BREAKING NEWS - Met Eireann issue status orange wind and flood warning for parts of Ireland for Sunday
Met Eireann have issued a Status Orange wind warning for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick for southwest winds with mean speeds of 60 to 80 km/h with severe gusts of up to 120km/h, strongest on exposed hills and coasts, with a risk of coastal flooding on Sunday.
SATURDAY 15TH FEBRUARY 2020
Status Orange - Wind warning for Wexford and Waterford
South to southwest winds with mean speeds of 55 to 75 km/h will gust up to 120 km/h, strongest on exposed coasts and hills.
Valid: 09:00 Saturday 15/02/2020 to 20:00 Saturday 15/02/2020
Issued: 09:00 Saturday 15/02/2020
Status Yellow - Rainfall warning for Ireland
Spells of heavy, locally thundery rain, on Saturday will lead to some flooding.
Valid: 06:00 Saturday 15/02/2020 to 21:00 Saturday 15/02/2020
Issued: 11:00 Friday 14/02/2020
Status Yellow - Rainfall warning for Ireland
Southwest winds with mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h, gusting 90 to 110km/h, strongest on hills and coasts with the risk of coastal flooding.
Valid: 15:00 Saturday 15/02/2020 to 23:00 Sunday 16/02/2020
Issued: 15:00 Saturday 15/02/2020
Warning issued by Met Éireann
STATUS YELLOW - WIND AND WARNING FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
A band of rain and strong winds will move eastwards across western, southern and central Scotland and Northern Ireland on Saturday. South to southwesterly winds will gust to 50 to 60 mph along exposed coasts and over high ground. In addition some heavy rainfall is expected at times with accumulations of up to 40 mm on high ground. This may lead to some local flooding, especially where coupled with snow melt over parts Scotland.
Valid: 07:00 Sunday 16/02/2020 to 20:00 Sunday 16/02/2020
Issued: Saturday 15/02/2020
Warning issued by Met Office UK
MARINE WARNING
Status Orange - Gale Warning
South to southwest winds will reach gale force 8 or strong gale 9, today and tonight, on all Irish coastal waters and on the Irish Sea, reaching Storm force 10 in Atlantic sea areas on Sunday.
SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARY 2020
Status Orange - Wind warning for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick
Southwest winds with mean speeds of 60 to 80 km/h with severe gusts of up to 120km/h, strongest on exposed hills and coasts, with a risk of coastal flooding.
Valid: 10:00 Sunday 16/02/2020 to 22:00 Sunday 16/02/2020
Issued: 13:30 Saturday 15/02/2020
Status Yellow - Rainfall warning for Ireland
Southwest winds with mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h, gusting 90 to 110km/h, strongest on hills and coasts with the risk of coastal flooding.
Valid: 15:00 Saturday 15/02/2020 to 23:00 Sunday 16/02/2020
Issued: 15:00 Saturday 15/02/2020
Warning issued by Met Éireann
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Storm Dennis (as named by the UK Met Office), is currently undergoing rapid cyclogenesis in the Western Atlantic. While staying to the northwest of Ireland Storm Dennis will produce some wet and windy weather over Ireland this weekend.
The Meteorological Situation (Technical Discussion)
The strength of the Jet stream (an atmospheric river) is determined by the temperature gradient closer to the surface, we call the zone where warm and cold air meet the baroclinic zone (a strong temperature gradient that separates warmer air from colder air and often the battle field that spans our storms)
The ongoing battle between warm air over the south central Atlantic and a cold pool over much of Eastern Canada has led to a strong level baroclinic zone fuelling a powerful jet aloft with several waves tracking across the Atlantic. The lead wave of the two has been the driving force for this first deep low ~933hpa currently tracking northwestly and occluding south of Iceland.
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Warm air being pushed up along the US east coast meeting very cold air over Eastern Canada is the driving force for this powerful jet, with winds up to 225 knots (~416 km/h) at its core, currently aiding the rapid development of Storm Dennis. Dennis will develop rapidly today. To put this into perspective, rapid cyclogenesis is defined as a drop in pressure of greater than 24 hPa in 24 hours, this storm is forecast to drop by around 70 hPa in 24 hours as it rapidly tracks north towards Iceland and with a forecast central pressure in the low 9-teens it will rival the lowest ever pressure recorded in the north Atlantic of 914 hPa off the coast of Scotland on Monday 11th January 1993. The core of Storm Dennis is expected to stay well to our northwest as it rapidly strengthens before pirouetting (the Fujiwhara effect) around Fridays low and comes back to visit us on Sunday as it slowly weakens.
Saturday: The first round of wet and windy weather will reach the Atlantic coast on Saturday morning spreading countrywide during the morning easing later and Status Yellow wind and rain warnings are in operation.
Sunday: The core of storm Dennis (actually a hybrid of Fridays Low and Storm Dennis) will gradually fill and weaken as it tracks south-eastward towards Ireland bringing squally showers with a risk of thunder. A widespread Status Yellow wind warning is likely to be issued and possibly Orange level winds locally (especially in the vicinity of squally showers along Atlantic coasts) can be expected.
Monday: Winds will gradually ease through Monday, but not dissimilar to this past Monday showery conditions can be expected with wintry conditions possible.
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Elevated river levels
Currently river levels are elevated across the country, particularly in the midlands, west and south, so any heavy rainfall would cause issues
NDFEM request that all local authority Severe Weather Assessment Teams monitor weather conditions throughout the weekend and consider activating crisis management and Local Co-ordination arrangements, if required.
NDFEM will continue to monitor weather conditions throughout the weekend with Met Éireann and OPW. We would request that you would contact us should any significant flooding incidents occur in your area over the weekend.
Coastal Conditions
Coastal Flooding
We are entering into a period of transition between Spring (High) Tides and Neap (Low) Tides. This means there will not be a large variation between high and low tides. The combination of high seas and strong winds or stormy conditions, may increase the possibility of coastal flooding especially along western and southern coasts Saturday and Sunday coinciding with high tides.
OPW have issued a High Tide Advisory for the weekend.
A period of very high storm surge is associated with Storm Dennis which may result in sea levels approaching or exceeding Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) in the coastal areas shown below from tomorrow afternoon, Saturday 15 until Monday morning 17 February 2020.
Whilst storm surge levels are currently relatively low in all coastal areas, they are predicted to increase significantly as follows, from tomorrow morning until Monday morning, in the coastal areas shown below:
1.00m at Lough Swilly
0.80m at Donegal Bay
0.70m at Sligo
0.65m at Killala
0.70m at Clew Bay
0.55m at Roundstone
0.80m at Galway Bay
0.55m at Shannon Estuary
0.70m at Arklow
0.75m at Wicklow
0.80m at Dublin Bay
0.80m at Drogheda
0.80m at Dundalk Bay
As these forecasts of storm surge may change, OPW advise all local authorities to monitor surge and sea level forecasts closely throughout this notice period (from Saturday 15 to Monday 17 February).
Click on the tabs below to view the new forecasts available under the forecast section.
2019 CALENDAR NOW ON SALE
