Climate Statement for March 2020

Cool and sunny, dry in the East

Storm Jorge, brought both February’s strongest wind gusts on the 29th and March’s strongest wind gusts on the 1st, as the storm filled and pulled away to the northeast. This left Ireland in a cool and showery westerly airflow for most of the first week of March. A serious of low pressure systems to the north of Ireland dominated our weather between the 7th and 17th, bringing weather fronts across the country from west to east, interspersed with periods of cool showery weather as the winds remained mostly from the west. This included the strongest sustained winds of the month on the 12th. The remainder of the month was dominated by high pressure, however between the 21st and 25th, several weather fronts encroached and stalled in the western half of the country, giving some dull wet days there, but staying mostly dry further east. As one area of high pressure moved away to the east on the 25th, an Atlantic high pressure system intensified, reaching a high of 1055 hPa by the 29th, while centred between Iceland and Ireland. This was close enough for record high pressure for March to be recorded in the northwest of Ireland on the 29th. Between the 26th and the end of the month, the weather stayed mostly dry everywhere, but it became progressively cooler as an arctic air mass moved in over Ireland from the north-east around the same intense high pressure system that stalled to the northwest of Ireland.

Full report <<here>>