Storm Ciara - Atlantic storm 3

[Uncle_Barty]

16 hours ago, DaveL said:

That is a very good point almost always missed by almost all of the media.

I have a Davis VP2 anemometer sited at 3 metres height in my back garden, as open as I can get it but we are in the middle of a large housing estate of mainly detached houses - not untypical of where most people in suburbia live. The record highest gust is 39 mph (in 6 years) and yesterday's max gusts were 30 mph (3 times) and today, 31 mph (less shelter in westerlies). My record mean wind speed is a mere 14 mph (yesterday)!

 

The Davis anemometers tend to under-read, from what I can gather. I had gusts up to 49mph during Ciara, highest ever was 54mph back in Oct 2002. My anemometer is above the roof of the house 10m up and completely in the clear.

One of these days I am going to get a transducer-based anemometer.

[Ross90]

2 hours ago, wimblettben said:

Did you measure that with your own anemometer though or just based on what the forecast told you or local station observations?

 

Local station, i don't actually go off the station the met use because it's 10 miles away and at a higher elevation.For some reason they don't use the closest one.I'd usually go off the average of the 3 closest inland stations.

[sjw2511]

Theres been many youtube tests in wind tunnels with people standing up just about in 100mph+ winds, cant see people being thrown about by 60mph winds unless you weigh 30kg

[toggerob]

3 minutes ago, sjw2511 said:

Theres been many youtube tests in wind tunnels with people standing up just about in 100mph+ winds, cant see people being thrown about by 60mph winds unless you weigh 30kg

I've been up Carnedd Dafydd in 60mph gusts and can tell you it's not the sustained winds that take you off your feet but the unexpected gusts, walking along the ridgeline in those conditions many other folks with the mountaineering group I was with weren't hesitant in packing a few rocks into the rucksacks for that added weight and grounding.

[Ross90]

If you're braced and expecting it then 100mph is probably about the limit, maybe 80 if you're trying to continue forward movement.If you're caught completely unaware then 50mph could definitely knock somebody off balance but then if people are out in stormy weather they're expecting strong gusts...

[DaveL]

17 hours ago, Ross90 said:

I'd agree with that to an extent, the media definitely pick up on the higher gusts and would have people believing that they're being experienced across a large area when in fact it's only on the coasts or upland areas.

 

I think you're overestimating how strong 60mph really is though.It would be pretty difficult walking into it but i seriously doubt an able bodied person would be blown off their feet.The central belt experiences 40-50mph 7/8 times a year and 60-70mph every couple of years and it's not as damaging or disruptive as some people suggest.Bridge closures, train delays and a few trees and fences down.Serious damage and the likelihood of being injured only really come into play at 80 mph + in my opinion. 

I was referring to 60 mph gusts at ground level in a town or city (let's say at 2 metres).  That's a whole different ball game from 60 mph gusts at 10metres in a standard open exposure, where the mean wind speed might be say 40 but much less at 2m. At ground level, gusting to 60 mph would,be sharper,  as you round a corner say, in a mean wind speed of maybe 30 mph and maybe going from zero to 60 mph in seconds due to turbulence, funnelling and so on. The ground would probably be wet as well.

As I said, at 40-45mph gusts at 2 metres (handheld anemometer) on the beach it was officially gusting over 70 mph standard exposure, and I could not stand in one position  due to the buffeting, however I braced myself - I needed to have a fence right next to me to grab as necessary. I'm not a 7 stone weakling.

Edited February 11, 2020 by DaveL

[Zak M]

Lightning totals from Storm Ciara:

[Snowyowl9]

There was thunder and lightning on sunday twice morning after that severe squall line past,just heard from our neighbour a mile away from here.

I wouldn`t on seen or heard from here from all the lashing rain and severe gale as facing south this was to the NW somewhere.

Good grief we`ve had nearly everything in the last few days.