Heat records in Ireland

 

SST anomaly off the Mayo/Donegal coast. 

June 2023 was proclaimed the hottest on record in Ireland. I suppose it's what we were anticipating, but not quite this suddenly. Our mean temperature for June via Newport Furnace was 17.4, that's 3.6C higher than in previous years. Yikes!

At least we've been getting regular rainfall lately, almost 80 mm in late June, not like the 5 or 6 weeks with not a drop of rain in May and early June. 

Our mean soil temperature at 0900 UTC was 18.6C, fully 3.8C higher than the previous means. And we only had 18 degree days below 15.5C. That's way off the norm. 

I heard a meteorologist explain the Sea Surface Temperature anomaly off our coast as being related to easterly winds prevailing during the stationary high-pressure dome last month. As the earth heated up due to high temperatures, the easterlies brought the heat over the ocean where it was absorbed due to calm conditions and little upwelling of circulation. All very strange indeed. 

It's all changed on July 1 and we are likely to have stormy conditions for several weeks. So much for getting the boat up from Kilrush. 

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 30-jun-2023

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	183.2	91.6	188.4	121.1	48.5	77.9	n/a						710.7
2022	98.8	260.4	67.8	84.0	107.0	148.0	59.2	104.1	97.3	233.9	187.5	154.6	1602.6
2021	225.6	147.6	141.1	45.6	113.5	64.1	59.7	155.6	137.0	265.7	183.3	186.6	1725.4
2020	139.5	342.8	178.2	25.5	54.7	164.5	187.9	137.9	153.4	228.0	206.6	232.7	2051.7
LTA	166.7	126.5	141.2	96.8	94.7	89.7	100.9	132.5	131.5	176.0	170.4	180.2	1607.1

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	6.6	8.0	7.6	9.9	13.3	17.4	n/a						10.5
2022	7.2	7.1	8.0	9.9	12.6	13.8	15.9	16.2	n/a	12.2	9.4	5.2	10.7
2021	5.0	6.7	7.9	9.0	10.4	13.3	17.5	16.4	15.2	11.9	9.3	7.6	10.9
2020	7.2	6.0	6.6	11.0	12.8	13.8	14.4	16.0	13.8	10.5	9.1	6.1	10.6
LTA	6.1	6.1	7.3	9.0	11.5	13.8	15.4	15.4	13.5	10.8	8.3	6.5	10.3

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	5.2	6.8	6.6	9.1	13.7	18.6	n/a						10.0
2022	6.2	6.2	6.3	9.3	13.2	14.8	16.8	16.6	n/a	11.5	8.4	4.4	10.4
2021	3.6	5.0	6.8	8.2	10.9	14.3	17.9	16.3	15.2	11.3	8.6	6.6	10.4
2020	5.7	4.7	5.4	9.7	13.0	14.8	14.9	16.3	13.7	9.5	8.0	5.1	10.1
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm² for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	6245	10639	21429	37277	55732	58473	n/a						189795
2022	6311	10756	33399	40555	51569	47246	48439	51169	n/a	15988	7869	6167	319468
2021	6620	13347	20370	45694	55690	45488	49455	40490	22413	16358	7235	3780	326940
2020	6263	10808	24545	46192	58476	43537	40215	40555	25558	18487	6319	5209	326164
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	14.3	20.9	33.0	56.4	83.3	100.6	n/a						308.5
2022	13.7	23.0	47.2	60.6	77.7	76.0	80.4	82.0	n/a	27.2	17.2	9.2	514.2
2021	7.6	22.9	30.7	62.9	76.3	70.7	87.8	67.5	38.3	25.1	14.1	14.6	518.5
2020	17.6	21.9	35.0	70.2	91.6	72.9	66.2	66.4	42.7	28.1	13.6	10.4	536.6
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Evaporation (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2023	18.8	28.2	47.6	81.6	118.2	137.1	n/a						431.5
2022	17.9	32.4	66.5	86.8	114.5	109.2	111.1	113.2	n/a	37.0	22.0	11.4	722.0
2021	10.9	32.1	45.4	89.9	111.2	102.0	117.2	93.5	52.1	34.7	18.6	19.1	726.7
2020	22.4	31.9	51.8	98.9	130.8	104.8	94.3	92.7	59.1	38.8	18.1	13.6	757.2
LTA	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2023	275	210	246	171	85	18	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2022	256	234	235	171	97	63	30	28	N/A	103	185	320	N/A
2021	325	247	236	200	167	79	20	23	40	114	187	245	1883
2020	257	276	275	143	111	73	55	31	71	156	193	291	1935

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Notes on the Data

Evaporation and PE data are calculated using Penman/Monteith formulae.
The ‘LTA’ (referred to within a table) is average for the climatological long-term-average (LTA) reference period 1981-2010.
Data updated daily at Mid-day.
To view the Weather Events for Public Works Contracts data, select a station first, then click the link just below the map.

Open data

Birthday update

Hare today!

I was hoping the shed would be completed today, but that was not to be. The people doors were delivered as was the timber for the fence. But they couldn't install the doors and they still need to roll the driveway so we have to wait. No birthday present of job done. 

Alex has started moving pallets into the shed so we can start storing stuff in there, chiefly books and furniture and stuff that has to go to Germany. All the beekeeping materials will have to go in there as well, as will the RTV and mower and half the gardening stuff. 

I did have a few surprises so far, today. Alex created a gorgeous chair which he presented at breakfast. And I had an unexpected visitor as well. The weather was lovely and I wrote a poem commemorating my 69th. Overall not a bad day and more to come. 

Almost there

The massive doors were installed in the 'shed' today. Tested and ready to go. I missed seeing them down but Alex says they are a good match for the shed. 

Cahill smoothed the land and pounded in the fence posts for the new split rail fence along the perimeter. He also installed a drain diagonally across the field. He needs to distribute the remaining stone on the driveway.

Cahill and Charles will be installing the people doors tomorrow. That's the last remaining task and then the shed is complete. We can start moving things in. 

I even managed to rearrange the polytunnel today, moving the furniture around and opening up some space since the RTV and mower will be living in the shed from now on as soon as it returns from servicing. It's finally coming together. 

Surface temperature predictions

NOAA has issued a short video showing how global temperatures and SSTs are affected in El Niño years. 

At the ENSO Blog, their guest blogger explains how scientists predict the annual global temperature ranking ahead of time and also explores the question, "Will El Niño push the planet to a new record-high temperature in 2023? 

The answer is, it depends. 

Well, at least the grapes in the polytunnel are ripening. 

A New Climate Resource for Ireland

Met Éireann released the first climate projections of the TRANSLATE initiative at the European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2023 (ECCA), held in Dublin last week.

The TRANSLATE dataset confirms that Ireland is likely to experience a decrease in the frequency of cold winter nights and up to a 10-fold increase in the frequency of warm (> 15°C) summer nights, alongside an increasing number of heatwaves, by the end of the century. In terms of precipitation, summers are projected to be drier and winters to be wetter, with precipitation increasing annually overall. Temperatures are projected to increase across all greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

Current estimates from the IPCC AR6 report, place the past decade as 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, with the next 20 years expected to reach or exceed the 2°C threshold. 

A tool to predict how your county will be affected was developed. It looks like Mayo will be relatively fortunate.