Easnaimh Thaise na hIthreach

Forecast issued at: Monday 22nd October 2018 11:00

Rain

Rainfall totals were well below average over the past week. Values generally ranged between 5 and 20% of average across the bulk of the country, however Atlantic coastal counties generally recorded between 25 and 45% of average. High pressure will be a dominant feature of our weather for the next number of days with very little rainfall. A weather front will bring rain later Thursday evening and Thursday night and showers will follow for the weekend. Overall it is expected that rainfall this coming week will be below average. Parts of the northwest of Ireland will see between 10 and 20 mm of rainfall, most of this in coastal areas and parts of the southwest will see between 20 and 25mm, however elsewhere less than 5 or 6 mm is forecast.

Temperatures

Mean air temperatures for the past 7 days have been below average in most areas, however parts of the west and northwest recorded temperatures slightly above average. The coming week is expected to see mean air temperatures below average, with temperatures 2 to 4 degrees below average for the time of year. A northerly airflow will become established later in the week with day time temperatures only reaching 8 or 9 Celsius, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the risk of overnight frosts.

Sunshine

Sunshine amounts were above average across the country over the last 7 days. Sunshine hours ranged close to 25 hours in the north to approximately 38 hours in some parts of the east, these figures correspond to 128% and 169% of average. Sunshine totals over the next 7 days are likely to remain above average with high pressure positioned nearby for the next few days and with a northerly airflow becoming established later in the week.

Drying Conditions

Drying will be moderate to good over the coming few days. Conditions will be poor later in the week as temperatures fall below 10C.

Spraying

Conditions for spraying will be mostly good with little precipitation forecast for the next day or two and mostly light or moderate winds, however conditions will deteriorate from Thursday evening.

Field Conditions

Most soils are currently trafficable, however some poorly drained soils are saturated or waterlogged. Little change expected this coming week.