The climate of Ireland can be very complex and has many factors that contribute to when and if it will snow in particular areas. To determine the level of snowfall in any of Ireland\u2019s regions, the specific causes and deterrents of snowfall need to be looked at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While snowfall is not generally part of the Irish environment, Ireland has very particular conditions that allow for some pretty interesting variations in climate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland is a landmass that is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and is in contact with the Gulf Stream. Two strong sources of warmth. Those geographical features create conditions for plentiful rain and maintain Irish temperatures at just above freezing point, with an average low of 5 degrees Celsius(41 degrees Fahrenheit).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ireland owes a lack of extremes in its climate to those warm ocean currents flowing from the Gulf of Mexico through the Atlantic to the coasts of Ireland year round. The water that the Gulf Stream carries is warmed by the heat of the Florida coast and when it reaches northern Europe, it is still warmer than the average temperature of the oceans in that region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This warmer-than-average water keeps Ireland from dropping below freezing; other than a few off days that are colder than average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in mind that it\u2019s the average <\/strong>temperature of Ireland that remains right above freezing point. Due to what\u2019s known as \u201ccontinentality\u201d, which states that areas further inland will experience a higher disparity between seasonal temperatures than those on the coast\u2014temperatures of counties such as Mullingar and Tullamore have been known to dip into freezing temperatures and produce snow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This also allows the Irish mountain ranges like the MacGillyscuddy Reeks Mountains to sustain snow for weeks at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While rare, Ireland has had its fair share of intense snowfalls. In December of 1962, Ireland experienced the coldest temperatures seen since the 19th century. Reaching a record low of -11.6 degrees Celsius(11.12 degrees Fahrenheit). <\/p>\n\n\n\n This cold snap lasted from December 1962 to March of 1963. In that time, Ireland experienced a maximum of 45 cm of snow without even taking snow drift into consideration, the river Shannon froze over, and the casualties exceeded 500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This abnormality in\nweather is attributed to a large anticyclone that developed over Scandinavia.\nThis anticyclone blew cold eastern winds to northwestern Europe; essentially\nnullifying some of the effects of the warm Atlantic streams, and allowing\nIreland\u2019s temperatures to plunge into dangerous levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The winter of 1962\nin Ireland was definitely the coldest with the deepest areas of snow in the\nlast century, but there was another winter in Ireland that, while not as cold,\nwas equally devastating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This particular\nwinter happened in 1947 and would later be known as the \u2018Big Snow\u2019. The \u2018Big Snow\u2019\nlasted from mid-January through March and brought with it the longest lasting\ncontinuous snowfall that has ever been recorded; with continuous snowfall for\n30 days in some places. The snow drifts regularly stood at 4.5 meters tall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The casualties were\nsaid to have been over 600. The reason the \u2018Big Snow\u2019 was so disastrous is due\nto it occurring during a period of wartime rationing caused by a particularly\npoor harvest the previous fall season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now don\u2019t let the\nscarcity of snow discourage your potential visit to Ireland. There do happen to\nbe a few places you can go to that exhibit higher chances of snow yearly. As I\nmentioned earlier, many of the mountain ranges in Ireland tend to be covered in\nsnow during the winter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the more popular spots to see beautiful white mountain tops are in the Mourne Mountains and the MacGillycuddy Reeks Mountains. A great view of the blanketed Mourne Mountains can be seen from one of its smaller summits, Slieveanglogh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"picture](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/overinireland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/snow-in-ireland-1.jpg?resize=750%2C563&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nConditions\nfor Snowfall<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
What\nwas Ireland\u2019s Biggest SnowFall?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Where\nDoes it Snow?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n