You could be seeing more of this on Sunday/Monday
FORECASTERS are today warning of a 70% chance of snow in Donegal on Monday but the county will escape the worst of a snow storm which will hit the east and north of the country early next week.
Peter O’Donnell of Irish Weather Online says the mild weather will end on Sunday with the return of a cold spell.
The bitter cold will be accompanied by high winds.
He says heavy snow could develop across the south bySunday evening in near-blizzard conditions with NE winds increasing to 55-90 km/hr.
Dublin and the east will be worst hit but Peter says: “It could spread throughout Ulster. There’s a 70% chance of snow for Donegal.”
Here’s the rest of his forecast:
SUNDAY NIGHT … Bitterly cold with strong northeast winds 50-90 km/hr and some higher gusts near Irish Sea, outbreaks of snow and blowing snow may develop in parts of east Ulster, Leinster and some flurries may reach further west into Connacht and east to central Munster. A blizzard-like snowstorm is possible across the south, merging by early morning with Leinster snow streamers. Snow also in parts of east Ulster. Amounts variable but potential for 10-20 cm. Temperatures falling to -1 C and wind chills -7 to -15 C.
MONDAY … Windy and bitterly cold with further snow, becoming more dominated by streamers as the south coast snow may pull away to the east-southeast, but details may change closer to event … some of the streamers could become very heavy with local bursts of 5-10 cm snowfalls and isolated 15-30 cm falls with thunder-snow, also some hail showers embedded. Some wintry sunshine at times mainly in the west, but passing snow flurries even there. Highs about +1 C but feeling like -6 to -15 C in the strong winds. If snow accumulates, blowing and drifting will follow and could lead to some travel problems and even road closures.
Chances of snow are about 80% for east Ulster and Leinster, 70% for south coast and Donegal, 50% for north Mayo, and 30% for midwest and Atlantic coasts. Most likely amounts peak at about 15-35 cm higher parts of Dublin and Wicklow, 5-15 cm Dublin-Meath and east Ulster as well as coastal Wicklow, and 3-7 cm further inland and inland south. Confidence on these amounts is moderate, there could be more, and there could be less. This appears to be a highly volatile situation with an unusually cold regime in the lower reaches of the atmosphere for any time of year, regardless of calendar date.
Temperatures may fall as low as -2 C and recover only slightly during the day to about 1-3 C, despite any sun that manages to break through. The change will be abrupt and could lead to icy road conditions especially where snow falls.
MONDAY NIGHT … Clearing and very cold, some remnant snow squalls or flurries dying out near east coast but developing in some parts of Connacht and north Ulster as winds back to N 30-50 km/hr. Some severe frosts likely with lows -7 to -4 C except a bit milder where winds blow in from the sea.
TUESDAY … Sunny intervals south, partly to mostly cloudy north with isolated snow 2-4 cm, cold or very cold with highs 2-5 C.
OUTLOOK … Mostly dry except for some heavy coastal wintry showers (hail/snow as well as graupel or rain by mid-week) and staying quite cold for the mid-week period, some flurries or mixed wintry showers inland also, as weak troughs move south, but inland they not expected to be too heavy except possible in north, lows in the range -6 to -3 C and highs 2-5 C. Towards the following weekend, a frontal system (that develops out of remnants of the east coast U.S. storm now in the western Atlantic) could bring a sleety mixed fall of rain and snow to the south and there’s even some chance of a snowfall in some higher areas. There is some chance of this storm being able to bring back milder weather but if not, any return to milder weather looks about two weeks distant at this point.