County Kilkenny Rainfall Analysis

Report prepared by Barry Coonan, Climate Services Division, Met Éireann, 5th July 2024

Long term average data has been compiled by Met Éireann which allows comparison of the 30-year period from 1961-1990 with the subsequent 30-year period 1991-2020. The average annual rainfall for the country is 1,288mm over the years 1991-2020, an increase of 7% over the previous 30 years.

The largest increase in rainfall has been seen in April, June and July up 16%, 15% and 28% respectively, though it should be noted that the average rainfall amounts across these months tends to be lower than at other times of the year, particularly from October to January. For more details of this analysis please see climatological note 22 – Long-term rainfall averages for Ireland 1991-2020. For county Kilkenny the average annual rainfall over the 30 years to 2020 is 1,017mm, up 5% between the two 30-year periods. Similar to the national picture, though rainfall amounts tend to be lower in April, June and July than in October and the winter months, these months have recorded increases of 12%, 24% and 25% between 1961-1990 and 1991-2020 in county Kilkenny.

To read the full report please click here.

2023 confirmed as Ireland’s wettest year on record

2023 finished narrowly wetter than 2009 and 2015, the two previous wettest years on record for Ireland

Issued Wednesday 10 July 2024

2023 was the warmest year on record for Ireland (records going back to 1900), and now Met Éireann’s analysis of Ireland’s complete set of quality-controlled rainfall measurements confirms that 2023 was also the wettest year on record in Ireland (records going back to 1941).

The provisional analysis carried out at the end of 2023, using mostly near real-time rainfall observations, had indicated that 2023 was in the top three wettest years on record*.  As is Met Éireann’s procedure every year, the collection and inclusion of thousands of manually recorded rainfall observations allows for a more complete analysis and ranking of last year’s rainfall totals.

With all station rainfall observations now included and quality-controlled, 2023 finished narrowly wetter than 2009 and 2015, the two previous wettest years on record.

• 2023 saw the wettest March and wettest July on record (respectively 185% and 201% of their 1991-2020 Long-Term Average (LTA) rainfall).
• Five months saw over 135% of their LTA, mostly during the second half of the year.
• 2023 saw numerous flooding events, particularly in August during storm Betty and in October during storm Babet.
• 2009 now becomes the second wettest year on record with 1506.1 mm gridded average rainfall, versus 1510.9 mm gridded average rainfall in 2023. The driest year on record was in 1971 with 911.8 mm gridded average rainfall.

How does the analysis of rainfall observations work?

To provide a timely estimate of how a month or a year ranks in Ireland’s climate record, a ‘provisional’ statement is developed. Largely, observations from Met Éireann’s 25 primary weather stations along with other near real-time weather observations are used in this analysis. It provides a quick look and helps to put our recent weather into a climatological context.

For a more complete analysis, manual rainfall observations from hundreds of Met Éireann manual stations are collected and quality- controlled, a process that takes several months. When this additional data is included in the analysis, it provides a more complete picture of rainfall throughout the year and allows for a more definitive analysis and ranking.