Cold Midweek, Mild Weekend - February 7th 2012
This weeks weather looks like it will be quite cold for the time of year with the temperature around 5c.
There will be showers of rain too mainly in the North and West. There will be some heavy bursts
at times on Tuesday and Wednesday 7th and 8th February with up to 20mm in Sligo.
Next week will start off in a similar vein but around midweek we will see milder weather in Ireland around
February 13th and there is the risk that this could result in windy episodes with one or two more showers
mixed in as the temperature vary to between 7 and 11c. The weather is set to get dry toward the end
of the week.
Winter update A lot of dry weather all that is left for this Winter. There is certain to be some
snow in Ireland mainly in the East but perhaps only light outbreaks. Temperatures will tumble.
Temperatures 8c at start then 3 to 8c middle and 3 to 6c end. Then it looks set to get milder after
this as we move into March.
February Cold and unsettled is what we go for. Rain and some cold fronts of wintry showers.
Cold episodes will be at a minimum especially snow but there are always some snowy episodes in
the month but it will see more in the way of rain than snow and also some mild weather too in what
has been avery mild Winter.
Temperatures 5 to 8c.
March A little bit milder and a lot drier though still some cool periods. Temperatures likely
to reach 13 or 14c at times Unfortunately as it is March there is the likelihood of some night frost
too but overall this will be a drier than normal month.
April A lot of showery weather is likely in April and it will be a cool month too with temperatures
no better than 8 to 12c
Winter 2011/12
With Winter now getting to the last month it is looking as though only a few frosty nights in
February will be all the cold we will have to talk about for the whole season. This is quite
unusual indeed.
We have had the coldest Winter in many years in 2010/11 followed by
one of the mildest Springs on record, followed by the coldest Summer in 50 years and
then the mildest Autumn in over 60 years and now the mildest Winter in nearly 100 years
if current trends continue and it would not be a major surprise if they do.
Conflicting views on this but the general consensus is that it will be another cold season like the
past 2 years.
It looks like there will be a lot of dry weather and some frosts but also some wet
and windy spells also.
Snowfall is quite rare in Ireland so people are getting very excited about
another month or 2 of snow like last year but this is very unusual. Maybe a few snowy episodes
but temperatures like last year are rare indeed.
UPDATE - Mild January 2012
Well January 2012 has indeed been one of the mildest on record despite there being some snow on
January 26th 2012 in Sligo it looks like the end of the month will be mild as well.
This looks set to continue in February too but there is a battle between the cold air and the mild air so it is too early to say yet
which airmass will win out.
A lot of forecasters have being saying cold but at weather gossip we think
the mild air is going to win. We generally forecast milder than the other sites because we are mild
mannered.lol.
UPDATE - Colder December 2011
Yes certainly the end of December is looking mild but the first 20 days are now seeming to be a
lot colder than we thought before due to Northwesterlies.
October is looking a lot cooler than the end of September with the weather coming from a more
Northwesterly source and bringing temperatures generally in the low to mid teens.
The long range weather forecast for Ireland hints at things getting even colder late in the month with
some single digit days possible. However the weather will be generally drier than September
was.
The nights will have frost especially toward the end of the month when some of these
may be severe.
Long Range Weather Forecast - Changeable
The long range weather forecast for Ireland has certainly seen a change in weather predicitions
with more in the way of colder weather now on the cards after all this mild weather we have had.
There will be some cold and dry spells especially in the East of the country but in the West it will continue to
be that bit milder with more in the way of rain or drizzle here.
Further still there are signs of cold weather trying
to push in from the East but as we know this has been the case for the best part of 2 months now.
After what has been an essentially very mild winter so far it does look like February will be the
coolest month overall now for Ireland
Hard Frost to Start February - 2nd February 2012
February has started on a freezing note with frost and temperatures as low as minus 7.
This mainly cold theme is going to continue for the month with daytime values near or
below normal.
Medium Range Weather Forecast - Wintry
Medium Range Weather Forecasts are predicting a cold end to January with some Wintry Showers
and temperatures in the range 4 to 7c.
This would of course be the first such type of weather we have
had since the start of December 2011 in what has been an extremely mild Winter season so
far in Ireland.
The Spring is also just around the corner and the past 5 Springs have brought spells of reasonable
weather followed of course by very poor Summers.
It is hard to believe that 2006 was the last time
that Ireland had widespread good weather in the Summer.
February Weather Forecast
Long Range Weather Forecasts for Ireland are predicting a dry if somewhat cold February with
perhaps a blocking High stopping Atlantic fronts from crossing Ireland.
Nights will be a lot colder for the month of February too with more in the way of frost after what
has seen a December and January Winter average of 6.5 to 7c so far in a near record breaking
mild Winter
Rainfall Varied
Rainfall up to 26th January 2012 has been near or above normal around Atlantic coasts whereas
the East of the country and Dublin have seen rainfall well below normal since the floods of October
24th 2011. The rest of the Winter season should see less in the way of rainfall for most areas as
High pressure will be trying but not completely succeeding in controlling the weather from the
Southwest.
Very Little Snow this Winter
Snowfall this Winter has been virtually non existent in Ireland with the East of the country
reporting no lying snow at low levels so far and the West and North just getting a dusting around
the night of December 5th.
Finally the wind for this Winter has been a major factor with the storm of January 3rd 2012 being one
to note with a wind gust in Malin Head of 90 knots recorded, a gust over 90 knots is very rare in
Ireland.
Even more finally pressure has remained on the low side of normal for the Winter with a steady
stream of fronts coming at Ireland from the Northwest resulting in widespread beach erosion
there.
There are signs though that pressure will rise in the coming weeks in Ireland bringing
more in the way of dry weather to all parts of Ireland.
Weather forecasting models are predicting a colder February as of 29th January but this
keeps changing ever day
