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High hopes for sunny summer
04.06.10
by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
AFTER the longest and harshest winter in living
memory, hopes are high for a good summer here as the
latest Met Eireann figures show that Inishowen is
getting warmer and drier.
The average temperature for May is up slightly while
the amount of rain, which has fallen here so far
this year, is down a whopping 20% on the 2009
figure.
The mean maximum temperature at Malin Head for the
month of May was 12.8 degrees Celsius while the mean
minimum was 7.6 degrees. The average daily
temperature of 10.2 degrees for May here is up 0.3
degrees on normal.
Rainfall at Malin Head for the first five months of
2010 is down almost 20% on 2009 figures. The monthly
amout for May was down 13% on the mean figure, with
only 51.5mm falling during the 31-day period. This
was 46% less than the 2009 May rainfall of 95.2mm.
The wettest day of May this year was the 5th when
9.7mm fell in one single day.
The hottest 24 hours of the month was Tuesday May
18, which recorded an impressive average daily
temperature of 19.2 degrees Celsius. The lowest
recorded reading of May saw temperatures plummet to
an unseasonal low of just 3.0 degrees Celsius on the
8th; an amazing 16 degrees of difference in the
space of just ten days.
Nationally, mean air temperatures for spring were a
little higher than normal, but it was nevertheless
the coldest spring since 2001. |
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March was colder than
normal everywhere, while mean temperature values for
both April and May were a little higher than
average, despite cold spells each month.
The season’s lowest temperatures were measured
during early March, when air temperatures fell below
-5°C with ground temperatures below -10°C in many
places.
More than 50 days with ground frost were recorded
during the season at inland and eastern stations,
over twice the normal number for spring. In
contrast, maximum values of around 25°C were
measured on May 22nd and 23rd, when the highest
spring temperatures for many years were recorded in
the Dublin area.
Rainfall totals for the season were below normal
almost everywhere, with only around three quarters
of the
seasonal average recorded in many places while
sunshine totals for the season were above normal
everywhere. |
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