February Weather in Derry IrelandDaily high temperatures are around 48°F, rarely falling below 42°F or exceeding 53°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 48°F on February 10. Daily low temperatures are around 41°F, rarely falling below 34°F or exceeding 47°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 40°F on February 18. For reference, on July 26, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Derry typically range from 56°F to 65°F, while on February 18, the coldest day of the year, they range from 40°F to 48°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on February. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Ocean Shores, United States (4,625 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Derry (view comparison). CloudsThe month of February in Derry experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 67% to 62%. The clearest day of the month is February 27, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 38% of the time. For reference, on December 24, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 69%, while on July 6, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 50%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Derry, the chance of a wet day over the course of February is rapidly decreasing, starting the month at 43% and ending it at 37%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 49% on January 7, and its lowest chance is 27% on April 21. RainfallTo show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during February in Derry is decreasing, starting the month at 3.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 6.4 inches or falls below 1.6 inches, and ending the month at 3.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.2 inches or falls below 1.0 inches. SunOver the course of February in Derry, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 44 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 3 minutes, 43 seconds, and weekly increase of 25 minutes, 58 seconds. The shortest day of the month is February 1, with 9 hours, 9 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 29, with 10 hours, 53 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the month in Derry is 8:15 AM on February 1 and the earliest sunrise is 53 minutes earlier at 7:22 AM on February 29. The earliest sunset is 5:24 PM on February 1 and the latest sunset is 51 minutes later at 6:15 PM on February 29. Daylight saving time is observed in Derry during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during February, so the entire month is in daylight saving time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:18 AM and sets 16 hours, 39 minutes later, at 9:57 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 8:40 AM and sets 7 hours, 49 minutes later, at 4:28 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for February 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.
HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Derry is essentially constant during February, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on August 7, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Derry is gradually decreasing during February, decreasing from 17.1 miles per hour to 16.3 miles per hour over the course of the month. For reference, on December 31, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 18.1 miles per hour, while on July 25, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.2 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Derry throughout February is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 39% on February 1. Water TemperatureDerry is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Derry is essentially constant during February, remaining around 49°F throughout. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Derry typically lasts for 11 months (337 days), from around February 1 to around January 3, rarely starting after March 18, or ending before November 29. The month of February in Derry is more likely than not fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season rapidly increasing from 50% to 77% over the course of the month. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Derry are essentially constant during February, remaining within 3°F of 11°F throughout. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Derry is gradually increasing during February, rising by 1.0 kWh, from 1.1 kWh to 2.1 kWh, over the course of the month. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Derry are 51.587 deg latitude, -9.050 deg longitude, and 177 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Derry contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 669 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 243 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (1,102 feet). Within 50 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (3,389 feet). The area within 2 miles of Derry is covered by grassland (73%) and cropland (16%), within 10 miles by grassland (49%) and water (31%), and within 50 miles by water (56%) and grassland (22%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Derry, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Cork Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Derry. At a distance of 48 kilometers from Derry, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Derry according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |