Our summer returns!
Normal service resumes but not for long enough to end drought
IT may have put a welcome dampener on the weekend, but yesterday’s rain was nowhere near enough to ease the drought.
The west got the highest level of rainfall yesterday, with up to 12 millimetres in parts, but it is nowhere near enough to replenish lakes and reservoirs.
Met Éireann forecaster Vincent O’Shea said the range of rainfall was five to 12 millimetres throughout the country, but that this was insufficient for the soil. ‘For those who might be looking for rainfall, there isn’t any good news in terms of appreciable differences,’ he said. ‘There may be sporadic showers [from today to Wednesday], but... the vast bulk of the country will get no rain at all.’
Dry conditions are expected to continue until Wednesday, but temperatures will be cooler.
‘Technically, there’s a change in the weather in that it has got less warm, and it’s got cloudier, and there are bits of rain around, and it will be fresher and a little less warm,’ said Mr O’Shea.
‘But average temperatures [from today to Wednesday], by normal July standards, will still be around average.
‘So, relative to what they have been, it will certainly feel noticeably cooler, but that’s relative to what we’ve had, since we’ve had such high temperatures.’
There is some relief in sight for those in need of rain, according to Mr O’Shea. ‘There are strong indications that from Thursday there will be some appreciable amounts of rain,’ he said. ‘But I would emphasise that amounts are not expected to be large.’
PERHAPS for the first time in living memory, there has been a broad welcome for the arrival of rain.
Apart from the fact that we need a few downpours to address the drought situation, we could all probably do with a break from the scorching conditions of recent weeks. Let’s just hope, though, that the return of the wet weather is short-lived…