Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
![]() |
|
uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) (uk.sci.weather) For the discussion of daily weather events, chiefly affecting the UK and adjacent parts of Europe, both past and predicted. The discussion is open to all, but contributions on a practical scientific level are encouraged. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Remember waking up, looked outside, realised what was happening.
The thing that sticks in my mind with this storm, unlike other 'gales', was the consistency of the strength of wind. The noise was horrific. After the Storm had passed, people began to come out from inside and take alook around. It felt like Armaggedon or something. Everything was very quiet, trees down everywhere, building damage... a complete mess. It was ever so striking. You could see on everyone's face complete shock and amazement, their day to day routine had been brought to a complete halt. Extremely local....Was truly freak and will probably never be matched, although, that thing that went through France 2 or 3 years ago was pretty hefty wasn't it? Not sure it it was as bad, but certainly a wider area. |
#12
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 14:10:12 -0000, "Gavin Staples"
wrote: The October 1987 Storm My Comment: Just a request here, did anyone on this ng experience this? If so what was it like where you lived? I was living in Australia at the time and missed it. We were on a small village estate near Stowmarket in mid Suffolk. For us, the night seemed windy but not excessively so but it didn't take long to work out it had been otherwise. After finding we had no power or telephone in the morning, I left for work as normal. Our part of the estate seemed virtually unaffected, apart from some missing tiles and a garage roof which had blown off and up, coming down again at an odd angle to the walls. I got to the entrance of the estate and that was as far as I or anyone else there could drive for two days. Either direction out for several hundred yards was a carpet of fallen trees, mature oaks, elms and saplings across the road in both directions, enlivened by the odd shower of sparks from fallen cables. After a few hours, it became clear that for several miles around the roads were completely impassable and that the prospect of any official help in the near future was remote. The parish council and a local farmer got a gang together with chain and bow saws and for the next two days, we cleared what we could ourselves - around half a mile of continuous trees and shrubs from the road and a tour of people's houses where owners had reported that trees had fallen on them or become dangerous. We couldn't shift the biggest trees and just cut a single track through what had been the top branches (it was several weeks before all of these were cleared from the byroads). By the second day, most of us were completely knackered. The last address we called on appeared to have no fallen trees at all. I knocked on the door and a little old lady appeared. "Hello there, we can't see a fallen tree in your garden - is one of them damaged?" "Oh , nothing's fallen down or dangerous - there's just a tree in the back garden I've never liked and I want it chopped down". Considering how we felt at the time, our response was remarkably polite. After a couple of days most roads were passable, although it was a few days more before power came back for us. My wife got to work at Bury St Edmunds 20 miles away only to get grilled about why she hadn't been able to get to work earlier or phone in. She explained why but was initially disbelieved by her boss - the west of the county was much less affected and everyone else there had got in ok. They thought the media were exaggerating what had happened. For me the most stunning sight was Rendlesham forest near Woodbridge. This was a fairly mature pine forest in East Suffolk not far off being felled and there were rumours it had been flattened - we travelled there a few days later and could hardly believe what we saw. Right up to the horizon, nearly all the pine trees were just, well, gone. Those that hadn't been uprooted had been snapped in two and amongst the layer of fallen greenery, their trunks stuck up like splintered matchsticks. I struggled through a tangle of branches to look at one of these trunks - it was around eighteen inches across and had been snapped off about eight feet up. A huge area was affected but at the same time it was quite localised - near the centre we could see at least a mile and probably further before there was anything left standing but at its fringes there was hardly any damage at all. This pattern of areas being severely hit and others much less so seemed to be a common experience in the area, although Rendlesham Forest was an extreme example. John Rainer |
#13
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]() |
#14
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
"Nick G" wrote in
: Here in Worcester there was very little damage from the storm as the worst of the winds were further east. What does stick in my mind was the storm of January 1990. It seemed to me to be just as severe as the October 1987 storm, but covered a larger area and I think there were more casualties and damage as a result. Nick I've looked into this before, I personally feel it's because those storms that form a bent-back front tend to me much more intense and tightly-cored leading to a much narrow region of damage. The 1990 storm was more diffuse and the winds were spread over a larger area. Also gust data at stations in the damage swath show how in the 1987 storm there were a higher density of gusts closer to the peak gust, whereas in the 1990 storms, one or two gusts were very strong, but a high percentage of the gusts were much lower. Cheers Richard |
#15
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
- And on Sat, 13 Nov 2004 14:10:12 -0000, it was spake thus in said in message "Gavin Staples" :
The October 1987 Storm My Comment: Just a request here, did anyone on this ng experience this? If so what was it like where you lived? I was living in Australia at the time and missed it. Er, we were on honeymoon in Penzance ![]() I slept right through it ! My new wife - a very light sleeper - was awoken at about 0200 by the bay window of the hotel bedroom trying to demolish itself ! There wasn't that much damage that I was aware of out there in the SW, but the sea was interesting in that there wasn't as much swell as I would have expected, but there were HUGE amounts of water going up in the air when a wave hit the sea wall... Not as bad as a few weeks ago, but still spectacular ! I shall try to dig out the photo's I took and post them... soonish ! -- Nick in Northallerton www.whelan.me.uk Also nickw7coc on Yahoo Messenger & on MSN Messenger & www.skype.com ! |
#16
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Just a request here, did anyone on this ng
experience this? If so what was it like where you lived? I was living in Australia at the time and missed it. Gavin Staples. My recollections are that it was a total non-event in this part of the country. Mr Fish got it spot on for us. For a 13 year old weather enthusiast the TV coverage from the south east of England was interesting / exciting though. The Sevenoaks-minus-six story particularly sticks in the mind. But quickly it became exaggerated into the "greatest storm since 1703". Perhaps the most expensive to hit our shores, but Scotland had a more powerful storm 18 months earlier which is all but forgotten (except in the record books). And in terms of human casualties - the Burns day storm of 1990 was a far greater disaster. Still, it was a storm. A 1 in 250 year event for the UK? I don't think so. บบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบ Alex Stephens Jr Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland N55บ47'14", W3บ55'15". 360ft/117m amsl http://www.alex114.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ บบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบ |
#17
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
In article ,
Alex Stephens Jr writes: snip And in terms of human casualties - the Burns day storm of 1990 was a far greater disaster. That was largely because, IIRC, the peak winds in the 1990 storm were during the day. The peak winds in the 1987 storm occurred when almost everyone was in bed. -- John Hall "Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself." Doris Lessing |
#18
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
And in terms of human casualties - the Burns day storm of 1990 was a far
greater disaster. You may be right about the other events Alex, but I can assure you this wasn't just another big storm. I've certainly never experienced winds well in excess of 100 mph before.There would have probably been hundreds of fatalities if this hadn't occurred in the early hours of the morning. Given the density of traffic and people movements in this area I hate to think what the thousands of trees that fell and masonry falling would have done! Dave. 2.6C 18.50Z |
#19
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
"Alex Stephens Jr" wrote in message
My recollections are that it was a total non-event in this part of the country. Mr Fish got it spot on for us. For a 13 year old weather enthusiast the TV coverage from the south east of England was interesting / exciting though. The Sevenoaks-minus-six story particularly sticks in the mind. But quickly it became exaggerated into the "greatest storm since 1703". Perhaps the most expensive to hit our shores, but Scotland had a more powerful storm 18 months earlier which is all but forgotten (except in the record books). In terms of damage I'd never seen anything like it along the Barton-on-sea - New Milton to Mudeford strip; with entire rooves lifted off and some cliff top properties practically destroyed. Jan. 25th 1990 came a close second though in terms of damage and disruption. Jon. -- Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG |
#20
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
In uk.sci.weather on Sat, 13 Nov 2004 at 15:18:34, Jim Webster wrote :
"Gavin Staples" wrote in message . .. The October 1987 Storm The October 15th-16th severe gale was one of biggest weather events to hit the UK of the 20th Century. The worst hit areas were the most densely populated areas of the UK namely the southeast of England and East Anglia, roughly southeast of a line from the Wash to Portland Bill. I remember it well, because living in the North West we got endless news coverage of the South East suffering from wind. We escaped the worst of it here, but it was still a wild night with a number of mature trees toppled. -- Paul Hyett, Cheltenham |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Forum | |||
"The Great Windstorm of October 1987: 25 years on" | uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) | |||
(Was)18 years since the great cold spell of january 1987 | uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) | |||
18 years since the great cold spell of january 1987. What is the lowest temp in home counties? | uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) | |||
The October 1987 Hurricane.A big thanks to you all | uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) | |||
1987 Hurricane - BBC Prog... | uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) |