Galway Bay Fm newsroom:- The year just finishing today brought much less rainfall than normal to County Galway.
Statistics from the Mace Head weather monitoring station in west Connemara show that rainfall was 22% less than average in 2016 on the Atlantic coastline.
A threat of rainfall hangs over this New Years Eve but on the whole 2016 is not a year to complain about as regards the weather in the west.
The Mace Head weather monitoring station in Carna reports to Met Eireann daily and the picture has been noticeably better than average this year.
Rainfall for 2016 will be 22% below average at just about 1045 millimetres at Mace Head.
January, February and September dished down the rain but the months of October, November and December have been remarkably dry with only 44% of average rainfall at Mace Head.
As it happens the past four years have recorded below average rainfall at Mace Head.
December temperatures have been 1.5 degrees above normal but November was 1.5 degrees below normal. The sum total adds up to average temperatures for 2016 at Mace Head.