Armagh enjoyed in warmest June in an incredible 172 years!
Armagh Observatory reports that June 2018 was much warmer than average, drier than average and with more than the average number of hours of strong sunshine.
With a mean monthly temperature of 16.16 degrees Celsius this was the warmest June at Armagh for 172 years, that is, since June 1846, and the third-warmest June recorded at Armagh since daily measurements of temperature at the Observatory began around 1795.
Read more: Highest EVER temperature recorded in Armagh on Wednesday!
The warmest two days of the month, that is, June 27 and 28, reached maximum temperatures of 30.4 C (86.7 F) and 30.2 C (86.4 F) respectively.
The first of these two very hot days was the hottest day ever recorded at Armagh, that is, since daily measurements of maximum and minimum temperatures began at the Observatory in August 1843.
The second-warmest June day was also the third-warmest day ever recorded at Armagh.
Total precipitation was 49.85 mm (1.96 inches) including seven trace values, that is, 49.5 mm if trace values are ignored.
This was nearly 79% of the long-term (1838–2010) average June precipitation at Armagh and a little over 85% of the most recent (1981–2010) 30-year average. This was the driest June at Armagh for three years, that is, since June 2015, which recorded 29.45 mm of rainfall.
The mean temperature was nearly 16.2 degrees Celsius, some 2.8 C warmer than the long-term (1796–2010) average June temperature at Armagh and 2.3 C warmer than the most recent (1981–2010) 30-year average. This was the third-warmest June on record at Armagh, that is, since 1795.
The five warmest Junes at Armagh are now June 1846 (16.9 C), June 1826 (16.4 C), June 2018 (16.2 C), June 1887 (15.9 C) and June 1970 (15.8 C).
In considering these temperature records it should be remembered that, on average, both July and August are warmer than June, and that there have been more than a dozen years since 1795 that have seen warmer summer months (that is, including July and August) than even the hottest June so far recorded at Armagh.
June 2018 recorded a total of 180.5 hours of strong sunshine. This is nearly 4% more than the long-term (1881–2010) average number of hours of strong June sunshine at Armagh, and approximately 25% more than the most recent (1981– 2010) 30-year June average.
This was the sunniest June at Armagh for three years, that is, since June 2015, which had 183.0 hours of strong sunshine. The sunniest day was the 29th, with 14.7 hours of strong sunshine.
The weather observers, namely Shane Kelly (Grounds and Meteorological Officer) and PhD students Yanina Metodieva, Rok Nezic and Conor Byrne, reported thunder on three days (the 1st, 8th and 9th), and strong winds gusting to gale force during the early morning of the 14th.
A rainbow was observed early evening on the 8th.
These data refer to observations at Armagh Observatory, which has been recording the weather at Armagh since 1795.
