December 2018

The flooded soccer pitch at The Waterbarracks on December 15th. No real surprise to see this low lying area flooded following a wet spell. The first three weeks were very wet and mild but then followed by a very quiet, sunless period around Christmastime.

December Weather Summary:

It was a very mild month. The warmest December since 2015. The highest temperature  was 14.0° recorded on the 2nd and the lowest was -2.2° on the 4th. There were only 3 days with air frost.

It was also a very wet month with a total was 133.7mm. The wettest day was the 4th with 22.3mm and top gust was 82.1 km/hr recorded on the 8th.

November 2018

As some showery rain moved away, the evening sun produced this rainbow over Loughboy on the 15th. The first part of the month was wet, then a brief respite but a wet end to the month made sure it was the wettest in 4 years

November Weather Summary:

The mean temperature was a little above normal. Our mildest in 3 years. The highest temperature  was 14.8° was recorded on the 15th and the lowest was -4.2° on the 2nd. There were 5 days with air frost.

The rain total was 134.5mm with the 4th being the heaviest day when 25.2mm fell. It was our wettest November in 4 years. Storm Diana passed through on 28th of the month and gave a gust of 75.2 km/hr. 

October 2018

A cool but sunny day at Jenkinstown on the 6th. The first week continued the dry weather seen since the end of April. There was a short wet spell around the 12th but anticyclonic conditions took hold again with a lot of frost towards the end of the month.

October Weather Summary:

The cold end to the month ensured the mean temperature was a little cooler than normal. It was the coldest October since 2012. The maximum temperature was 19.8° on the 10th and it got to -3.1° on the 29th. 

Rainfall was below normal and continued a run of drier than normal Octobers that began in 2015. The wettest day was 14.5mm on the 12th. Top gust was 64.4 km/hr also on the 12th during Storm Callum. 

September 2018

The leaves on this horse chestnut tree on the Carlow Road are one of the first in the city to change colour in the autumn. This autumn was probably a little earlier than usual, following the dry summer. Here it is on September 9th. The first two weeks were benign with average temperatures and rainfall a little below normal.

September Weather Summary:

It was cooler and drier than normal. Coolest and driest since September 2015. The maximum temperature of 22.9° was recorded on the 1st. The lowest was -0.7° on the 29th. This was the lowest September in Kilkenny since 1986.

Storm Ali passed by on the 19th. It gave some strong gusts between 9am and 10am with the top gust being 88.5 km/hr.

August 2018

The recently built Kilkenny WW1 war memorial off Michael Street shines brightly on a warm Saturday 18th. The temperature that day reached over 25°C in warm sector conditions

August Weather Summary:

The mean temperature again was a little above normal. The maximum temperature was 25.9° on the 18th. The lowest was 3.9° on the 25th. There were five nights with ground frost. 

Rainfall was below normal. It was our driest since 2011. The top wind gust was 52.6 km/hr on the 16th.

July 2018

The heatwave that began on Sunday 24th June continued well into July and produced numerous sunny, warm dry days such as this one in early July taken at Green's Bridge. In fact it was n't until the 12th July until the maximum dipped below 25°C ( a run of 18 days).

July Weather Summary:

The mean temperature again was well above normal. Only the fourth time that July mean temperature has exceeded 18 C. The highest temperature was recorded on the 2nd with 27.8°. The lowest was 7.9° on the 19th.

Rainfall was well below normal (the first two weeks had no rain). However there was some heavier bursts at the end of the month. The partial drought ended on the 23rd. The greatest daily total was on Friday 27th with 23.0mm. The top wind gust was 57 km/hr on the 28th. There was some thunder also heard that day.  

June 2018

The horse chestnut trees give fine colour to the square at Freshford on June 2nd. The start of the month continued with the fine weather we saw at the end of May. Many days over 20 ° and it wasn't until after June 13th before the cooler Atlantic air returned. However the last week saw heatwave conditions develop over the country and this ensured it ended up the warmest June since continuous records began (1957).

June Weather Summary:

The mean temperature was well above normal. On the 28th the temperature reached 30.3°. The coldest night was on the 22nd with an air min of 5.7°. There was a very slight grass frost on two nights.

It was also a very dry month with only 13.4mm of rain, the bulk of this occurred on the 1st of the month during a thunderstorm.

 

May 2018

The cherry blossom trees at Loughboy, Kilkenny were in full bloom on Saturday 5th. The fine weather coincided with the May public holiday weekend. It did turn cooler after but the month finished on a fine note. 

May Weather Summary:

The mean temperature was well above normal. It was the warmest May for 10 years (since 2008).There were many fine sunny days especially towards the end of the month. 10 days in all when the temperature rose above 20°. The warmest day was the 29th when it reached 25.3° and the lowest temperature was 1.4° on the 12th. There were 8 days when the grass minimum dipped below zero. 

It was also a dry month. It turned out to be the driest May since 1991. The wettest day was shared by both 10th and 11th with 6.4mm on each day. 

April 2018

Inistioge village on April 8th. In contrast to the picture taken on the same date last year, it was still very much early spring conditions. The month began very wet and cold but gradually got milder around the middle of the month.

April Weather Summary:

Mean temperature was slightly above normal, due to milder than normal nights. That said there were 3 air frosts recorded with the lowest being -3.3° on the 5th. The highest temperature was 19.4° on the sunny Saturday 21st. 

It was a very wet month. The wettest since 2009. The wettest day was the 16th with 18.0mm. The same day also recorded the highest wind gust, 72 km/hr.

March 2018

Rose Inn Street Kilkenny early on the morning of March 2nd, as Storm Emma takes hold. That morning there was continuous snow with drifting. By lunchtime the level snow was at 15cm deep and there were many drifts being formed in the gusty winds. Drifts were about 30cm deep in the City itself but just on the outskirts on the Waterford Road the drifts were 1.5 metres deep.

March Weather Summary:

It was a cold month, but not quite as cold as March 2013. The coldest temperature of -5.5° was recorded at the very start of the month during the snowfall and the highest was 13.9° on the 10th. There were 14 days in all when the temperature dipped below zero (against climate average of 5 days).

It was also a very wet March, the wettest for 22 years. The wettest day was the 14th with 22.2mm of rain.

It was a snowy March too with 7 days with lying snow at 9am (against a climate average of 0.3 days). The top wind gust of 72 km/hr was recorded on the 14th during the heavy rainfall.

February 2018

The cottage purported to be the ancestral home of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice at Callan, Co Kilkenny on the 6th, following a fall of about 2cm of snow the night before. The start of February saw frequent cold incursions alternating with milder spells.

February Weather Summary:

It was a cold month. The coldest February in 8 years. There frequent spells with snow although it wasn't until the end of the month when there was a good covering of snow (7cm was measured on the 28th). It was the beginning of an historic cold spell to follow into March. That said there was a brief mild spell between the 17th and 19th and the temperature reached 14.2° on the 19th. There were 18 days when the temperature fell below zero with the coldest being -3.7° on the 28th.

After a wet start the month ended up a lot drier than normal. The wettest day was 9.4mm on the 9th. Top gust was 73.9 km/hr recorded on the 10th.

January 2018

Snow over the fields at Ballynoony, Mullinavat on January 17th. There was some snow too at lower levels the previous evening and again on Friday 19th but it did not settle for long except on the higher ground.

January Weather Summary:

The month was milder than normal, despite a cool and sometimes snowy first three weeks. The highest temperature was 13.4° on the 28th and the coldest was -4.4° on the 8th. With all the wind and rain about there was n't many frosts - just 7 air frosts. The lowest ground temperature was -11.3° also on the 8th and on the same morning the 5cm soil thermometer was also frozen with a sub zero reading of -0.6° noted.

Rainfall was above normal. The wettest day was Saturday 20th with 20.9mm. During the night of 23rd/24th a cold front crossed Ireland. At approx. 2:30 am a very high gust of 114 km/hr was recorded as the squall passed through.