Climate Controls and Comparision to Seattle

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.