Ireland is currently experiencing mixed weather due to a weaker jet stream, climatologist John Sweeney from Maynooth University told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“We’re in a sequence where the jet stream is very indeterminate and very weak. It is the jet stream that drives movement of weather streams across Ireland,” he said. “So we are in a depression dominating our weather for the last week and likely to continue to do so for the next few days.”
A weak jet stream was also present this time last year when Ireland experienced drought. However, at that time it held an anti-cyclone in place over the country.
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Unstable airflows
“Unstable airflows are bringing bands of rain across Ireland,” he said of the current weather. “When it hits land it accentuates the activity and brings the heavy downpours.
“Climatologically when you get this kind of static weather system it can persist for several days. I would suggest there are three or four days to go before reverting to a more normal westerly influence.”
So is it normal for the jet stream to weaken? Sweeney says that it happens periodically. While some research suggests this is due to the warming of the Atlantic, he says climate change is not the main cause of it this time.
“There’s an element of climate change but this is the kind of thing that has happened in the past that characterises Ireland’s early summer,” he explained.
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Ireland is currently experiencing mixed weather due to a weaker jet stream, climatologist John Sweeney from Maynooth University told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“We’re in a sequence where the jet stream is very indeterminate and very weak. It is the jet stream that drives movement of weather streams across Ireland,” he said. “So we are in a depression dominating our weather for the last week and likely to continue to do so for the next few days.”
A weak jet stream was also present this time last year when Ireland experienced drought. However, at that time it held an anti-cyclone in place over the country.
Unstable airflows
“Unstable airflows are bringing bands of rain across Ireland,” he said of the current weather. “When it hits land it accentuates the activity and brings the heavy downpours.
“Climatologically when you get this kind of static weather system it can persist for several days. I would suggest there are three or four days to go before reverting to a more normal westerly influence.”
So is it normal for the jet stream to weaken? Sweeney says that it happens periodically. While some research suggests this is due to the warming of the Atlantic, he says climate change is not the main cause of it this time.
“There’s an element of climate change but this is the kind of thing that has happened in the past that characterises Ireland’s early summer,” he explained.
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