August bids farewell with two storms
WHILE August, 2020, will be remembered as the summer month of the two storms, it still ‘wasn’t a patch’ on the rainfall that we experienced in August of last year.
Storm Ellen, August 19/20 and Storm Francis, August 24/25, however left their imprints on what is now generally regarded as the last of the summer months.
Athenry wrote its way into the Irish history weather annals by recording the lowest ever atmospheric pressure reading since records began during the peak of Storm Ellen on August 20 last.
The low pressure reading in Athenry of 966.4 hectopascals beat the previous ‘low’ of 967.8hPa recorded in Belmullet on August 14, 1959, according to the Met Éireann report on Storm Ellen.
However, while it mightn’t have been a dry August by a long-shot, its rainfall totals for the Galway stations of 110/114mms. paled into insignificance compared to August, 2019, when 297mms. of rainfall (almost one foot) was recorded at the Met Station in Athenry.
Abbeyknockmoy weather recorder and farmer, Brendan Geraghty, said that his rainfall figure for August, 2020, of 4.16 inches (106mms.) was well under half his total for the same month last year – 10.2 inches or 259mms.
“I suppose it was a strange enough weather pattern over the past five months. April (1.54”), May (1.24”) and June 2.95”) were three very dry months but all that changed in July with some heavy downpours (total 5.14 inches).
“While August, 2020, was way down on last year’s exceptionally high total, we had a few very wet days. Between them, July and August have left the land very soft,” said Brendan Geraghty.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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