Record Set : The Coldest Month

Winter 1963 may not have lodged in people’s minds as the snows of the winter of 1947 did – however the temperatures were very severe and the cold very persistent. Local wildlife struggled to cope with the constant conditions. The wren population in particular was decimated.

The mean temperature for January was below zero (-0.5° C). This is some 5 degrees below the normal for January. The maximum temperature recorded during the entire month was only  4.3° C.

  Summary details of January 1963 from the Kilkenny People Newspaper.

Typical weather chart of the month, showing a dominant High Presure system to the north extending all the way from Greenland, with the Low centres (marked 'T') all kept below 50N lattitude. In this sort of set up the wind direction was kept between north and east.