Temperatures to soar after wettest April since WWII
PARTS of the south experienced the wettest April since World War II as the rest of the country endured above-average rainfall.
According to the monthly weather summary from Met Éireann, published yesterday, the Valentia weather station in Co Kerry recorded the wettest April since 1940.
The 197.9mm of rain that fell was more than twice its normal long-term average for the month.
The same weather station also recorded the most rain falling in one day when 46.2mm was recorded on April 16 – the wettest April day there since 2003.
Cork Airport also endured a soggy month, recording rainfall for 24 out of 31 days, while also recording rainfall under 0.2mm for 28 ‘rain’ days, compared to Malin Head, Co Donegal, which had 11 ‘wet days’ with rain exceeding 1mm, and 14 ‘rain days’.
The only consolation to a wet and dreary month, was that the monthly mean temperatures were slightly above average.
Dublin’s Phoenix Park and Malin Head were treated to a welcome blast of warm air and sunshine on April 18 when temperatures hit 20C.
But there were some notable exceptions when the mercury dipped to -5.3C in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, on April 5.
The amount of sunshine nationally was also below the monthly average. with Cork Airport receiving just 65pc of its average monthly sunshine at 104.9 hours – its dullest month since 1987.
By contrast, Casement Aerodrome in Dublin recorded 165.4 hours of sunshine for the month, with April 20 recording 14.9 hours of sunshine – the most sunshine recorded on that day since 1964.
While the start of May has been cold and blustery, that is all set to change, according to Met Éireann’s John Eagleton.
“The weather is pretty optimistic for the bank holiday,” he said.
While today will start off a “bit misty and drizzly”, conditions will get better over the weekend, with more dry and sunny weather kicking in from Friday.
Monday will be the best day of the bank holiday weekend, with temperatures soaring to 22C, although cooler along the eastern coast, he said.
“Everyone is going to get a bit of something good,” he said with regards to the national weather picture.