The Christmas edition of the Met Éireann Podcast was released this morning. In this month’s episode presenters Liz Walsh and Noel Fitzpatrick have left their footprints all over snowy ground, exploring issues like:
- how often we get a white Christmas
- how frequent snowfall is in general
- some of the notable big snow events in Ireland and around the world
- the different weather conditions that can lead to snowfall, including sudden stratospheric warming, and
- why it can be so tricky to forecast snow in Ireland
Co-presenter of the monthly podcast series, Met Éireann’s Noel Fitzpatrick said:
We’re also going to talk about snowflakes in the Christmas episode. We often hear that all snowflakes are unique, but how do they form? We take our listeners along a snowflake’s journey – from its formation to falling on the surface. We also look into why they have such a distinctive shape. In this episode we’re also going to learn about the role snow plays in our climate, and how the ongoing loss of snow and ice from our planet is amplifying present day climate change.
The Christmas episode will also feature an interview with the Met Éireann choir, the Isobars. Co-presenter Liz Walsh said:
The Isobars are frequent contributors to the podcast, often closing out an episode for us. This month they tell us a little bit about themselves and get us into the Christmas spirit by performing a beautiful rendition of ‘White Christmas’, with Aoife Murray conducting and accompaniment from Dónal Black. We hope people get a chance to listen to the episode in the run-up to, or during, the festive season.
The Met Éireann Irish language podcast, Podchraoladh Met Éireann, presented by Ferdia McCrann, will also cover matters snow and will be released in the coming days.
The monthly podcast by Met Éireann, a division of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, is available to download on the Met Éireann website at www.met.ie/podcast and wherever people normally get podcasts.
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all our listeners!
Notes to editors
- The monthly Met Éireann Podcast began on 21 June 2019 and covers a range of public interest topics on weather and climate with national and international expert guests. The Met Éireann choir, the Isobars, play out each episode. It is usually published in the first week of the month.
- Met Éireann also publishes a monthly Irish language podcast series, Podchraoladh Met Éireann. The series, presented by Met Éireann’s Ferdia McCrann, features discussions on weather and climate as Gaeilge. It too began on 21 June 2019. The podcast also has original music by Met Éireann’s Dónal Black.
- The podcasts are freely available on the Met Éireann website at www.met.ie/podcast and wherever people normally get podcasts. People can subscribe to the podcasts on the Met Éireann podcast webpage or on their podcast app.
- People can contact the Met Éireann podcast team at [email protected] or through its website http://www.met.ie. Met Éireann is also on Twitter (@meteireann – send us a tweet using the hashtag #MetEireannPodcast) and Facebook.
Presenter profiles
Noel Fitzpatrick: Noel Fitzpatrick is a research meteorologist with Met Éireann. He recently returned to Ireland from Canada after completing a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science. There, Noel carried out research on the links between weather, climate and the loss of the planet’s snow and ice. Noel began his career in meteorology with a Masters at the University of Reading. He then joined Met Éireann as a meteorological officer, working as an aviation weather observer and in the maintenance of the Irish weather station network.
Today, Noel is involved with the development of Met Éireann’s use of satellite data and high performance computing, with the goal of improving weather and climate services into the future.
Liz Walsh: Liz Walsh is an operational forecaster at Met Éireann and regularly delivers the weather forecast on RTÉ Radio 1. She began her career as a meteorological officer following completion of a Masters in Meteorology at UCD in 2006. She went to New Zealand in 2009 to work at the National Meteorological Service in Wellington, where she eventually trained and worked as a forecaster. She returned to Europe in 2014 and worked as a meteorologist for an energy company in Reading in the UK before returning to the Met Éireann fold in August 2016. Her first major weather event as a forecaster in Ireland was tracking Hurricane Ophelia as it transitioned into a mid-latitude storm on 16 October 2018, and she has since studied the forecasting of Tropical Storms at the National Hurricance Center in Miami.
Ferdia McCrann: Is é Ferdia McCrann ár n-oifigeach Gaeilge. Tháinig sé go dtí Met Éireann sa bhlian 2006, tá cúlra aige san eolaíocht agus go háirithe eolaíocht ríomhaireachta agus matamaiticí.
Chaith sé cheithre bhlian ag obair i réadlann Dairbhre i gcontae Chiarraí sular bhog sé go dtí an ceanncheathrú i Glasnaíon áit a bhfuil sé ina bhall den rannóg taighde.
Déileálann sé le fiosruithe uaidh na meáin agus ón bpobal agus is féidir é a chloisteáil go rialta ar raidió na Gaeltachta ag freagairt ceisteanna ar gach cineál aimsir.
