Met Eireann has issued its official forecast for St Patrick’s Day 2023, confirming that Ireland can expect “plenty of showers” with temperatures possibly hitting 16C.
The weather conditions are expected to be standard for this time of year - however Ireland has had its fair share of extreme and unusual weather events on March 17 through the years.
St Patrick’s Day, which falls in early spring, can bring a variety of weather types to Ireland.
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Heavy snowfall, tropical temperatures, and even a tornado have all been recorded in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day through the years.
Met Eireann explains in its new climate statistics report: “The location of high and low pressure systems around Ireland can lead to cold arctic air-masses moving down from the north, or warm tropical air-masses moving up from the south.
“The strengthening spring sunshine can make it feel quite warm but can also spark off convective shower activity in the afternoon.”
Tornados and other unusual weather events
Unusual weather extremes have been reported on St Patrick’s day in the past.
Met Eireann said: “In 1995 a tornado was reported in Co Meath. Ireland lay in a very unstable and cold north-westerly airflow associated with a deep depression to the north of Scotland. This brought heavy wintry showers, with thunderstorms reported at both Mullingar and Shannon Airport before midday. Thunderstorms were widely reported through the afternoon as a showery trough moved across the country.
“The tornado was recorded between 1410 and 1430 UTC, moving quickly eastwards in a strong westerly flow over a path approximately 28 kilometers long. It was accompanied by lightning and hailstones of up to 5cm in diameter. The tornado caused considerable structural damage to dwellings and farm buildings and the noise from the approaching tornado was described as ‘like a roar of a low-flying aircraft’.”
Wintry conditions
Wintry conditions are not uncommon on St Patrick’s day in Ireland.
Met Eireann said: “In 1979 an Arctic air-mass brought north-easterly winds with widespread snow showers. Lying snow was recorded in many counties including Dublin, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Cork, Tipperary, Offaly and Louth, where the Drogheda St Patrick’s Day parade was cancelled due to heavy snow.
“The lowest temperature recorded in Ireland on Saint Patrick’s day since 1940 was –8.9C at Collooney, Co Sligo in 1989, where a frosty start was followed by a dry and bright day across the country.”
Warm weather
Warm weather can also feature on St Patrick’s day in Ireland, such as in 2005.
The National Forecaster explained: “A very mild tropical maritime air-mass moved over the country from the south between the 16th and 20th in 2005. During this warm period 19.6C was recorded at Ashford (Cronykeery), Co Wicklow, which is the highest temperature recorded on St Patrick’s day since 1940.
“Only a few days later, on the 19th, Valentia Observatory, Co Kerry recorded its highest ever March temperature of 20.7C.”
Storms
Although there have been no named storms in recent years on St Patrick’s day, it can often be windy.
The national forecaster said: “The highest winds recorded on St Patrick’s day since 1940 in Ireland were reported in 1968 at Malin Head, Co Donegal. The highest gust was 154 km/h while highest 10 – minute mean wind speed was 89 km/h.
“The highest rainfall recorded since 1940 on Saint Patrick’s day was 80.7 mm, reported at Glenvickee (Caragh River Area), Co Kerry in 1964, while the highest sunshine was 10.6 hours, reported at Dublin Airport in 1985.”
St Patrick’s Day 2023 forecast
After a wet few days, the unsettled weather is going to stay with Ireland as we head into St Patrick’s Day.
Met Eireann Meteorologist Mark Bowe said: “Low pressure is set to dominate proceedings for St. Patrick’s day this year. An area of low pressure will move close to the southwest coast of Ireland this Friday 17th and will feed in plenty of showers across southern counties at first, before the showers spread further north throughout the country for the afternoon and evening. Some of the showers will be heavy at times too, especially for those of you in the south and west.”
“The showers will slowly become more isolated later in the evening as the fresh and blustery winds start to die down.
“Generally it's set to be a rather blustery and showery day but there will be some sunny spells at times in the north and east with highs of 12C to 15C or possibly 16C.”
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