What a Storm Looks Like

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 Mullaghmore Head in your news feed tomorrow!

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Hurricane, or just a Violent Storm?

The south west has essentially been battered by several hurricanes over the past few weeks. The most recent storm, hitting the coast on Friday afternoon and lasting until the small hours of Saturday morning, hit wind speeds above 80 mph and waves above thirty feet. The upper reaches of the widely used Beaufort scale are: Gale Force 8, Strong Gale Force 9, Storm Force 10 and Violent Storm 11 for winds up to 73mph and waves over 37 feet. Hurricane Force 12 is reserved for wind speeds above 74mph, and seas above 46 feet. Penzance Promenade No wonder Penzance and Newlyn seafront were decimated, because that's what Hurricanes do. A whole layer of the promenade scattered Although it might have been just a Violent Storm. This graph from the Penzance wave buoy would indicate otherwise, recording a wave over 90 feet. . Large enough Even if we assume this peak is an anomaly - the machinery that measures and records these waves has yet...

The Silent One

A couple of days ago a storm system showed up mid-Atlantic, with winds hitting Force 11 (Violent Storm) and open ocean waves sending the wave buoys up to around the 30ft mark. The main thing about this storm was that no-one really noticed it. Perhaps due to the brilliant sunshine and blue skies that arrived at the same time, the lack of a grey canopy and squally rain making folk unaware of the stormy seas nearby. There were few reports on the radio or TV, no warnings about walking on the beach, or storm watching. All was silent. So I thought I might get a sneaky wave at Sennen. Cornish Fireworks at Sennen The swell was too big to surf though, with waves bursting over the cliffs in a fifty mile an hour SW breeze, watched only by a handful of dog walkers and locals. Longships in a cloak of spray So I returned to the south coast, where the recent storms have uncovered remnants of a forest, believed to have covered the entirety of Mount's Bay about 5,000 years ago...

That's All for Now. Or is it?

As Cornwall basks in some summery sunshine and clean lines of swell arrive over a brushed blue sea, the ravages of the recent storms and the wettest winter in recorded history start to fade into distant memory. Hope is high that the winter has ended, and a constant stream of perfect swell over a warm hazy spring will precede a barbeque summer. Sunshine and Clean Swell Potentially then, this blog may have nothing more to report this winter, no more storms to watch, no more giant waves to record -perhaps the blog doors should be closed until next winter? But first, I thought I'd do a recap from the stormiest season I can remember, one where 20 unique hurricane force wind storms hit the Atlantic during the months of January and February, 2014. Hurricane force winds create large waves These are some of the pictures that hit the local and national papers over the winter Porthleven taking a hit from Hercules Fourteen of those 'bombed', low centers that ...

Cornish Storm Watcher

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