Forecast issued at: Tuesday 04th October 2022 12:00
Rain
The past week has seen contrasting rainfall totals over Ireland. Across western and northern coastal counties rainfall amounts have been above normal, generally ranging from 20-40mm but Belmullet recorded 67mm of rain. It was drier further east and south with below normal rainfall. The driest location was Casement Aerodrome in County Dublin with just 9mm of rainfall measured. A westerly air-flow looks set to dominate over the coming week with above average rainfall forecast in the west and north and below average rainfall in the east and southeast.
Temperatures
Mean air temperatures over the past week have been near or slightly above average. It was mildest in at Valentia in County Kerry with a mean temperature of 14.2 degrees Celsius, 1.3 degrees above normal. Whilst there will be some fresher interludes in the next 7 days, overall temperatures are forecast to be around 2 degrees above the October average.
Sunshine
Most places have been a little duller than normal over the past week with the exception of the south coast, where sunshine amounts were a little above normal. The least amount of sunshine was recorded at Gurteen, Co. Tipperary, with 10.7 hours of sunshine recorded. In contrast, 28.2hours of sunshine was recorded at Cork Airport, Co. Cork (119% of average). In the week ahead, conditions will often be unsettled with any sunny spells quite limited. As a result, sunshine amounts are expected to be below average.
Drying Conditions
Drying will be poor this week due to the unsettled mobile Atlantic regime.
Spraying
Spraying conditions will be hindered over the coming week by unsettled conditions.
Field Conditions
Currently, most well drained and moderately drained soils are close to saturation, while some poorly drained soils are waterlogged. However, soils in south Munster are slightly drier with soil moisture deficits (SMDs) between 6mm in poorly drained soils and 12mm in well drained soils. In the coming week, unsettled conditions will lead to the deterioration of all soils. Well drained soils will reach saturation nationwide while most moderately and poorly drained soils will become waterlogged.
