Weather
OK….rain, drizzles,
showers…ad infinitum.
Right?
If you watched the movie,
Angela’s Ashes, did you ever see an
outside scene without rain?
Probably not.
Ireland’s climate gets a bad rap.
Well here’s my weather
experience, incredible though it may sound,
of walking for about 400 miles in Ireland in
2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008. It included
Dublin to Galway Bay and then Tramore to
Derry.
You might note that I did avoid some
of the rainiest regions of the island.
But only about three times, and then
just for short periods of light showers or
drizzle, did I have to don my rain poncho
over those several weeks of walking. I did
experience real rain, but it was after I was
back in Dublin relaxing for a couple days
before flying home. I never experienced any
rain that affected my walk.
Perfect weather in Northern Ireland!!
The Irish reading this might think I spent
too much time kissing the Blarney stone. It
does rain in Ireland, and rain quite often
and sometimes it’s quite blustery. I was
just lucky.
The luck of the Irish-heritage
visitor, I must believe.
For the visitor to Ireland, it is wise to
prepare for some periods of rain.
The chances are fair that if you plan
to walk the entire Grand Canal Way you’ll
get at least a little wet.
It won’t hurt you, so accept it and
prepare for it.
Weather forecasts are quite reliable these
days.
I use a weather forecasting web site
that offers historical weather information
so I can see not only the expected
conditions over the next few days, but
historically what the weather has been like
each of the past several years for the days
I select.
Weather Underground is found at
www.wunderground.com .
Type in
Tullamore Ireland in the
Search space and the current weather at
a County Offaly site will appear.
On that same page, find
Trip
Planner, enter your dates of interest,
and you’ll see the high and low temperatures
for the past few years for those dates.
You’ll also see if it rained on those
days.
The trip planner is most useful for
the non-Irish who, in February, for example,
may wonder what the temperatures might be on
the days they plan to walk, 4 – 8 June.
Don’t forget to bring some sunscreen!
Well,
a "soft day" in County Offaly.
Drizzle was so light the man in the
distance had no rain gear.
Perfect hiking weather! |
