North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Whatever the weather

A cyclist braving the snow and biting wind on Friday morning on Salthill Promenade in Galway.

Camera = Canon 5D, lens = 24-105mm@35mm, ISO=320, aperture=f5.6, speed=1/45 sec.

It was too much to hope that the snow would last more than a few hours in Galway on Friday before turning to slush. I had the day off so managed to take a few picture on the Prom in the morning. I've never gotten over the novelty of snow - even after spending 6 winters in Stockholm. The kids were also still on holidays which meant [good news] there were few cars on the road which meant that the traffic wasn't quite as bad as before [those people who were mocked for driving SUVs around the city finally had the last laugh]. If you were a kid, it was a wasted day - children were still on holidays on Friday but if they were not, the schools would probably have cancelled anyway [if terrorists want to attack Ireland, they could just scatter about 2 millimetres of snow on the road ].

Snowman in Knocknacarra, Galway on Friday morning (youngsters have no problem getting up early as long as it doesn't involve going to school).

Camera = Canon 5D, lens = 24-105mm@35mm, ISO=320, aperture=f5.6, speed=1/45 sec.

By midday, rain and hail [and a remarkably bitter wind] had replaced the snow. And yet, according to Met Eireann, this was the warmest year on record. Their weather summary for 2007 shows that temperatures are up and rainfall more or less steady. Even sunshine levels are up which might come as a surprise to the entire population. I had such high hopes for global warming -despite the statistics, it doesn't look like Connemara will be transformed into the Mediterranean after all.

The flooded road just outside Craughwell didn't deter every driver - in fact, for every driver [like myself] that turned back, there was another [usually young and male] that drove at full pelt through it. In the background is a building site for a new housing estate. Funny, the picture on the billboard of the finished estate shows hardly a sign of the nearby river that floods every winter.

Camera = Canon 5D, lens = 24-105mm@35mm, ISO=320, aperture=f5.6, speed=1/45 sec.

Click here to buy pictures of Galway.

Click here for more pictures of Salthill on Flickr.

Posted by Monasette at January 6, 2008 01:40 PM