‘Thanks for having me’ – forecaster Evelyn Cusack retires today after 42 years at Met Éireann

Speaking this morning to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Cusack recalled some of the highlights of her career as well as the more difficult moments.

“Today’s my last day, thank you for having me, I appreciate it,” she said.

"I tend to be wheeled out during the bad weather so it’s great to be here on a lovely, sunny weekend.”

Ms Cusack studied Maths and Physics in UCD and then followed in the footsteps of her brother and sister by getting a job in Met Éireann in 1981.

She said that when she joined there had been no satellites or internet to get weather data.

"We used to get charts on electrostatic paper, and it would take half an hour for a few charts to come in," she said.

Ms Cusack appeared on our TV screens many times over the years and has been presenting the weather forecast on RTÉ for 30 years.

Her popularity among viewers also saw her crowned Ireland’s Favourite Weather Forecaster at the TV Now Awards in 2009, the first time an RTÉ weather presenter won the award.

She was promoted to Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann in 2017 and had a very busy first year in the position.

"I had my annus horribilis of weather," she said, describing the worst year of her career.

Ms Cusack said it began with Storm Ophelia and was followed months later by Storm Emma and the Beast from the East.

"It’s all a bit of a blur at this stage but my most immediate memories are the last five years when I moved to my present role," she said.

"It started off with a bang really with Hurricane Ophelia in October in 2017 and that was the first time we issued a Status Red for the whole country and Ireland closed down that day.

"So, then I was looking forward to a nice summer and we did get a nice summer.

"And then Bray started to go on fire, and we were in the NECG (National Emergency Coordination Group) again because there was a water shortage.

"So, then I thought that's it ... but there was one more sting in the tail."

Ms Cusack was then forced to recommend that the Ploughing Championships in September should be cancelled as there was Status Yellow wind warning in place with gusts of around 80-90kmh forecast.

"It was a huge deal then ... it seemed like an enormous thing to do. I mean, I closed it down,” she said.

"I had to stay overnight in Tullamore and at 6am I was collected to give a big briefing, it was very stressful really.

"The wind whipped up and a lot of things were flattened and if they hadn’t made that decision, it would have been very serious.

"As a forecaster, you want your forecast to work out so you want the bad weather but then of course you want the citizens to be safe. The last thing we want to do is cry wolf.”

Most recently she was part of the National Emergency Co-Ordination Group that kept the public informed about the so-called 'Beast from the East' and Storm Emma.

She has also taken part in a number of reality TV shows over the years including RTÉ’s Fáilte Towers in 2008 and Celebrity Masterchef on TV3 in 2017.

She retires today as Met Éireann launches a new element to its weather app, giving 10-day forecasts for mountains and hills.

Ms Cusack said she was looking forward to watching Met Éireann's involvement in the "next weather revolution" of AI.

"Met Éireann is putting in a professorship in a university which will be announced shortly, and AI development is to be part of that,” she said.

In her retirement she says she will have more time to put on her hiking boots and going roaming with the Roving Soles Hillwalking group.

She added: "I'm really grateful to have been working this long and to feel so well and healthy.”