Cornish Storm Watcher

As ever in winter, there are storms in Cornwall. Named, un-named, followed by the national media or passing virtually unnoticed, they are a fact of life at this time of year. Yesterday was quite spectacular on the coast, but lacking any notification by news media, social media or verbal media, there were only a few people out to see it. A lone sea bird defying the Rule of Thirds  Are these waves literally wasting their energy against granite and sand if no one is there to record it? The 'Monkey Hut' at the end of Portreath pier has gone, what will the sea take next? At Porthtowan, Christmas has come early - ex-Christmas trees have been planted to help slow down beach erosion.  The lorry is tipping sand which had blown across the road during the previous storm. Porthtowan  Godrevy Island - no stranger to waves during a Cornish storm Godrevy Lighthouse  There's another big blow coming in on Saturday - will you be there to record it?

You may have seen wind maps or Isobar charts describing the different wind speeds or pressure points on a map and been rightly flummoxed by attempting to interpret them to find out what the heck is going on with an approaching storm. Synoptic and Windspeed Charts   Pics courtesy Ocean Prediction Centre and Weather Online  So there's nothing quite like a real-time, brightly coloured, animated visual to give you a clear idea of what's going on out there... Atlantic and UK Click the picture above to see what's happening today.  Of course if you're clicking the link mid-summer, don't expect to see a tightly curled, spinning vortex like the one in this picture. The strangely soothing effect of today's graphic belies the speed and intensity of the wind in the redder zones on the southern edge of this low pressure, winds which are currently whipping up 15 metre open ocean waves to send towards Ireland and the UK. Expect photos of big surf at Mull...

What are the chances that as soon as you start a Storm Watching blog , within a couple of weeks the biggest storm in recent history will decide to hurl itself upon the Cornish coast?  Yes, Winter Storm 'Hercules' debuted not only as a massively media-covered weather event, but, like the hurricanes that continually bother the American coast, as one of the first storms to carry a personal name. Porthleven during the Hercules storm Having started at St Ives, which had zero wind and only a medium sized swell running, arriving at Porthleven was like entering the apocalypse. Horizontal rain with sea driven spray and foam filled the ai r, drenching the crowds of photographers lining the harbour, while massive foamy waves pounded the cliff and burst over the sea wall in front of the clock tower, flooding the road and forcing unwary watchers to beat a panicked retreat. Wet photographers This storm was made large by an exceptionally active jetstream (and by active I mean fa...