December 2009 

The Castle early morning, 19th December with a dusting of snow on the ground. The middle of the month was cold - but a welcome relief from all the rain. December had below normal rainfall but it was a very cold month with 17 air frosts and coldest December since 1981.

November 2009

The bridge over the flooded River Nore near Threecastles on the 14th. Incessant rain the previous week ensured that the river had little time to recede - thankfully the Nore Flood Relief Scheme did its job and spared the city from any major flooding.

October 2009 

 

A quiet Saturday morning, October 10th in Mooncoin Co.Kilkenny. There were plenty of dry mornings like this one in the month which helped show off the autumnal colours on the trees. However towards the end of the month there were some very wet days, notably the 21st,22nd and 30th. In all there was 130mm of rain (152% of normal) and it was a mild month (+1.4 above the norm).

September 2009 

 

September 4th and the Kilkenny flags are unfurled in a stiff west wind. The day was cool and showery. The wet weather continued well into a new month. The previous day saw the postponement of the Ireland's oldest agricultural show : the Iverk Show at Piltown (183 years). This was the first postponement in ages. 1938 was equally a disastrous year with tents blown down and 1958 saw a late reprieve when the waterlogged fields just dried out in time. After the 8th, the weather dried out at last. <edit : Congrats to the 4-in-a-row Senior Hurling Champions>

August 2009

 

August 17th and dusk falls on the castle. During the day the temperature peaked at just over 22°C. A modest enough temperature, but nevertheless the highest temperature since the end of June.

The Summer of 2009 was again very wet (but not quite as wet as 2008 : mostly because of the 'drier' June this year). Mean temperatures were a little above normal due to a warm June and mild nights in July and August - but there was no warm days after June. Summary:

  • Mean Temperature  : 15.4° (+0.8°)
  • High  Temperature  : 26.7° (on Tues 2nd June)
  • Low  Temperature  :   4.6° (on Thurs 11th June)
  • Rainfall Total : 349mm (201% of Normal)
  • Wettest Day  :  31mm (on Wed 17th June)

Monthly stats here. 

July 2009 

 

July 2009 was certainly wet and it was also a very thundery month. On July the 6th there was an intense storm and on the 23rd three separate thunderstorms hit the city. The picture above shows some interesting cloud structure just ahead of the approaching heavy rain outside Scanlon Park. July ended up with over three times the normal rainfall. The mean temperature was fractionally below normal and the mercury never rose above 22° all month.

June 2009

A light haze in the sky over the river Nore on June 3rd. June got off to a great start with temps peaking the day before at just under 27° C. June ended up nearly 2 degrees above normal - but also 150% of norm rainfall. This was the 4th month in a row now over 1 degree above normal temps.

May 2009

Sunset on the 8th May over the Slieveardagh Hills just west of Kilkenny. Despite this pleasant scene early May was windy, showery but quite mild. The old proverb says that "a wet and windy May, fills the haggard with corn and hay". Let's hope it comes true this summer. <edit: so much for old proverbs!> 

April 2009

 

Typical April cumulus clouds building over Kilkenny on Good Friday 10th April. After a promising start to the month (the temperature reached 16.7°C on the 2nd) - it became increasingly wetter. By month's end there was twice the normal rainfall and the mean temperature was 1 degree above normal. 

 

March 2009

 

Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny on the 16th March. The daffodils were very much in abundance well into March. Emergence was a little later than in previous years - but a series of mild afternoons around mid month made it a pleasant month, after the colder than normal winter. March ended up 1 degree above normal, and dry.

February 2009

St. Mary's Cathedral on the 2nd February. The max depth in the city was about 5cm snow. But over 10cm on the hills. Despite this cold start, temperatures averaged very close to the 1961-1990 normal. However it was also dry. Winter (Dec-Feb) was a notably cold one. In fact it was the coldest winter in Kilkenny since Dec-Feb 1991.

January 2009

 

A frosty scene from Kilkenny Castle earlier this month. Air temps dipped to -7.7° C on the 7th. There were 14 air frosts and not surprisingly it was a cold month (-0.7° C below the 1961-1990 norm). It also finished very wet with rainfall at 159% of normal.