December 2013

The flooded Waterbarrack area of Kilkenny and St. Mary's Cathedral on the evening of December 30th. The previous day was the wettest day of 2013 when almost 36mm fell. Overall it was a wet month with a total of 133mm, the greatest December total for 20 years.  It was also milder than normal, milder then the month of November. However there were also many nights with frost, especially in and around Christmas Day, when the coldest temperature of the month -3.2º was recorded.

 

2013 Annual Summary :

 

Despite the wet end to the year, the overall total of 769mm was only 88% of normal, making it the driest year since 2005. February, June, August and November were all dry months. October and December were the wet months.

In comparison with the most recent 30 year normal period (1981-2010) the annual mean temperature of 10.1° was just a little above normal. March and November were the coldest months but these were compensated by a warm October and who can forget the epic July we had this year, which was the warmest July ever recorded in Kilkenny. It peaked on the 10th of July with a top temperature of 29.6°. Somewhat unusually the coldest temperature of the year was recorded in April with -4.7° on the 6th.

November 2013

The River Dinan near Jenkinstown on 16th November. The month began cold with plenty of night frosts. The warm October followed by night frosts and calm winds,  all helped to make 2013 a fantastic year for autumn colour. 

Overall it was a very dry month with only 26.5mm of rain. It was the driest November for 30 years. It was also a little over 1 degree colder than normal, with the lowest temperature of -3.6° recorded on the 23rd.

October 2013

The rising River Nore near the Bleach Road on Wednesday 30th October. October was a very wet month but flood problems were kept at bay thanks too a drier than normal June to September period. There was a total of 140mm of rain and it was the wettest October since 2009. It was also a very mild month - but October 2011 was milder. It touched 20° on the 7th and the lowest temperature was the 1.6° recorded on the 15th.

September 2013

The Round Tower on the evening of September 3rd. Early September was very dry and we saw some great days such as this when the temperature reached 22.5°

August 2013

The first week of August saw a return to more normal conditions in terms of average rainfall and temperatures. There were several occasions though when thunder was heard. Such as Friday 2nd when this large thunder cloud was spotted building over Loughboy in the city.

The evening of Sunday 4th saw some torrential rain over the north of the county especially, with values in excess of 25mm (1 inch of rain) being recorded in less than one hour. This was accompanied with some lightning too. The city escaped the worst of the rain but nevertheless over 10mm was recorded in a quick 20 minute cloudburst around 9pm.

July 2013

The "Humpyback Bridge" over the River Dinan on Monday 8th July. So began a very warm long spell of weather. The temperature peaked at 29.6° on two occasions - July 10th and July 19th. Between July 6th and July 20th there were 13 days when the temperature was 25.0° and over.

It was also very dry until the 23rd with both an absolute drought recorded and a partial drought (a period of 29 days or more with a mean of 0.2mm or less recorded) stretching from 22nd June to 21st July. There was a wet end to the month though and with a total of 74.8mm, this was ironically the only month with above normal rainfall since the start of the year.

June 2013

High Street after sunset on Sunday 9th June. This was the end of a fabulous week of weather with temperatures as high as 24.4° on the 8th and seemingly endless sunshine. Late next day though the rain arrived, the start of an unsettled spell.

Overall mean temperatures were near normal. There were plenty of warm days and it reached 20° or more on twelve occasions. It was also a dry month with less half the normal rainfall. It was the driest June since 2006.

May 2013

A sunny end to the May Holiday on Monday 6th May. The cherry trees were still in full blossom near Green's Bridge. The weather was kind to the Rhythm and Roots Festival with largely dry days, occasional pleasant sunshine and temperatures near 18°. There were some cooler days after, however and overall mean temperatures for May were slightly down on the normal.

The highest temperature was 20.2° on the 30th and the coolest was 1.8° on the 2nd.

The rainfall total of 48mm was only 80% of normal. The 26th was the wettest day with 13mm of rainfall.

April 2013

April 9th at the Castle Park in Kilkenny on a cold, cloudy day. The daffodils are still in bloom and it is hard to notice any other sign of Spring. Like March the first week of April was very cold with some severe night frosts. Temperatures did eventually recover after mid month.

March2013

Looking across at a snow capped Slievenamon, from Tullahought Co. Kilkenny on the morning of 11th March. There was quite a bit of snow in some parts that week, especially on high ground and near Waterford. March 2013 was a very cold month with mean temperatures almost 3° below normal, it was the coldest March in over 50 years (since 1962). Rainfall was exactly normal but still the wettest since 2008. March 21st was a very wet day - the third wettest March day since records began with total of 27.6mm recorded.

February 2013

The church at Coolagh, Co. Kilkenny on the morning of the 5th of February. A brief cold snap produced some heavy showers which gave a covering of 4cm in the city but over 7cm in the west of the county.

January 2013