Both temperatures and rainfall were above average in all areas of Ireland in the month of April, with the southwest seeing the highest temperatures and the southeast seeing the most rain.
That’s according to the latest monthly weather statement from Met Éireann, covering last month.
All rainfall totals for April were above their 1981-2010 long-term average (LTA) for the month. Percentage of monthly rainfall values ranged from 105% of the LTA at Finner, Co. Donegal (monthly rainfall total of 79.5mm) to 189% at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford (monthly rainfall-total of 132.9mm) which saw its fourth-wettest month since 1941.
The month’s wettest day was also recorded at Johnstown Castle, with 25.8mm of rain on April 8.
The number of rain days (days on which 0.2mm or more rain fell) ranged from 17 at Mace Head, Co. Galway to 24 days at both Claremorris and Knock Airport in Co. Mayo.
The number of wet days (a day with 1mm or more of rain) ranged from 12 days at Phoenix Park, Dublin to 20 days at Mullingar, Co. Westmeath; while the number of very wet days (on which more than 10mm of rain fell) ranged from one day at Phoenix Park to four days at both Mount Dillon, Co. Roscommon and Valentia Observatory, Co. Kerry.
Temperatures in April
All mean air temperatures for April were above their LTA for the month. Deviations from mean temperatures ranged from 0.2° to 1.2° (9.4° and 9.6° mean temperatures) at Phoenix Park and Oak Park, Co. Carlow respectively.
Mean temperatures for the month ranged from 8.2° (0.9° above its LTA) at Knock Airport to 10.2° (0.7° above its LTA) at Shannon Airport, Co. Clare.
The month’s highest temperature of 20.1° was recorded at Newport, Co. Mayo on April 21.
Both the month’s lowest air temperature and lowest grass temperature were recorded on April 27 at Mount Dillon, at -2.2° and -7.4° respectively.
The number of days with ground frost ranged from zero at several stations to 18 days at Mount Dillon, while the number of days with air frost ranged from zero at Phoenix Park to four days at both Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome, Dublin.
Two stations, Johnstown Castle and Roche’s Point, Co. Cork, saw their highest minimum temperatures for April (3.5° and 3.9° respectively) on record (record lengths of 54 years and 19 years respectively).
Looking at the wind situation, monthly mean wind speeds ranged from 11.9kph at Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan to 27.8kph at Malin Head, Co. Donegal.
Gales were reported on seven days during the month, with up to strong gales reported on April 6 during Storm Kathleen.
The number of days of gales ranged from zero days at a number of stations to five days at Malin Head. The number of days with strong gales ranged from zero days at several stations to one day at five stations.
The month’s highest 10-minute mean wind speed was 85kph at Sherkin Island, Co. Cork, Roche’s Point, and Belmullet, Co. Mayo, during Storm Kathleen on April 6.
The highest gust recorded was 113kph at Finner on the same date.
Sunshine
Percentage of LTA sunshine values were variable across the country. This figures ranged from 100% (monthly total of 152 hours at Casement Aerodrome) to 106% (the month’s highest total sunshine figure of 164 hours) as Shannon Airport.
However, the monthly sunshine total was lowest at Valentia Observatory, with 128 hours (there is no LTA comparison for Valentia Observatory).
The highest number of daily sunshine hours recorded in April was 13.7 hours at Belmullet on both April 20 and 21.
The number of dull days (with less than 30 minutes of sunshine) ranged from four at a number of stations to seven days at both Valentia Observatory and Cork Airport.