Atlantic Storm Watch & Coastal Flooding Events: January 2014

King Ludvig

A couple of pics I took on the quays today in Dublin City centre near the Guinness storehouse.

Sandwlch

Tactical wrote: »

A flood event is what boardsies call a flood!

Ta. But I'm guessing there's some subtle scientific distinction ?

maquiladora

aboyro wrote: »

what site is that animation from Maq? larger swell now has new colours i see??

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=euro_height

Autorotation

The media are full of their 'hurricane force' winds again. Do they not think it's strange that ME don't use that terminology!? Because there is no such thing as a 'hurricane force gust' in meteorology!!... It's either a hurricane or it's not! Force 11 can gust to whatever it likes. It's still Force 11.

ninebeanrows

Autorotation wrote: »

The media are full of their 'hurricane force' winds again. Do they not think it's strange that ME don't use that terminology!? Because there is no such thing as a 'hurricane force gust' in meteorology!!... It's either a hurricane or it's not! Force 11 can gust to whatever it likes. It's still Force 11.

Well if you look at the RTE forecast at 6.1, did mention a 'Hurricane' force gust at Mace Head on 18th December.

I have no problem with the term? Is it not a gust to hurricane force?

I think it is right.

What is wrong with saying, 'sustained Storm Force 10 gusting to Hurricane Force 12 at times'?

by the curragh

Autorotation wrote: »

The media are full of their 'hurricane force' winds again. Do they not think it's strange that ME don't use that terminology!? Because there is no such thing as a 'hurricane force gust' in meteorology!!... It's either a hurricane or it's not! Force 11 can gust to whatever it likes. It's still Force 11.

I totally agree with that point of view, the Beaufort scale refers to sustained winds only. I learnt that in primary school.

However, in Ireland at least, it's generally the gusts that cause the damage. All the damage to my roof last night (split timbers) was caused by one squall gust.

maquiladora

Autorotation wrote: »

The media are full of their 'hurricane force' winds again. Do they not think it's strange that ME don't use that terminology!? Because there is no such thing as a 'hurricane force gust' in meteorology!!... It's either a hurricane or it's not! Force 11 can gust to whatever it likes. It's still Force 11.

I'm not fond of the term because it can be confusing to the average person who might not understand the difference between sustained winds and gusts and just hears the word "hurricane".
"'Hurricane force gusts" is a term that is used sometimes though :

Explosive cyclogenesis of extra-tropical cyclone Klaus and its effects in Catalonia. A case study of hurricane force gusts.

Autorotation

By the Curragh - you are 100% correct. With reference to the Beaufort Wind Scale used in meteorology, Force 11 is sustained winds of between 56-63 knots, with gusts of 69 knots or anything over. Force 12 (hurricane) is sustained winds of 64 knots or more. Gusts don't count for Force 12. It's more sensational in the press to use 'hurricane' though!...

kerrywez

I am trying to post some pics on here of the total devastation of Rossbeigh beach in the kingdom of Kerry. Taking for ever, bloody 3 mobile broadband, very slow tonight. The place will take a fortune to get sorted and it is a very popular beach with surfers and kite boarders, and loads of people come to watch the setting sun. I cannot, although I was given some advice on how to get the pics in the post, do it right, but I hope this will be OK. I have got to the limit now, 5 it tells me. I will upload a few more after.

Regards Wez

Miss Stormyseas

Some minor flooding again in Salthill this evening following high tide, city centre managed to escape though

Steopo

Will Monday be worse?

Galway: this mornings high tide was 5m & combined with the sea swells & storm force winds caused considerable damage, tomorrow high tide is the same 5.03m but without the storm so not as damaging but could still be flooding. Sunday sees heavy rain forecast all day but the swell from next Atlantic storm & storm force winds not likely to hit until late sunday night. The high tides @ 8.45am Mon morning forecast to be 4.54m so a half metre drop which is good but the swell from Atlantic is enormous from Sun night all the way into early Mon morning and combined with strong winds (whether storm moves closer to Ire or not they're still going to be strong) & rain all day Sun the watch out is Mon morning.

Cork: high tide this morning & tomorrow morning 4.1m. High tide monday morning (8.42) forecast at 3.84 so lower but still very high and as with Galway the rain on Sunday and enormous swell from Atlantic hitting overnight Sunday could pose considerable flooding risk Monday morning

Dublin: high tide this afternoon 4.62m & tomorrow 4.59m (@ 1.36pm) so still risks tomorrow but swell & winds won't be as bad. Monday's high tide is forecast at 4.29m (@ 3.26pm) and although it won't take direct hit from the Atlantic swell the water has to go somewhere up the Irish Sea and with the winds still strong there Mon afternoons high tide is a concern

The middle tides are all lower so the biggest risks are tomorrow morning/early afternoon but especially Mon morning (South & West)/afternoon (East coast) with the saving grace that the tides are not quite as high as today & tomorrow at this stage winds not looking as strong as last night

Elsewhere these endless Atlantic surges and rainfall is surely putting pressures on the river systems and as someone said earlier Shannon may come under pressure this weekend

The good news is that we get through Monday we're in the clear - lower tides & no storms on the horizon and no major rain forecast at this stage

Views based on attempting to read these charts

http://magicseaweed.com/North-Atlantic-Surf-Chart/2/

http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Dublin-Ireland/tides/latest

vistafinder

A few from around the Mizen between the showers.

Karl Stein

vistafinder wrote: »

A few from around the Mizen between the showers.

The sea actually looks angry, as if it's trying to destroy the land.

Zzippy

Steopo wrote: »

Will Monday be worse?

Galway: this mornings high tide was 5m & combined with the sea swells & storm force winds caused considerable damage, tomorrow high tide is the same 5.03m but without the storm so not as damaging but could still be flooding. Sunday sees heavy rain forecast all day but the swell from next Atlantic storm & storm force winds not likely to hit until late sunday night. The high tides @ 8.45am Mon morning forecast to be 4.54m so a half metre drop which is good but the swell from Atlantic is enormous from Sun night all the way into early Mon morning and combined with strong winds (whether storm moves closer to Ire or not they're still going to be strong) & rain all day Sun the watch out is Mon morning.

Cork: high tide this morning & tomorrow morning 4.1m. High tide monday morning (8.42) forecast at 3.84 so lower but still very high and as with Galway the rain on Sunday and enormous swell from Atlantic hitting overnight Sunday could pose considerable flooding risk Monday morning

Dublin: high tide this afternoon 4.62m & tomorrow 4.59m (@ 1.36pm) so still risks tomorrow but swell & winds won't be as bad. Monday's high tide is forecast at 4.29m (@ 3.26pm) and although it won't take direct hit from the Atlantic swell the water has to go somewhere up the Irish Sea and with the winds still strong there Mon afternoons high tide is a concern

The middle tides are all lower so the biggest risks are tomorrow morning/early afternoon but especially Mon morning (South & West)/afternoon (East coast) with the saving grace that the tides are not quite as high as today & tomorrow at this stage winds not looking as strong as last night

Elsewhere these endless Atlantic surges and rainfall is surely putting pressures on the river systems and as someone said earlier Shannon may come under pressure this weekend

The good news is that we get through Monday we're in the clear - lower tides & no storms on the horizon and no major rain forecast at this stage

Views based on attempting to read these charts

http://magicseaweed.com/North-Atlantic-Surf-Chart/2/

http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Dublin-Ireland/tides/latest

Where are you getting your tide info from? The HT in Galway this morning was 5.55m, not 5m. On Monday HT at 9.25am will be 4.77m. http://tides.mobilegeographics.com/calendar/month/2085.html

The swell is usually not a problem in Galway as the Aran Islands break up ocean swell, and it is the wind and storm surge that is the danger, so with a drop of ~75cm Monday's event should not be too problematic in Galway. Hopefully!

kerrywez

Autorotation wrote: »

The media are full of their 'hurricane force' winds again. Do they not think it's strange that ME don't use that terminology!? Because there is no such thing as a 'hurricane force gust' in meteorology!!... It's either a hurricane or it's not! Force 11 can gust to whatever it likes. It's still Force 11.

You are so wrong, force 12 on the Beaufort scale is Hurricane force, ask any one on here. force 9, which ME call strong gale, is in truth severe gale, force 11 is violent storm and force 10 is storm and 8 os just gale, you don't have to take my word for it I am sure you can use google, just google the Beaufort Scale.

Regards Wez

Steopo

Got tides from here, took it as accurate but not an expert on these charts.

http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Galway/tides/latest

Autorotation

kerrywez wrote: »

You are so wrong, force 12 on the Beaufort scale is Hurricane force, ask any one on here. force 9, which ME call strong gale, is in truth severe gale, force 11 is violent storm and force 10 is storm and 8 os just gale, you don't have to take my word for it I am sure you can use google, just google the Beaufort Scale.

Regards Wez

Thanks Wez, but that's exactly what I said!...
Force 11 (Violent Storm) is sustained winds of between 56-63 knots, with gusts of 69 knots or anything over.
Force 12 (Hurricane) is sustained winds of 64 knots or more. Gusts don't count for Force 12.

kerrywez

Not what I read, but I think I see where you are coming from.

Regards Wez

_Whimsical_

Hooter23 wrote: »

I know winds have to be above 130km/hr for a level 3 warning but met eireann should have taken the highest tides of the year into consideration alot more and it probably should have got a level 3 cause of that at least for coastal areas hopefully they learn from their mistakes.

I agree with you. I think we all tend to forget that there a lot of people going about their business pretty unaware of weather forecasts and putting complete trust in ME nightly forecast after the news, if they aren't making a big deal people presume it'll be fine.
I was surprised to see one lady on the news tonight with a lovely cafe directly opposite the prom in galway say she didn't worry about this storm as it was an "orange storm" and she presumed if it was going to be damaging it would have been a "red storm" so she didn't take precautions. Her business is destroyed today by water damage.

Oscar Bravo

Tonights outlook from ME who have been spot on so far,good detail

Very changeable and unsettled weather is expected through the rest of the weekend and into early next week. Frost and ice Saturday night, but also severe winds, heavy rain, high seas and high tides during Sunday and Monday.

Saturday night: Cold with clear spells and dry apart from isolated wintry showers. Lowest temperatures zero to -4 degrees, with a fairly widespread frost and icy patches. The frost will clear much of Munster before dawn as cloudy, windy weather, with outbreaks of rain moves in from the Atlantic.

Sunday: A band of heavy rain will sweep up over the country during the morning followed by sunny spells and scattered heavy showers. Very windy again with strong to gale force southeasterly winds, veering south to southwesterly. But extremely windy or stormy weather is likely to develop for Sunday night and continue through much of Monday. So no frost Sunday night.

On Sunday and Monday, there is a further risk of potentially dangerous conditions, with damaging winds, heavy rain or showers leading to some flooding. In particular, coastal flooding continues to be a threat, due to the ongoing combination of high tides/high seas/onshore high winds.

kerrywez

To save an further confusion here is a screen crab of the official Beaufort Scale, be handy for some who do not know what the numbers represent.

Regards Wez

Oscar Bravo

everybody on here seems to understand Kerrywez so thanks but no thanks for your chart. Regards....the rest of us.

kerrywez

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

everybody on here seems to understand Kerrywez so thanks but no thanks for your chart. Regards....the rest of us.

What is your problem with me mate, maybe you should take a few very deep breaths before you speak for everyone on here. You think your so smart, but that is you thinking that, not sure how may others would be inclined to agree with you.

Keep up your jibes at me if you wish, I got no gripe with you, or anyone else on here for that matter. I was trying to be helpful to some on here, not "experts" like you, but then again your just so smart you make the rest of us look like fools; NOT.

In future speak to me if I ask you a question and keep your remarks to yourself, you will get on much better that way.

Wez


Cut it out both of you. Personal abuse is not tolerated here whether there is provocation or not! Report posts you find objectionable, DO NOT RESPOND ON THREAD
Final warning!

Red Pepper

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I agree with you. I think we all tend to forget that there a lot of people going about their business pretty unaware of weather forecasts and putting complete trust in ME nightly forecast after the news, if they aren't making a big deal people presume it'll be fine.
I was surprised to see one lady on the news tonight with a lovely cafe directly opposite the prom in galway say she didn't worry about this storm as it was an "orange storm" and she presumed if it was going to be damaging it would have been a "red storm" so she didn't take precautions. Her business is destroyed today by water damage.

Ah stop, that café (Coco Café) is right on the prom, very close to the water. It also has an underground toilet which completed flooded. She should have known. Her café will flood again, warning or no warning.

Tom Cruises Left Nut

Oscar Bravo wrote: »

everybody on here seems to understand Kerrywez so thanks but no thanks for your chart. Regards....the rest of us.

Eh, whats the problem with the official wind scale being posted ?

Anyway, carry on

Red Pepper

Interesting that Met Eireann reported their strongest gust was on 18th December with 144km/h at Mace Head whereas the last 2 storms are considered more powerful.

Oscar Bravo

carrying on now, lets see exactly what Met Eireann have to say about the coming days on Rte Radio 1 /Sky 0160 with the land and sea area forecast coming up at 2355

Gremlinertia

I have been following this thread closely since it started and it has been wonderfully informative for an ignoramus like me, there's only a few days left of this system, don't ruin it with bickering, (don't make it awkward!)

Red Pepper

The scene around Galway today was unreal, especially along the prom. Lots and lots of very large stones/rocks were thrown across the road.
Piles of seaweed everywhere. Hard to believe.

maquiladora

Red Pepper wrote: »

Interesting that Met Eireann reported their strongest gust was on 18th December with 144km/h at Mace Head whereas the last 2 storms are considered more powerful.

Thats only relative to gusts recorded at that headland. I think most people would rate the most 'powerful' storm the one that brought down the most trees and caused power outages in inland areas where people live. Strong gusts buffeting the exposed Atlantic headlands happen every winter and don't represent the conditions countrywide very well.