Ken Ring on RTE radio 1

Kenring

snow ghost wrote: »

Ken,

This is on the front page of your website:

"After a short but late sunny spell across Ireland last September, which amounted to last year's total summer, this year everyone is wondering what summer will bring"

Why? It is completely untrue.

I live in Ireland and I recall a fairly good May and a good June... May and June are traditionally 'summer' in the Irish seasons... Autumn (including September) starts at Lunasa in August.

So how did a week in September amount 'to last years total summer'?

What's the go with these completely false claims?

I accept what you say and indeed I had some sunny spells listed for June also. But I am talking about a run of at least a week of uninterrupted sunshine, maybe two weeks, which might be relied on for a holiday, and I think that is what people expect as summer weather, not a few days sun followed by more rain. I would like to know if anywhere in Ireland had that kind of extended-sunny May or June, and would stand corrected if those stats can be supplied. I do know that highest temps were in June as I said beforehand that they would be, and as is typical. (It will be the same this June). Besides, by July/August I was told by radio station hosts that apart from short sunny and warm spells in May and June, many were still waiting for summer to arrive, which is why so much interest was taken in my predictions for September. However, if it misleading I can reword what is on my website.
www.predictweather.com

Mothman

Kenring wrote: »

But I am talking about a run of at least a week of uninterrupted sunshine, maybe two weeks, which might be relied on for a holiday, and I think that is what people expect as summer weather, not a few days sun followed by more rain. I would like to know if anywhere in Ireland had that kind of extended-sunny May or June, and would stand corrected if those stats can be supplied.

Couldn't get the data to format clearly, but its date, followed by sunshine hours followed by rainfall. I got my hay made during this period

east Wicklow
Sunshine hours Rain mm
21-May-09 9.3 0.5
22-May-09 4.0 Tr
23-May-09 5.6 0.1
24-May-09 14.6 0
25-May-09 5.6 0
26-May-09 11.6 2.7
27-May-09 5.8 Tr
28-May-09 14.1 0
29-May-09 4.3 0
30-May-09 14.7 0
31-May-09 14.2 0
01-Jun-09 14.6 0
02-Jun-09 13.7 0
03-Jun-09 14.5 0
04-Jun-09 9.7 0
05-Jun-09 8.1 0

Stinicker

snow ghost wrote: »

Ken,

This is on the front page of your website:

"After a short but late sunny spell across Ireland last September, which amounted to last year's total summer, this year everyone is wondering what summer will bring"

Why? It is completely untrue.

I live in Ireland and I recall a fairly good May and a good June... May and June are traditionally 'summer' in the Irish seasons... Autumn (including September) starts at Lunasa in August.

So how did a week in September amount 'to last years total summer'?

What's the go with these completely false claims?

Last September was our summer in the fact that it was the only prolonged spell of dry weather without being interrupted by wet weather from the Atlantic and there was about two weeks without rain which was much more than May, June or July. Farmers saved Hay in September which was a rarity and the September spell was about the same as what we are getting right now in April especially if it lasts up until Friday as Met Eireann predicted today on the farming weather forecast.

Deep Easterly

Stinicker wrote: »

Last September was our summer in the fact that it was the only prolonged spell of dry weather without being interrupted by wet weather from the Atlantic and there was about two weeks without rain which was much more than May, June or July. Farmers saved Hay in September which was a rarity and the September spell was about the same as what we are getting right now in April especially if it lasts up until Friday as Met Eireann predicted today on the farming weather forecast.

September 09 certainly was a very dry month, but as a summer month, it was not a patch on June last, at least here in Galway. June was very dry and also very warm and very sunny; very similar in fact to the weather we had recently only much more intense. I recorded just 44mm of rain that month, a lot of which fell in short, sharp showers and thunderstroms. Official Galway data suggests the same.

The summery spell in September, whilst nice, only lasted a short time. I seem to recal a lot of cloud that month. I suspect that Ken is dealing only with eastern Ireland on this one, which benefited more from the September spell than the June one.

snow ghost

Kenring wrote: »

I accept what you say and indeed I had some sunny spells listed for June also. But I am talking about a run of at least a week of uninterrupted sunshine, maybe two weeks, which might be relied on for a holiday, and I think that is what people expect as summer weather, not a few days sun followed by more rain. I would like to know if anywhere in Ireland had that kind of extended-sunny May or June, and would stand corrected if those stats can be supplied. I do know that highest temps were in June as I said beforehand that they would be, and as is typical. (It will be the same this June). Besides, by July/August I was told by radio station hosts that apart from short sunny and warm spells in May and June, many were still waiting for summer to arrive, which is why so much interest was taken in my predictions for September. However, if it misleading I can reword what is on my website.
www.predictweather.com

Ken,

I had plenty of extended sun in May and June - the wet rainy conditions turned up around when the schools went on their summer holidays at the beginning of July.

People probably often refer to 'Summer' as the school holiday period in July and August.

In that respect the sun in September compared to the persisitent wet in July and August could be tenuously seen as the only glimpse of summer, but in real terms regarding the traditional Irish and modern seasons (May, June, July and June, July & August) it wasn't at all.

There is also probably regional differences regardng what happened in May and June.

Joe Public

Countrywide synopsis:-
Last september was drier than normal ( ~ 50% average rainfall ) but the only good spell of sunshine was from the 9th to the 13th, sunshine was ~ 115% average ( 1961-90 avearge ) and temps were slightly above the 1961-90 average.

Kenring

Deep Easterly wrote: »

September 09 certainly was a very dry month, but as a summer month, it was not a patch on June last, at least here in Galway. June was very dry and also very warm and very sunny; very similar in fact to the weather we had recently only much more intense. I recorded just 44mm of rain that month, a lot of which fell in short, sharp showers and thunderstroms. Official Galway data suggests the same.

The summery spell in September, whilst nice, only lasted a short time. I seem to recal a lot of cloud that month. I suspect that Ken is dealing only with eastern Ireland on this one, which benefited more from the September spell than the June one.

Thank you for those posts and I do stand corrected for the counties that got more than 10 days or more of sunshine in June. It is hard living 14,000 miles away monitoring this, and I have to go by what radio hosts tell me. Granted most who deal with me are on the east side of the country.
cheers