Fermoy weather station recorded the coldest January for 13 years

A CORK weather station recorded its coldest January for 13 years last month, according to Met Éireann’s weather statement for the month.

The Moore Park weather station in the Fermoy area had its coldest January since 2011, and also recorded a period of absolute drought.

According to the weather statement, the majority of mean air temperatures across the country were below their long-term average (LTA) for the month. Deviations from mean air temperature ranged from -1.4C (4.3C mean temperature) at Moore Park to 0.4C at both Phoenix Park in Dublin (5.3C mean temperature) and Finner in Donegal (5.5C mean temperature).

Mean temperatures for the month ranged from 4.2C (0.1C above its LTA) at Knock Airport in Mayo to 6.7C (0.8C below its LTA) at Sherkin Island off the coast of Cork.

All stations reported air and ground frost during the month.

The number of days with ground frost ranged from 10 days at both Dublin Airport and Malin Head, to 22 days at Moore Park, while the number of days with air frost ranged from one day at Malin Head in Donegal to 15 days at both Moore Park and Mount Dillon in Roscommon.

Four icing days — a day when the daily maximum air temperature stays below 0C —were reported during the month, three on January 7 at Moore Park, Ballyhaise in Cavan, and Gurteen in Tipperary, and one ending on Thursday, January 18, at Gurteen.

Nearly all rainfall totals were below their 1981-2010 Long-Term Average (LTA) for the month, according to the weather statement.

The number of rain days ranged from 13 days at Dublin Airport to 24 days at a number of stations.

Nine stations in the midlands, south, and east had dry spells — a period of 15 or more consecutive days where there is no more than 1mm of precipitation each day — between January 3 and January 19, lasting between 16-17 days.

There was one absolute drought — a period of 15 or more consecutive days where there is no more than 0.2mm of precipitation on any day — at Moore Park between January 4 and January 19, lasting 16 consecutive days.