Storm Darragh : Fri 6th /Sat 7th Dec 2024

Not all heroes wear capes…legend

I wish I was on that mmmmm 18,

Stone walls and that trampoline,

The electricity went for the first time in years during a storm,aside from that no real damage to report . I suppose this storm wasn't as bad Isha because we had a few trees down by the end of it. I thought given the wind direction and soggy ground there would be trees down.

Not my picture, but a fairly big tree came down in Greystones.

Athenry fully out of power internet and water.

The kids swimming lessons are cancelled since the pool can’t open.

We have 2 trees down in the garden and the neighbours have a few down too. I’m surprised Oranmore had it so moderate given how bad it was here just a few miles inland.

That was an unusual storm. It felt the most powerful since Darwin 2014 in Portlaoise and it has done damage and knocked out power. Perhaps the North westerly component adding to it.

Yet the gust speeds are underwhelming around Leinster and the east. Oak Park 108km, 2 short of an Orange warning. Ballyhaise and Mullingar not even yellow level.

It's another weather event the stats have been lower than predicted in many areas. Yet I acknowledge it did damage and felt way more powerful. But it's not on a par with storms like 1st and 9th February 1988 etc.

Some serious destruction around the country, I'm so glad it was a Fri night/ Sat morning at least less people on the road. It would have been very dangerous this morning if it was a school/ work commute day.

Still wild enough this morning in Laois.

The neighbour's giant trampoline has ended up flipped upside down and behind their car on the driveway (very lucky there's no damage).

That was fairly wild in east clare. The winds at 5 or 6 this morning were as bad as the red warning.

Im up on a bit of a hill badly exposed to NW. Was dreading seeing any damage but thankfully nothing around here except a santa claus knocked over. Didnt lose power either.

God love anyone without power, it's quiet chilly as well this morning.

The kids are wrecked after toy show but at least we can have the heating and T.V on while we finish the last of the indoor decorations.

The house is unbelievably cold and power is only gone since 1! It’s a sit in the car kind of day 🤣

A wild night to say the least in south dublin. Darragh was extremely loud resulting in only a few hours sleep. Thankfully power didn’t go and no damage from what I can see near me.

Still very gusty now…

That was a bit of a wild night in East Clare. Power went just after 11 and no sign of when it will be back. Waiting to see if the farmer will come up the lane to see if road is blocked. Blinking freezing and with no power means no water. Thank god for power banks!

I slept fine with no problems.

Max wind gusts table updated below to include Darragh. The wind field was very comparable to Isha from January this year but the national average was slightly higher making it the largest since Darwin in February 2014.

Dublin Airport had its highest wind gust since Doris in February 2017. Kilkenny's gust was its highest since January 2018. Strangely as noted, Belmullet was lower than a good number of stations when you'd expect it to be among the windiest. There's also a slight discrepancy on Met site with hourly obs showing 104 km/h last night but 102 km/h was regarded as the highest for the day.

Sustained wind speed of 107 km/h at Mace Head was the highest since Ellen (August 2020) in Ireland when Roches Point set a national August record of 111 km/h.

Mace Hd's gust of 141 km/h was also the highest in the country since Ellen. This was its highest since Ali in September 2018.

The official highest gust reports are baffling and seem lower than what many including ourselves experienced during the early hours across the midlands and east. (In terms of gust strength and damage done. I mean the wind required to lift a roof or wipe out fencing and trees) Oak Park reports certainly do not represent what we experienced last night. I'm sure many others will agree. More MET sites needed it would seem. A very powerful storm.

North of Athlone and the power gone since midnight. Everything in the back garden wrecked. Worst storm since Ophelia

Well said Malachy Steenson!

Gusts in the yellow range are strong and damaging, even more so if the wind is from a different direction than normal. Sheds and trees that may be fine in a SW wind may not be fine in the same speed wind from the NW.

Also, when ME issue a yellow wind warning, in general gust speeds won't reach yellow speeds. People then equate green wind experiences with yellow warnings. Then someone 's shed blows away and they look at the recorded speeds from ME stations and see that they recorded yellow and question the accuracy of the measurement.

You made the front page of irishtimes.com!

Power back here after going just after 2am, wildest night in a long time here in South Kildare.

Wherebouts in North Kildare. Very windy here in Leixlip last night/this morning, but everywhere around me alright, no power outages or major debris.

....

The last time we had tiles lifting or damage to the same extent was with Darwin. All I'm saying is looking at Oakpark with 109kmh reported this am and the damage sustained to a number of properties, it doesn't match up and highlights a need for increased weather stations to correctly capture conditions from all angles. We do have elevation here and were hit head on but reading the table of gusts, you would think it wasn't that bad around the place! 395,000 without power. God bless the ESB crews today.

Yep, I agree. Wind was gusting strong but not dangerous or damaging thankfully.

However, I did lose the contents of the green bin.