Dublin’s weather is affected by a few climate controls, with
one overlying control that completely changes the climate. The main climate control is of course, the
North Atlantic Ocean current. This
meso-scale climate control (meaning it affects regional climates) is the main
contributor to the year round mild climate of Ireland. Like I said in a previous blog, the North
Atlantic Ocean current brings warm water from the Caribbean up the east coast
of the US, across the Atlantic, to the UK.
This warm water current brings warm winters with little snow and cool
summers with moderate rain unlike somewhere of similar latitudes such as Russia
or the northern United States, where very cold and snowy winter are
common. Another climate control are the
coastal mountains on the western coast of Ireland. These coastal cliffs create strong winds,
warmer temperatures, and more precipitation on the western part of the
island.
 | ||
| Picture of the meso-scale climate control (North Atlantic Ocean Current). |
The temperatures of Dublin
for the months of July and January stay fairly constant through 1985 to
2010. Some years show a direct
correlation between warm weather in July and warm weather in January. In the late 1980’s you can see both July and
January had above normal temperature and in the early 1990s both July and
January have below normal temperatures.
There are a few cases in which July has above average temperatures while
January has below normal temperatures, like in the early 2000s.
 | ||
| Graph showing the mean temperatures for the months of July and January |
I have chosen to compare my blog to Seattle,
Washington. Seattle is a coastal city on
the western coast of the United States.
I have chosen to compare Seattle because it is at a similar latitude, is
coastal, has similar average temperatures, and gets a lot of
precipitation. The first aspect I will
compare is how the temperatures differ more in Seattle than in Dublin even
though they’re at a similar altitude.
The main reason is of course the North Atlantic Ocean current that
brings warm water to Ireland causing warmer temperatures. Next, I will compare the air masses that
affect both Dublin and Seattle. Both
Seattle and Dublin are affect by Maritime Polar and Maritime Tropical air
masses. These are the only two that
affect Seattle but Dublin is also affect by Continental Tropical, Continental
Polar, and Maritime Arctic air masses.
These maritime air masses influence the mild temperatures and large
amounts of precipitation that both Seattle and Dublin receive on a monthly
basis. Both locations also experience
mid-latitude cyclones. Both these
location experience lows and highs that directly affect the weather and
precipitation. The reason I wanted to
compare Dublin to Seattle was because of the stations being at similar
latitudes. I expected more of a
difference between the two but after looking at the Seattle blog I realized
they are more similar than I expected.
Both are affect by the same air masses, both have fairly mild
temperatures, similar amounts of rain, and are both affected by mid-latitude cyclones. After really thinking about it, it makes
sense because both are coastal cities that have maritime climates and also have
coastal cliffs and mountains surrounding them.
