,it has dried out a bit by the time it reaches the East.

My Mum when she moved to Wicklow from the Diosese of Kerry [she was very religious ] always said she couldn't get over how dry Wicklow was in comparison.

A friends mum from Leitrim said the exact same thing!

Deep Easterly

rhonin wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I'm a total newbie when it comes to weather so please bare with me on this one. I'm still learning
I live in Sligo now but my home place is near Belmullet. Is it true that the west and north west gets more wet weather than the rest of the country? If so why? The reason I ask is I'm looking at todays forecast and its says "scattered showers of rain or hail, mainly in west Munster, Connacht and Ulster" and for tonight "Cloudier and less cold in western coastal counties with patchy rain or drizzle developing". This seems to be the pattern for the next few days. What is causing the showers to be confined to the west?
In summer time we seem to get a lot of drizzle and rain while the rest of the country is enjoying nice sunny weather.
Thanks.

I echo Danno's discriptions 100%. West is wetter I think because of the potancy of frontal and post frontal activity common in these here parts during the winter. As BB says, these features often die a quick death as they move east. In the summer half of the year, there is no real distinction in rainfall totals across the country as due to the land warming effect which keep the showers and frontal bands vigorous as they move east in the prevailing windstrean (WSW)

Will be doing a feature on the Climate of Ireland sometime in the new year. Found a couple of very interesting books here in NUIG with some very detailed accounts and charts about everyday weather in Ireland. I for one am looking forward to reading these in a lot more detail as soon as this assignment hell is finished (will it ever end.....:mad::mad::rolleyes:)

Snowbie

@rhonin

Just to add one more important point to why the western seaboard is usually wetter than the rest of the country is because of the west hills and mountain ranges also.
The lift (orographic lift) from mtns can intensify frontal rainfall inland west moreso than on the west coast.
Then as the front meets the flatlands of the midlands the intensity drops significantly as there is nothing to aid in intensity during winter(hills, mtns, less moisture and heat). The majority of the time this happens in summer but the heat is more evident then so frontal rains can be just as heavy over here also unless we have a certain warm moist 'Spanish plume' of air moving up from the south, the midlands and east rains can be heavier than the west from a front moving in from the Atlantic.

With showers in Winter, the windward coasts get the heavier showers due to being closer to the source of heat and moisture (large body of water) So if a west wind is blowing, the showers are more heavier and concentrated in that region and likewise if east wind is blowing, here in the east receive the most showers etc.

In April to August it is totally different, the airmass can be conducive to develop airmass showers. This is because the sun heats the land up quicker and develops clouds that bubble up quickly and so these showers can be much more heavier over land than showers being blown in off the sea. Some of the posters have covered this already.

So wind, heat, cold, moisture, topography(terrain), season(s) and a large body of water can affect rainfall and distribution throughout this small island vastly.
There alot more types and situations that we can encounter leading to a certain event as I'm sure you have and will read over the coming months that can affect such parameters. You will pick up on this I'm sure soon.