Branches strewn about near Ballysloe N.S. by the tornado  

In the early hours of the last day of July 2006 the village of Ballysloe Co. Tipperary was hit by a tornado. Tipperary I hear you say - well the village is only about 6km from the Kilkenny border and about 30 km from Kilkenny. No doubt tornadoes have affected County Kilkenny in the past - but I don't have any recent records. (A tornado was reported to have hit Kilkenny Golf Club in 2008 - however this was investigated and the damage was found to have been caused by a microburst.)

The Ballysloe event was a result of considerable instability in the atmosphere which caused a series of tall cumulonimbus (Cb) type clouds to form. The Cb shower cloud ran parallel to the Slieveardagh Hills (just west of Tullaroan) and a tornado formed and touched down near Ballysloe. There was much damage to trees and a couple of houses were damaged. Luckily no one was hurt by this frightening experience. Strength wise it was estimated to be about a T2 tornado - weak by American standards - but significant for these parts.

Roof tiles etc. stripped from house.