A couple of weeks back ex Hurricane Gordon got loads of publicity,
severe weather warnings & the rest, Cornwall specifically mentioned.
When nothing much happened the media resorted to reporting the very
large swell, which was in fact very similar to the swell which occured
the previous week - both peaked just under 20' at Sevenstones.

Yesterday, with no specific warnings or news coverage, the wind was
just as strong in many parts of Cornwall (though still not out of the
ordinary), the swell was bigger (it peaked at 23' at Sevenstones -
which is seriously big & the biggest since last winter) and it all
coincided with a big tide, which 'Gordon' didn't. As a result there
were some problems on the north Cornwall coast, www.cornwallcam.co.uk/
has a few photos of conditions in St Ives bay.

It seems that predictions are more interesting than reality, which is
perhaps why UKSW has more posts on predictions than actual events.

Graham
Penzance