DRY OCTOBER, WARMER AND SUNNIER THAN AVERAGE
Armagh Observatory studies that October 2024 was the driest October at Armagh for six years, the sunniest for 3 years, and hotter than common although the best for 4 years.
Though October is often a moist month, this yr it produced solely 44.2 mm (1.74 inches) of precipitation together with 8 hint values at Armagh, and due to this fact 43.8 mm if hint values are ignored. That is roughly 55.0% of Armagh’s 183-year long-term (1838-2020) common (80.4 mm) and 54.6% of the latest (1991-2020) 30-year common (81.0mm). This October was the driest at Armagh for six years, that’s, since October 2018 (33.2 mm together with 8 hint values).
There was just one storm, specifically Storm Ashley on the twentieth. This produced damaging winds and the bottom atmospheric strain of the month, however solely modest rainfall. Ashley was the primary named storm of the 2024/2025 storm season, a interval operating from September 2024 to August 2025. The month’s wettest day was the fifteenth with 9.8 mm of precipitation adopted by the twenty seventh with 6.9 mm and the eighth with 5.8 mm.
Just one rainbow was noticed from Armagh this month, seen throughout late afternoon on the 18th.
It’s noteworthy that spectacular photographs of the unusually vibrant Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) have been taken from the Astropark on the 14th by Analysis Astronomer Apostolos Christou. This was the primary of only a handful of sufficiently clear evenings across the center of the month when the comet was nonetheless vibrant sufficient to be seen within the western sky after sundown. Lovely photographs of the comet might be discovered on the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium web site.
Three buzzards have been noticed circling above the Observatory on the afternoon of the first, the sunniest day of the month; and on the morning of the 2nd, one other sunny day, rooks have been seen chasing off a raven above the Observatory driveway. On the afternoon of the third a rook, presumably defending its younger, was seen chasing off two buzzards, one grownup and one younger.
A big flock of roughly 30 gulls have been seen circling over the Planetarium on the thirtieth; and through the early afternoon of the next day (the thirty first) a bunch of some 50 to 60 migrant redwings was seen flying southwest over the Observatory. 4 fieldfares, one other winter customer to Northern Eire, flew southwest over the meteorological station on the morning of the sixteenth, a day when many members of the general public independently reported the day as feeling unusually heat. In actual fact, the twentieth was the equal second warmest day of the month, feeling humid within the gentle southerly breeze and with a most temperature of 17.3 levels Celsius.
The month-to-month imply temperature, outlined as half the typical of the 31 day by day most and minimal temperatures, was 11.3 C (52.4 levels Fahrenheit). This was roughly 1.83 C hotter than the 225-year long-term (1796-2020) common October temperature at Armagh (9.48 C) and 0.94 C hotter than the latest (1991-2020) 30-year common (10.37 C). Regardless of this, October 2024 was the best October at Armagh for 4 years, that’s, since October 2020 (10.06 C).
The three warmest days (three highest most day by day air temperatures) have been 18.6 C on the seventh, adopted by 17.3 C on each the 2nd and the sixteenth. The three coolest days (three lowest most day by day air temperatures) have been 9.6 C on the thirteenth, adopted by 12.0 C on the thirty first and 12.1 C on the tenth.
The warmest of the day by day minimal air temperatures, which often corresponds to the warmest evening, was 13.1 C. In actual fact, this worth occurred shortly after the 09:00 GMT readings have been taken on the fifteenth, however following the meteorological conference that the minimal day by day temperature is assigned to the tip of the meteorological day to which it refers this warmest evening was assigned to the sixteenth. Equally, the second warmest evening, specifically 13.0 C at 09:48 GMT on the 4th, was assigned to the fifth; and the third warmest, specifically 12.9 C shortly after the 09:00 GMT readings on the twenty fourth, was assigned to the twenty fifth.
The three lowest day by day minimal air temperatures, often the three coolest nights, have been 1.1 C on the tenth, adopted by 1.9 C on the 14th and a couple of.4 C on the eleventh.
This October there have been 9 floor frosts, that’s, nights when the minimal grass temperature fell to lower than or equal to zero Celsius. The three coolest have been -4.7 C on the tenth, adopted by -3.4 C on each the eleventh and 14th. There have been no nights with air frost.
This yr’s Halloween (the thirty first) had a most temperature of 12.0 C and a minimal of 10.3 C. It was cloudy with no sunshine and largely dry, one of many eight days recording hint for the overall quantity of precipitation.
The overall variety of hours of robust sunshine this October, specifically 99.6 hours, was roughly 14% greater than the 140-year (1881-2020) long-term October common at Armagh (87.3 hours) and eight% greater than the latest (1991-2020) 30-year common (92.0 hours). This was the sunniest October at Armagh for 3 years. The sunniest days have been the first with 9.5 hours of robust sunshine, adopted by the 14th with 8.7 hours and the 2nd with 8.0 hours.
These knowledge check with observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the climate at Armagh since 1795.
For additional data, please contact:
Professor Mark E. Bailey
Emeritus Director of Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Faculty Hill
Armagh
BT61 9DG
Tel: 028-3752-2928
E-mail: mark.bailey@armagh.ac.uk
