Wednesday 28 February 2007

February Weather

The weather at the beginning of February was cold, dry and sunny with the remainder of the month being warm with reasonable amounts of rain and sunshine.

Just over 60mm of rain fell in the area during February (recorded at the closest weather station in Birr) only slightly more than normal. The mean air temperature of 5.9 degrees C for the month was almost 1 degree higher than normal, as was the mean soil temperature at 5.2 degrees C. The total amount of solar radiation for the month (intensity of energy from the sun including overcast days) was slightly higher than normal (12672 Joules/sqcm). The wind was generally light and there were several periods of snow and hail throughout the month.

In the temperature charts above (extracted from the Met Éireann summary) the cold first week and warmer conditions for the rest of the month can be seen. The soil warmed considerably, creating better sowing conditions for the beginning of March

A lot of the monthly precipitation fell as snow and sleet towards the end a very sunny first week following more than two weeks without any precipitation at all.

Wednesday 31 January 2007

January Weather

Work on the allotment plots has not started yet, in fact there were still no plans to have fixed allotments at this point, but the weather in January will affect the early part of the growing season, particularly with respect to soil temperature and moisture content.

January was mild, very windy and wet for the first 22 days of the year, but became dry and cold for the last part of the month.


Unfortunately these charts do not show a location close to Cloughjordan, but they give an indication of the type of weather patterns throughout Ireland.