Sleet and snow overnight and morning south Ulster and Leinster

Neddyusa

Any snow in South Donegal or Sligo, or is it just rain falling this morning?

JanuarySnowstor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840591#Comment_121840591

There's been a clear move in position since Evelyn left. On several occasions during the Winter they left it to the UK Met to name storms eventhough they were impacting Ireland also. Also we've had less warnings and issued slower. As I said earlier Evelyn was a bit of ramper, but overall did an excellent job. The new head in my amateur opinion needs to find a better balance because they have gone the other extreme and hence getting caught out

Supercell

All snow gone here except the odd icy patch in the shade. Recorded 56.6mm of rain yesterday (record is 70.4mm on 02/02/14), my second wettest day ever here. Evaporative cooling was definitely a contributory factor to getting as much sneachta as we did, a truly memorable day.

sryanbruen

Still snow cover on Sandymount Strand.

redsteveireland

A cold sleety morning in Galway.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840967#Comment_121840967

Yeah and it's about 3-4 degrees. I feel if we could lose a couple of degrees we'd get a decent dump of snow.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840298#Comment_121840298

As a Dubliner I don't think they seem any rarer?

Granted its only my aging memory I'm going off. Maybe the stats show it is rarer.

pauldry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840630#Comment_121840630

Just rain here some sleety stuff. Too windy so ocean moderation kicking in this time.

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841034#Comment_121841034

I have to chime with this. Growing up older people would say summers and winters aren't what they used to be, hurling wasn't as good as it used to be, their knees aren't as good as they used to be, etc...

However when I mention 09 and 2010 they shudder at the memory of being housebound.

Eibhir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840591#Comment_121840591

My take would be usually in these situations it's generally an altitude related type snowfall. Uncommon to see lowlands do better than higher ground. They went with that.

Was their forecast lacking because they've forecast weather events that haven't materialised to the extent they've forecast recently.. Was it because of the times we live in, and online hype, they played what they determined to be safe.

I don't know but the top posters here were taken aback too, I think Highdef summed it up when he said 'I wasn't expecting anything like this'.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841034#Comment_121841034

As a Dubliner I really feel it is rarer. Snow like 2009, 2010, 2018 was rare throughout my life. But snow like yesterday was common - something to expect a couple of times at least during a typical winter. I hadn't had snow that stuck since a one day event in 2019 - a 5 year gap in snow was not the norm in the 80s and 90s in Dublin.

Gonzo

The wait for snow goes on here in Meath, no real snow here since 17th March 2018. Got incredibly unlucky yesterday with snow everywhere but here with a 24 hour cold rain event instead. This wait for snow is going into it's 7th year now in what has to be one of the longest periods ever in my lifetime without a proper fall of snow.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841308#Comment_121841308

Hard to say who's memory is more accurate. Maybe syran can provide the stats to ket us know.

We had lying snow this time last year in Dublin so definitely not 5 years.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841645#Comment_121841645

No lying snow in this area last year unfortunately! Part of it might depend on locality - snow can be very localised as seen yesterday. The last snow fall here was a very short lived hour long event in December 2022 that didn't stick. Definitely March 3rd 2019 for the last lying snow here.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841664#Comment_121841664

Ah yeah well if we're talking back gardens then it's a lottery. I'm talking about Dublin as a whole. I don't think snow events are any rarer for the county than they were 20 years ago growing up.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841690#Comment_121841690

Well I feel they're rarer here in Lucan. I can only compare my own experiences of living in the same place over the years, obviously. I wouldn't have any idea of how common snow was in other parts of the county over the decades.

yagan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841735#Comment_121841735

From having lived in Dublin and another inland county on and off over decades my take was Dublin seemed to get the better lightning storms and inland the better frost and snow occurrence.

But with the national media it only seems newsworthy when Dublin is affected, whereas severe weather events that impact daily lives happen all the time without anyone in Dublin noticing.

sparrowcar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841588#Comment_121841588

I think I'm in the same boat in Swords. A few flakes and maybe a light short lived dusting since 2018 but nothing worth getting even remotely excited about.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841780#Comment_121841780

I think that's a different argument. I'm well aware snow and certain other weather events are more common outside Dublin and always have been. I don't think it's unusual that an event disrupting the capital city and affecting the hundreds of thousands commuting into it, garners more media coverage either.

Regardless, I feel snow is less frequent here in my part of Dublin than previously was the case here, having lived nearly all my life in the one area.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841735#Comment_121841735

As the crow flies my own home and my childhood aren't too far apart. As is the case for all of Dublin realistically.

I don't notice any difference in the frequency of snow though between both locales. But as a weather enthusiast who watches the weather etc I also don't notice a drop off in snow chances fpr Dublin over the years.

But your back garden is a different story and not what I meant with my original comment. Dublin CC has had lying snow two marches in a row now.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841308#Comment_121841308

From 1992 to 1999,there wasn't a lot of sticking snow anywhere in Dublin bar high ground

The 80's would have had some notable events most years from 81 to 88

By notable, I mean easterly snow shower trains for at least 2 or 3 days at a time up to a week or more

Ditto here in Arklow to which I commuted in that decade from Dublin

The drifts in Arklow anyway from the January '82 blizzard stuck around untill the 1st week of February

This was surpassed by the November Dec 2010 event,when snow lay for an entire month

March 2018's drifts also lasted an entire month with a top up on the 18th

Ironically both those latter events occurred in this era of 'climate change

Below is a pic of croghan Moira mountain just now,above Aughrim in South Co wicklow

When it's still snow covered ,anecdotally we all get more snow here locally not too long after

Going on my local weather and temps it was snowing up there last night and it must have a lot

Lug is behind it but cant be seen due to cloud

So I guess we ain't done

.Donegal.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841942#Comment_121841942

30 year averages there has been a steady decrease in sleet/snow falling at Dublin airport and a decrease in snow lying at 9am.

1961-1990

Days with sleet/snow 21.6

Days with snow lying 9am 4.5

1971-2000

Days with sleet/snow 18.7

Days with snow lying 9am 3.5

1981-2010

Days with sleet/snow 16.6

Days with snow lying 9am 3.4

1991-2020

Days with sleet/snow 12.5

Days with snow lying 2.2

So from 1961-1990 to the current average there has been over 50% reduction in days with lying snow at 9am and over 43% in days with sleet/snow falling. Each updated 30 year average shows a decrease in snow falling and lying and even 2009/2010 wasn’t enough to buck the trend.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842068#Comment_121842068

Well those stats certainly show the memory ain't worth a $hite 😂

Wouldn't have thought it was that big a difference. 2010/18 clearly having a bigger impact on my overall opinion than I'd have thought.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842068#Comment_121842068

Yes,each of those sets of stats contain a 10 year barren period dulling the average

It doesn't take from the notable easterly periods in the 80's which like 2010 and 2018 really were exceptions that raise expectations

Certainly living near UCD in the 80's,there were a few days of lying snow every winter

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841942#Comment_121841942

Is there a need to be so condescending with the "your back garden" comments? I'm speaking of the general Lucan area, also Clondalkin. Also the general surrounding areas including North Kildare, where I would be aware of any snow events since my childhood.

I'm also a weather enthusuast, though I claim no expertise. I feel there has been a reduction in snow falls. I'm happy to agree to differ - it's just a casual conversation about our experiences with snow after all.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842135#Comment_121842135

Lad those are averages over 30 years 🤣

There were many years within each where for example even Dublin airport would have had more than 2.2 days of lying snow,notwithstanding the fact that its prone to the Isle of man shadow meaning in Irish sea snow train days areas north of it or south of it do better

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842197#Comment_121842197

I certainly remember far more frost, ice and snow during the 1980s, we basically got a few days off school from it almost every winter and the regular winter snow events died off from 1992. Since then snow only falls every couple of years with a large gap in the early 2000s and then another large gap since 2018. I did get snow during 2008, 2009 and 2010 which has been the only time since 1991 where I got decent snowfall 3 winters in a row.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842210#Comment_121842210

Apologies wasn't trying to condescend. But you were literally talking about your road and you clearly stated you had no knowledge or inclination for other parts of Dublin.

I was always referring to Dublin as a whole in my OP which is what I had initially referred to when I replied to you saying we had lying snow this time last year in Dublin as well. I meant Dublin CC. You meant your back garden. Which I obviously wouldn't have any reports of.

yagan

I've worked outdoors for three + decades and all I will commit to is that the weather is predictably inconsistent.

My take away about working in Dublin is that there's definitely an urban island effect no doubt from the increased traffic and sprawl.

.Donegal.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842197#Comment_121842197

I wouldn’t say it dulls the average and in the same sense I wouldn’t say a good year inflates the average. It’s just the average over a 30 year period there will be good and bad years but the average doesn’t lie. Sadly though since the 1961-1990 period to present day average days with lying snow have decreased by over 50% at Dublin airport.

Billcarson

This chart shows the decrease in snow well.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842447#Comment_121842447

If the decade in between is particularly barren vs a 20 year average of course it dulls it

What seems to becoming a constant lately if you delve into the last 60 years is extremes come in blocks,whether that be heat,rain or cold and within those blocks we are getting new records at times

The extremes aren't frequent

Someone posted a quote in one of the other threads here from a weather almanac in the 15th century ,I think it was,wrote by a visitor stating it doesn't snow very often in Ireland

That's nearly 700 years ago

.Donegal.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842570#Comment_121842570

It’s a 30 year average. You can’t pick and choose which years you like out of it and disregard the years you don’t like, it defeats the entire point of it. Met Éireann select a 30 year period for a reason. Each 30 year period shows a reduction in snowfall with every updated series as I outlined above, there’s no getting away from it.

Hippodrome Song Owl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842294#Comment_121842294

I think you're reading things into my posts which weren't there. At no point was I literally talking about my road or garden - no idea where you got that from. I mentioned other parts of Dublin as in I'd not know much about every short lived snow fall in coastal towns, or perhaps North County Dublin. At no stage did I mean my back garden. That was all your own interpretation.

Interesting to see what the stats show anyway and how we will have different experiences in a relatively small area.

Eibhir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842570#Comment_121842570

Gerald of Wales in the 12th century. We were in the medieval warm period. Said to be equalled or surpassed now.

Gerald wrote 'in Ireland it seldom snows, and when it does it rarely lasts for long'.

If we went into the period 1400 to 1850 your into the mini ice age. Take Christmas eve 1592 and Aodh O'Neill and Red Hugh escape from Dublin Castle the former dies of hypothermia due to blizzards. October 1601 the Spanish at Kinsale and the English die at alarming rates due to freezing rain and sleet. The climate was colder.

Interesting we now resemble the height of the medieval warm period. Vineyards in South East England. That flipped into the mini ice age in a few decades. Vikings in Greenland died out in parts, even ate their dogs they used for sleighs.

Eibhir

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842656#Comment_121842656

I like a 30 or 33 year average. If you did 10 it's too short. For example 2008 to 2018 would give a skewed picture towards cold. You have to start somewhere and 30 year climatic averages have been used throughout history.

I have all the CET (CENTRAL ENGLAND TEMPERATURE) monthly mean temperatures since 1659 downloaded. I did up yearly mean temps and graphed them in 30 year averages. So interesting. The mini ice age really sticks out in the 1600s and 1700s etc. Mount Tambora eruption and 1816 the year with no summer.

Since 1980 the graph goes in only one direction, with blips around 1986 and 2010. But the overall trend is upward. How much is anthropogenic... I don't know. But regardless of human input, climate is dynamic itself.

Eibhir

This weekend is as typically early March as anything I've seen (born 1976). At home typical sleety, wet snow, where the mornings are the worst as regards travel.

There'll be a very normal -1 to -2c frost tonight. You often get it in May, even June 1991. Every BS site from Dublin Live, Laois Today etc are hyping the Yellow warning. I know this isn't the forum, but people shouldn't need warnings for a night as common as tonight. Where the fcuk has common cop on gone where you go out and know there's frost on the car, and can surmise wet roads might be slippy. Click bait and Nanny state at worst.

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842681#Comment_121842681

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841735#Comment_121841735

I read the above as simply as its written. You were only speaking of your area or colloquially known as your backyard.

I was speaking of Dublin, not my area when I said "Dublin had lying snow last March". You even replied saying "I didn't have any".

So not sure what you're taking issue with.

sryanbruen

Here's some shots from today at Sandymount, Hellfire Club, Kilakee and Sally Gap. Long day!

InAtFullBack

On this third rock from the sun a decent while now and 2017-18 was probably the snowiest winter I have lived through and I remember the 80s which were generous with snowfall too. My personal hunch is that we go through barren periods lasting a few years and then we get a decent winter or two - but this is based on where I live rather than the country as a whole.

pureza

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121842656#Comment_121842656

Yes but that's not my point

My point simply was that the barren years are getting more barren and the non barren years are getting bigger extremes of snowfall

Using 30 year averages definitely does mask that especially from locations that don't typically describe an area as diverse as Dublin

Both large snowfall events in the 2000's surpassed the two big ones in the 1980's in my experience

As regards Dublin aswell, the highly populated inland south of the county adjacent to higher ground would definitely see more snowfall in snowy weather than the likes of Dublin airport or the phoenix park

Even anecdotally here from friday here on this website,that's borne out well.

Slashermcguirk

I think where you are in dublin makes a big difference. I grew up in South Dublin towards sandyford and it got a lot more snow than where I am now in North Dublin the last 12 years.

That being said while the last few winters had not produced much snow, here in coastal north Dublin we got a couple of great snow days with lying snow just a few years ago when other parts of Dublin got none.

My close friend lives in London over 10 years now and said snow is even rarer there. He said lying snow very rarely happens over there