Climate
The climate of Cork, like the rest of Ireland, is mild and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. Cork lies in plant Hardiness zone 10. Met Éireann maintains a climatological weather station at Cork Airport, a few kilometres south of the city. It should be noted that the airport is at an altitude of 151 metres (495 ft) and temperatures can often differ by a few degrees between the airport and the city itself. There are also smaller synoptic weather stations at UCC and Clover Hill.
Temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) or above 25 °C (77 °F) are rare. Cork Airport records an average of 1,227.9 millimetres (4.029 ft)) of precipitation annually, most of which is rain. The airport records an average of 7 days of hail and 11 days of snow or sleet a year; though it only records lying snow for 2 days of the year. The low altitude of the city, and moderating influences of the harbour, mean that lying snow very rarely occurs in the city itself. There are on average 152 "rainy" days a year (over 1 millimetre (0.039 in) of rainfall), of which there are 73 days with "heavy rain" (over 5 millimetres (0.20 in)). Cork is also a generally foggy city, with an average of 97 days of fog a year, most common during mornings and during winter. Despite this, however, Cork is also one of Ireland's sunniest cities, with an average of 3.9 hours of sunshine every day and only having 67 days where there is no "recordable sunshine", mostly during and around winter.
Climate data for Cork Airport 1981–2010 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) |
14.0 (57.2) |
15.7 (60.3) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.6 (74.5) |
27.5 (81.5) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.0 (82.4) |
24.7 (76.5) |
21.4 (70.5) |
16.2 (61.2) |
13.8 (56.8) |
28.7 (83.7) |
Average high °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
8.3 (46.9) |
9.9 (49.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
14.4 (57.9) |
17.0 (62.6) |
18.7 (65.7) |
18.5 (65.3) |
16.5 (61.7) |
13.2 (55.8) |
10.3 (50.5) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.6 (42.1) |
5.7 (42.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
8.4 (47.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.3 (59.5) |
15.2 (59.4) |
13.3 (55.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
7.8 (46.0) |
6.1 (43.0) |
9.9 (49.8) |
Average low °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) |
3.1 (37.6) |
4.0 (39.2) |
4.9 (40.8) |
7.4 (45.3) |
10.2 (50.4) |
11.8 (53.2) |
11.8 (53.2) |
10.2 (50.4) |
7.7 (45.9) |
5.2 (41.4) |
3.7 (38.7) |
6.9 (44.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −8.5 (16.7) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
2.4 (36.3) |
4.8 (40.6) |
4.9 (40.8) |
2.3 (36.1) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
Precipitation mm (inches) | 131.4 (5.173) |
97.8 (3.85) |
97.6 (3.843) |
76.5 (3.012) |
82.3 (3.24) |
80.9 (3.185) |
78.8 (3.102) |
96.8 (3.811) |
94.6 (3.724) |
138.2 (5.441) |
120.0 (4.724) |
133.1 (5.24) |
1,227.9 (48.343) |
% humidity | 90 | 89 | 88 | 83 | 81 | 81 | 83 | 85 | 88 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 86.7 |
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 16 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 152 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 55.8 | 67.8 | 102.3 | 159.0 | 192.2 | 174.0 | 167.4 | 161.2 | 129.0 | 93 | 69 | 52.7 | 1,423.4 |
Source: |
Read more about this topic: Cork (city)
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“There is much to be said against the climate on the coast of British Columbia and Alaska; yet, I believe that the scenery of one good day will compensate the tourists who will go there in increasing numbers.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945)
“Ghosts, we hope, may be always with usthat is, never too far out of the reach of fancy. On the whole, it would seem they adapt themselves well, perhaps better than we do, to changing world conditionsthey enlarge their domain, shift their hold on our nerves, and, dispossessed of one habitat, set up house in another. The universal battiness of our century looks like providing them with a propitious climate ...”
—Elizabeth Bowen (18991973)
“Then climate is a great impediment to idle persons; we often resolve to give up the care of the weather, but still we regard the clouds and the rain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)