Severe Flooding, Ireland - November 2009

laregalway, Galway, in Nov 2009. Pic Peter Gallagher

Some of the worst flooding in living memory affected parts of Cork, Clare, Galway, and Westmeath, Limerick in late November 2009.  

The Event: 
    * Minister for the Environment John Gormley described the flooding as the worst in "800 years”.
    * The centre of Cork was flooded by the River Lee to a depth of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in), and the nearby towns of Bandon, Clonakilty, Dunmanway and Skibbereen were inaccessible.
    * 40 families at Ballinasloe in County Galway had to be evacuated by boat after the River Suck burst its banks.
    * The floods caused €141m in damages to Cork city alone
    * In Northern Ireland, the low-lying areas around the River Bann in County Armagh as well as the Strabane, Ards, Cookstown, Lisburn and Magherafelt districts were affected by flooding
    * Thousands of homes across the country were affected by water boil notices, and over 40,000 homes were left without any water supply.  In Cork City, over 18,000 homes on the city's north and inner south-sides were left without water for up to ten days.
    * The water level of Lough Derg broke all previous records on 26 November

Rainfall:

One of the wettest summers on record was followed by a series of Atlantic weather systems in the first half of November which resulted in rainfall records being broken at observation stations throughout Ireland.  Valentia recorded 360mm of rainfall during the month.

 (Click on image to enlarge)

 

Above, is a graph compiled by Patrick Gordon showing percentage of normal rainfall for each November between 1941 and 2009 at the station, which illustrates how outstanding the rainfall % was in November 2009 compared to previous November values. 

Met Eireann rainfall table for Nov 09, compiled by Patrick Gordon

WEATHER ADVISORY IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE FLOODING
(Click on image to enlarge)

* See bottom of article for HiLAM synoptic analysis charts and other statistical for the period in question.

An Irish Government report into the flooding concluded:

• The Government should oversee an independent review of ESB’s hydro-electrical schemes to clarify whether they should remain under its control.
• The Office of Public Works should set up an early warning systems for all major rivers at risk of flooding.
• Local authorities should develop a database of people at risk of floods or severe weather, and include an annual budget for drainage and river maintenance.
• ESB should be included in councils’ major emergency management frameworks with "immediate effect".

Links:

2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods - wikipedia

Major disruption caused by widespread flooding - Irish Times

Ireland faces massive clean-up bill for worst flooding in living memory - Irish Central

Flood Hazard Mapping Website
History of Flood Risk Management - OPW

Video:

Images:

Images of the serious flooding which affected County Clare may be viewed below.  Click on each image for a larger view. Images courtesy of Clare County Council.

Ennis Town Centre

Flooding in the Burren

ESB WEIR AT PARTEEN

Flooding in Corofin and Environs

The bridge at Killaloe/Ballina

kehanagh roundabout

arroga Lake Our Ladys Hospital, Ennis

Flooding at Ardnataggle, OBriensbridge

Quin Road Area of Ennis

Email your videos or pictures of the flooding in November 2009 to editor@irishweatheronline.com

HiLAM synoptic analysis charts (KNMI) and further statistical data provided by Patrick Gordon

Click on images for a larger view

 

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REELING IN THE YEARS - Storm Carmen, 10-11 November 2010

WEATHER ALERT issued by TMT's Peter O'Donnell at 5.30pm GMT:

I think it's going to hit full force, no downgrades, and there should be a weather warning out for Northern Ireland.

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Snow Facts

 

Snow. Love it or hate it, what cannot be denied is that nobody can resist its beauty as it falls softly from the sky, or be fascinated by the transformation it brings to a familiar landscape into something far more magical and otherworldly.

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FEATURE - Oídhche na Gaoithe Móire “The Night of the Big Wind”

When the nation woke up to a snowy winter wonderland on the morning of the 6th January 1839, little did they know that dawning upon them was a day that would bring forth one the most exceptional and violent storms ever to hit Ireland, writes TMT's Patrick Gordon.

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Hurricane Andrew: 20 Years On From The $26 Billion Storm

Hurricane Andrew was not the deadliest tropical cyclone to strike the U.S. mainland, but the compact, fast-moving storm remains one of the strongest and costliest on record. The Category 5 storm slammed into southern Florida two decades ago on August 24, 1992. 

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One Year On From The Virginia Earthquake

Damage is seen on the street outside a library at Euclid and 15th Street NW where part of the roof crumbled during a 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the East Coast of the US in Washington DC, USA, 23 August 2011. Image Corbis.

On August 23, 2011, tens of millions of people in the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada were startled by sudden ground shaking from a rare, magnitude 5.8 earthquake in central Virginia. Several small earthquakes occur every month in the eastern U.S., but this earthquake was among the largest to occur in this region in the last century. 

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New Light Shed On Ancient Egypt's Climate

Ancient pollen and charcoal preserved in deeply buried sediments in Egypt's Nile Delta document the region's ancient droughts and fires, including a huge drought 4,200 years ago associated with the demise of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the era known as the pyramid-building time.

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IRELAND FROM SPACE 20 October 2011

It is easy to see from this true-color image why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. Intense green vegetation, primarily grassland, covers most of the country except for the exposed rock on mountaintops. Ireland owes its greenness to moderate temperatures and moist air. The Atlantic Ocean, particularly the warm currents in the North Atlantic Drift, gives the country a more temperate climate than most others at the same latitude.


Moist ocean air also contributes to abundant rainfall. Ireland receives between 750 and 2000 millimeters (29 and 78 inches) of rain per year, with more rain falling in the west and in the mountains. Most of the rain falls in light showers.

This moist climate means plenty of clouds and fog. According to the Irish Meteorological Service (Met Éireann), the sky is entirely cloudy more than 50 percent of the time. There are more clouds during the day than at night, and fog is common.

The cloud-free view shown here is extremely rare. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the image on 20 October, 2011, a time of year when Irish weather alternates between rainstorms from the west and cool, dry weather brought by high-pressure systems known as anticyclones.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Holli Riebeek. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS

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HISTORY County Clare Earthquake, 2010

We look back on the 2.7 magnitude earthquake which struck County Clare in May 2010.  

The quake, intensity level 3, is the most severe quake to hit the Republic of Ireland or the UK in recent years. The 2.7 magnitude tremor was the first tremor or earthquake to be recorded in the west of Ireland in modern times.  

The only other recorded earthquake to hit the country in 2010 occurred on January 9th when a tremor measuring 1.6 on the Richter scale struck the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal.  An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, the largest ever recorded in Ireland, hit Dublin in 1984. Aftershocks from the quake measured up to 4 on the Richter scale.

The Event:

• The quake occurred at 10.24pm on Wednesday, 07 May 2010.  The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), which runs a national seismic network from its base in Merrion Square and receives real time readings from seismograph instruments dotted across the country, said the epicentre of the quake was located in the Lisdoonvarna area.
• The tremor, the first to be recorded in Clare since records began in 1978, was felt in various parts of the county including Lahinch, Lisdoonvarna, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan, Fanore, Kilfenora, Corofin Doolin and Ennistymon. 
• Meteorological stations in Dublin and Valentia in Co Kerry also picked up the vibrations from the tremor.  Loud bangs were reported to Gardai and other locals described feels the walls of their house 'shake'.
• Loud bangs were reported to Gardai while some locals said the walls of their house 'shook'.

Lisdoonvarna marked on a map of Ireland. Image (c) Google Earth

Aftermath:

• The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) say the earthquake has forced geologists to re-evaluate the West of Ireland’s geology. www.dias.ie
• Tom Blake of the DIAS' School of Cosmic Physics said: “It is the first time we've had seismic activity in that part of the country. The seismic instruments are very sensitive and can record very minor tremors."
• According to the Annals of the Four Masters, an earthquake occurred in West Clare almost 1,000 years ago, splitting the land between the Cliffs of Moher on the north and Baltard Cliffs on the south. The subsequent tidal wave engulfed the whole district between these two headlands, and the Atlantic is now rolling over what was once dry land.

EARTHQUAKE VIDEO

RTE News report relating to the 2.7 magnitude earthquake in County Clare.

Read More

HISTORY County Clare Earthquake, 2010

To coincide with IWO’s launch of a section dedicated to earthquakes (click here), we look back on the 2.7 magnitude earthquake which struck County Clare in May 2010.  

The quake, intensity level 3, is the most severe quake to hit the Republic of Ireland or the UK in recent years. The 2.7 magnitude tremor was the first tremor or earthquake to be recorded in the west of Ireland in modern times.  

The only other recorded earthquake to hit the country in 2010 occurred on January 9th when a tremor measuring 1.6 on the Richter scale struck the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal.  An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, the largest ever recorded in Ireland, hit Dublin in 1984. Aftershocks from the quake measured up to 4 on the Richter scale.

The Event:

• The quake occurred at 10.24pm on Wednesday, 07 May 2010.  The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), which runs a national seismic network from its base in Merrion Square and receives real time readings from seismograph instruments dotted across the country, said the epicentre of the quake was located in the Lisdoonvarna area.
• The tremor, the first to be recorded in Clare since records began in 1978, was felt in various parts of the county including Lahinch, Lisdoonvarna, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan, Fanore, Kilfenora, Corofin Doolin and Ennistymon. 
• Meteorological stations in Dublin and Valentia in Co Kerry also picked up the vibrations from the tremor.  Loud bangs were reported to Gardai and other locals described feels the walls of their house 'shake'.
• Loud bangs were reported to Gardai while some locals said the walls of their house 'shook'.

Lisdoonvarna marked on a map of Ireland. Image (c) Google Earth

Aftermath:

• The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) say the earthquake has forced geologists to re-evaluate the West of Ireland’s geology. www.dias.ie
• Tom Blake of the DIAS' School of Cosmic Physics said: “It is the first time we've had seismic activity in that part of the country. The seismic instruments are very sensitive and can record very minor tremors."
• According to the Annals of the Four Masters, an earthquake occurred in West Clare almost 1,000 years ago, splitting the land between the Cliffs of Moher on the north and Baltard Cliffs on the south. The subsequent tidal wave engulfed the whole district between these two headlands, and the Atlantic is now rolling over what was once dry land.

EARTHQUAKE VIDEO

RTE News report relating to the 2.7 magnitude earthquake in County Clare.

Read More

WEATHER HISTORY Flooding In Ireland - November 2009

Claregalway, Galway, in Nov 2009. Pic Peter Gallagher

Some of the worst flooding in living memory affected parts of Cork, Clare, Galway, and Westmeath, Limerick in late November 2009.   

The Event: 
    * Minister for the Environment John Gormley described the flooding as the worst in "800 years”.
    * The centre of Cork was flooded by the River Lee to a depth of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in), and the nearby towns of Bandon, Clonakilty, Dunmanway and Skibbereen were inaccessible.
    * 40 families at Ballinasloe in County Galway had to be evacuated by boat after the River Suck burst its banks.
    * The floods caused €141m in damages to Cork city alone
    * In Northern Ireland, the low-lying areas around the River Bann in County Armagh as well as the Strabane, Ards, Cookstown, Lisburn and Magherafelt districts were affected by flooding
    * Thousands of homes across the country were affected by water boil notices, and over 40,000 homes were left without any water supply.  In Cork City, over 18,000 homes on the city's north and inner south-sides were left without water for up to ten days.
    * The water level of Lough Derg broke all previous records on 26 November

Rainfall:

One of the wettest summers on record was followed by a series of Atlantic weather systems in the first half of November which resulted in rainfall records being broken at observation stations throughout Ireland.  Valentia recorded 360mm of rainfall during the month.

 (Click on image to enlarge)

 

Above, is a graph compiled by Patrick Gordon showing percentage of normal rainfall for each November between 1941 and 2009 at the station, which illustrates how outstanding the rainfall % was in November 2009 compared to previous November values. 

Met Eireann rainfall table for Nov 09, compiled by Patrick Gordon

WEATHER ADVISORY IN THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE FLOODING
(Click on image to enlarge)

* See bottom of article for HiLAM synoptic analysis charts and other statistical for the period in question.

An Irish Government report into the flooding concluded:

• The Government should oversee an independent review of ESB’s hydro-electrical schemes to clarify whether they should remain under its control.
• The Office of Public Works should set up an early warning systems for all major rivers at risk of flooding.
• Local authorities should develop a database of people at risk of floods or severe weather, and include an annual budget for drainage and river maintenance.
• ESB should be included in councils’ major emergency management frameworks with "immediate effect".

Links:

2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods - wikipedia

Major disruption caused by widespread flooding - Irish Times

Ireland faces massive clean-up bill for worst flooding in living memory - Irish Central

Flood Hazard Mapping Website
History of Flood Risk Management - OPW

Video:

Images:

Images of the serious flooding which affected County Clare may be viewed below.  Click on each image for a larger view. Images courtesy of Clare County Council.

Ennis Town Centre

Flooding in the Burren

ESB WEIR AT PARTEEN

Flooding in Corofin and Environs

The bridge at Killaloe/Ballina

Skehanagh roundabout

Garroga Lake Our Ladys Hospital, Ennis

Flooding at Ardnataggle, OBriensbridge

Quin Road Area of Ennis

Email your videos or pictures of the flooding in November 2009 to editor@irishweatheronline.com

HiLAM synoptic analysis charts (KNMI) and further statistical data provided by Patrick Gordon

Click on images for a larger view

 

Read More