merrion street

The Met Éireann Podcast team have today (1 May, 2020) released two new episodes! In Episode 9, Met Éireann presenters Liz Walsh and Noel Fitzpatrick discuss a storm chasing trip to ‘Tornado Alley’, an infamous region in the United States with notorious severe weather. Episode 10 features an Antarctic meteorologist and we learn about the challenges of working in one of the most extreme locations on the planet.

Co-presenter of the monthly podcast series, Noel Fitzpatrick said: In June 2019, the team spent two weeks tracking storms across the plains of Kansas, Oklahoma and several other states, looking for and avoiding hazards like lightning, damaging hail, and of course, tornados! Meteorologist Paul Downes joins us to take us through where and when these storms form, the conditions needed for such severe weather to develop, and why we rarely see major thunderstorms or tornados here in Ireland. This episode also features experienced storm chasers, Paul and Sarah Austin, who tell us about how they got started, what keeps them coming back, and some of the most intense situations they’ve found themselves in.’ A series of pictures and videos of some of the spectacular weather encountered on the trip can be seen on the Met Éireann Facebook and Instagram accounts and by checking the podcast webpage (met.ie/podcast).

In the tenth episode, co-presenter Liz Walsh said:  We learn about Meteorologist John Law who returned from a 17-month stint in Antarctica working for the British Antarctic Survey in March 2020.  He tells us all about his time in Antarctica, the unparalleled beauty and the challenges of day-to-day life in one of the world’s most remote locations, as well as the severe conditions he has encountered. John discussed some of the unique difficulties in observing and forecasting the weather at the southern end of the planet, and the lessons he’s learned from living in isolation and how they’ve influenced how he approaches this social distancing reality we are all finding ourselves in.’

Liz concludes: ‘We also hear about some of the climate change research taking place in Antarctica, and the recent record-breaking warm spell which saw temperatures rising up to 18.3°C on the continent.’

All of Met Éireann’s Podcast episodes are available on iTunes for download. If you have missed any previous episodes, you can still catch up on all things weather by going onto the Met Éireann website http://www.met.ie.

Met Éireann is a division of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.