Johnstown Castle experiences wettest April in 22 years

Johnstown Castle in Co Wexford experienced its wettest April since 2002 this year, according to new figures released by Met Éireann.

With a total monthly rainfall of 132.9mm, Johnstown Castle was 189% over its long-term average and the wettest weather station in the country in April.

April’s wettest day was also recorded at Johnstown Castle, with 25.8mm falling on Monday 8 April.

Overall, April had above-average rainfall everywhere, highest in the southeast.

Dry window

However, the country did experience a five-day dry window between 20 and 24 April, which “brought a period of much-needed drying with plenty of sunshine”, Met Éireann said.

The lowest monthly rainfall total was 63.3mm at Phoenix Park, Co Dublin, some 120% of its long-term average.

The number of rainy days (0.2mm or above daily rainfall) ranged from 17 days at Mace Head, Co Galway, to 24 days at both Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Knock Airport, Co Mayo.

Storm Kathleen on Saturday 6 April brought the windiest period of the month.

Temperature

Temperatures in April were also above average at all Met Éireann weather stations, highest in the southwest.

Two stations - Johnstown Castle with 3.5°C and Roches Point, Co Cork, with 3.9°C - had their highest minimum temperature for April on record.

The lowest average temperature for the month was 8.2°C (0.9°C above its long-term average) at Knock Airport, Co Mayo.

The highest average monthly temperature was 10.2°C (0.7°C above its long-term average) at Shannon Airport, Co Clare.

The month’s highest temperature was reported at Newport, Co Mayo, on Sunday 21 April at 20.1°C.

Both the month’s lowest air and grass temperature were recorded on Saturday 27 April at Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.

The lowest air temperature was -2.2°C, while the lowest grass temperature was -7.4°C.

More than half of Met Éireann weather stations reported ground frost.

The number of days with ground frost ranged from zero days at a number of stations to 18 days at Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.

Sunshine

The highest monthly sunshine total was recorded at Shannon Airport, with 164.6 hours in total or a daily average of 5.49 hours.

The lowest monthly sunshine total was recorded at Valentia Observatory, Co Kerry, at 128.5 hours in total for April or a daily average of 4.28 hours.

The highest daily sunshine in April was recorded at Belmullet, Co Mayo, on both Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April at 13.7 hours.