|
|
I've started a new youtube channel called 'Storms of Northern Ireland. This is a new channel completely dedicated to warm season convective storms, Winter storms, and all kinds of weather phenomena captured from Ireland and N. Ireland. You can view the new channel via the link below...
https://www.youtube.com/@StormsofNorthernIreland
Please like and subscribe if this is something which interests you. My other youtube channel will continue as normal only without the storms. I will still be uploading astro content, auroras, comets, vlogs etc as well as drone footage of landscapes and ships. I would like to thank you in advance for all you support.
I've also made a new video called 'Storm Clouds of Northern Ireland' featuring video footage from 2014 to 2024, this includes thunderstorms, storm bases, gust fronts and beautiful updraughts. The content varies from modern smooth drone footage to windscreen mounted Go Pro footage to hand held DSLR and phone footage, some of which is shaky however the storm clouds were still dramatic and worth including, so old to new all in one video, I hope you enjoy it.
 |
May 30th introduced the largest coverage of instability across Ireland to date with values peaking at 900 CAPE and LIs of -4. With -35c tops and a warm moist surface flow with strong heating this looked to be a good day. However as the day went on red flags began to appear, while storms rumbled away over the Republic, N. Ireland remained dry all afternoon. The convection was strongly capped and things didn't look good. I went on the hunt in the late afternoon and met several chaser friends. By 6pm the cap broke and a storm erupted over Mfelt with flooding rainfall and hail stones. We relocated to Ballyronan where a storm rumbled away for half an hour. Before sunset my Wife and I encountered yet another storm from Cookstown, the largest storm of the day with beautiful sunlit updraughts bathed in surreal golden hour light. One page report with 16 images. - REPORT.
 |
Just when I thought I wouldn't experience another wild fire on the scale of Ballygawley I was proven wrong on April 10th 2025 when I spotted pyrocumulus in the sky which correlated with online reports of a gorse fire in the vicinity of Lough Fea near Corrick Road. I drove up for a look not expecting anything major until I arrived at the scene and got the drone in the air for a better look. I was astonished to witness a massive fire in progress burning trees and bushes with multiple sources covering a very large horizontal extent. The scene was spectacular yet terrible in equal measure while almost 50 fire fighters tackled the blaze to bring it under control. This event was followed by another fire on Glenshane Pass for the next two nights when we made an attempt to film the fire at night with the drone. This marks four wild fires filmed within five days making this one of the most active fire seasons in years. One page report with 17 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
 |
A major outbreak of wild fires has been making the news across N. Ireland with 250 fires within a week, most were deliberate. On April 8th 2025 I had intentions of shooting the sunset when suddenly reports arrived on social media of another major wild fire near Ballygawley. I took the chance and drove to the scene to document the event, the fire was massive and over one mile long and wider than any I had seen before with multiple sources. The wild fire was burning near wind turbines and was rapidly approaching a house forcing owners and their pets to evacuate while 45 fire crew with 29 appliances battled the blaze working all through the night with a fire that was as dramatic as it was dangerous in the light of the setting sun. One page report with 22 images and 1 video clip - REPORT.
 |
Astronomy is not the only subject I'm interested in, check out my N. Ireland Storm Chasing section and view the chase reports and images which detail not only storms but other phenomena such as a moonbows, noctilucent clouds, aurora displays and exciting nature related photo shoots.
|
|
 |
 |
Martin McKenna
Home
