While not wanting to talk down the severity of last night's storm I think the
circumstances of the much publicised 126 mph gust in the Faeroes should be
considered.

The gust was measured at Akraberg which is at the southern tip of the Faeroe
Islands. The weather station is listed as being at a height of 99m above sea
level. It is at a lighthouse. A good set of photos starts at the following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1471677...7615336643707/

These show that the anemometer sensor appears to be on top of the lighthouse.
The location is on an extremely exposed rock headland with a sheer cliff on the
west side down to the sea. It looks as though there could be considerable
enhancement of the wind speed due to the air being forced to rise over the
headland.

Due to its height and exposure it is almost certain that in SW winds (the
direction at the time of the big gust) the anemometer will experience winds
substantially stronger than would be experienced at the standard 10m height
over the sea away from the effects of the land. I am sure that the 126 mph gust
that was measured is not representative of anything other than the location at
which it was measured. Having said that, it was still a storm of considerable
note.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

On Nov 25, 11:31*am, "Norman" wrote:
While not wanting to talk down the severity of last night's storm I think the
circumstances of the much publicised 126 mph gust in the Faeroes should be
considered.

The gust was measured at Akraberg which is at the southern tip of the Faeroe
Islands. The weather station is listed as being at a height of 99m above sea
level. It is at a lighthouse. A good set of photos starts at the following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1471677.../set-721576153...

These show that the anemometer sensor appears to be on top of the lighthouse.
The location is on an extremely exposed rock headland with a sheer cliff on the
west side down to the sea. It looks as though there could be considerable
enhancement of the wind speed due to the air being forced to rise over the
headland.

Due to its height and exposure it is almost certain that in SW winds (the
direction at the time of the big gust) the anemometer will experience winds
substantially stronger than would be experienced at the standard 10m height
over the sea away from the effects of the land. I am sure that the 126 mph gust
that was measured is not representative of anything other than the location *at
which it was measured. Having said that, it was still a storm of considerable
note.

I'm sure that the 944 mb on the ssp at the moment is only indicative
of local pressures too.

Not fit to report on the weather forecast maybe.
If it had happened near Shoeburyness, that would have been different.

The USA has no such problems with their geography when they write
about Mt Washington.

Do you not suspect that the architect should have specified it was a
lighthouse and they put such things in exposed places for a reason,
when the people who had the daft idea of putting an anemometer there
consulted him?

"Norman" wrote in message
...
While not wanting to talk down the severity of last night's storm I think
the
circumstances of the much publicised 126 mph gust in the Faeroes should be
considered.

The gust was measured at Akraberg which is at the southern tip of the
Faeroe
Islands. The weather station is listed as being at a height of 99m above
sea
level. It is at a lighthouse. A good set of photos starts at the
following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1471677...7615336643707/

These show that the anemometer sensor appears to be on top of the
lighthouse.
The location is on an extremely exposed rock headland with a sheer cliff
on the
west side down to the sea. It looks as though there could be considerable
enhancement of the wind speed due to the air being forced to rise over the
headland.

Due to its height and exposure it is almost certain that in SW winds (the
direction at the time of the big gust) the anemometer will experience
winds
substantially stronger than would be experienced at the standard 10m
height
over the sea away from the effects of the land. I am sure that the 126 mph
gust
that was measured is not representative of anything other than the
location at
which it was measured. Having said that, it was still a storm of
considerable
note.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

Interestingly the 110 knot gust from Akraberg was reported on the 2100 Z
observation, with the greatest strength likely to have occurred in the
following few hours. Unfortunately there was no midnight data from most of
the Faeroe Islands, presumably due to power or communication problems, so it
is possible that gusts were even higher after 2100 Z. Similarly, at
Thorshavn the max reported gust was 89 KT (102 mph) reported on the 0300 Z
observation, but again the midnight data was not available.
--
Andy
http://www.romansleighweather.co.uk/

Here are two pictures I personally took at the spot at the island of
Suduroy back in June, 2007
http://home.online.no/~bsoerhei/geo/uksciweather/

The anemometer in the first, cliff in the second..
I can second what Andy Page writes.
I tried to check what the airport, Soervagur, reported concerning winds.
But there too they took the day off after 21h - too bad.

I Norway it has been a windy and storming day.
I'm waiting for what the late evening will bring.
The greatest problem could be the sea surge, which should
be at max height at 23 hours locally. If there are much winds
at the time it could be a big problem. Note that the moon is new today also.
The storm is acompanied with some thunder and lighting.
A strong lightning occured here a couple of hours ago, I was looking
out the main window at the time, and counted the time.
It was 8 km distant but the street light went out and came
back on. The computer also fell out and rebooted -seldom this happens.
I subsequently pulled out all the electric plugs also on TV, etc. I waited
half an hour before I put them in again.

My location is not the worst as the hardest wind up to hurricane force is
ecpected in the counties of Nord-Trøndelag and southern Nordland(Helgeland)
later today and after midnight.

Bjørn Sørheim
62.2N, 6.2E, 40 m asl
Norway



"Norman" skrev i melding
...
While not wanting to talk down the severity of last night's storm I think
the
circumstances of the much publicised 126 mph gust in the Faeroes should be
considered.

The gust was measured at Akraberg which is at the southern tip of the
Faeroe
Islands. The weather station is listed as being at a height of 99m above
sea
level. It is at a lighthouse. A good set of photos starts at the
following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1471677...7615336643707/

These show that the anemometer sensor appears to be on top of the
lighthouse.
The location is on an extremely exposed rock headland with a sheer cliff
on the
west side down to the sea. It looks as though there could be considerable
enhancement of the wind speed due to the air being forced to rise over the
headland.

Due to its height and exposure it is almost certain that in SW winds (the
direction at the time of the big gust) the anemometer will experience
winds
substantially stronger than would be experienced at the standard 10m
height
over the sea away from the effects of the land. I am sure that the 126 mph
gust
that was measured is not representative of anything other than the
location at
which it was measured. Having said that, it was still a storm of
considerable
note.

--
Norman Lynagh
Tideswell, Derbyshire
303m a.s.l.

Norman wrote:
While not wanting to talk down the severity of last night's storm I think the
circumstances of the much publicised 126 mph gust in the Faeroes should be
considered.

The gust was measured at Akraberg which is at the southern tip of the Faeroe
Islands. The weather station is listed as being at a height of 99m above sea
level. It is at a lighthouse. A good set of photos starts at the following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1471677...7615336643707/

These show that the anemometer sensor appears to be on top of the lighthouse.
The location is on an extremely exposed rock headland with a sheer cliff on the
west side down to the sea. It looks as though there could be considerable
enhancement of the wind speed due to the air being forced to rise over the
headland.

Due to its height and exposure it is almost certain that in SW winds (the
direction at the time of the big gust) the anemometer will experience winds
substantially stronger than would be experienced at the standard 10m height
over the sea away from the effects of the land. I am sure that the 126 mph gust
that was measured is not representative of anything other than the location at
which it was measured. Having said that, it was still a storm of considerable
note.

-----------------
Indeed, I still wouldn't have wanted to be standing on the edge of that
cliff!
Dave