Severe Gales On 13th And 14th Of November 2009

[wimblettben]

This was the last time we seemed to have had any proper strong winds down here in the South.

A top gust of 100mph was recorded at the Needles and 50-60mph gusts were widespread.

Post any memories of this event here.

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[Aaron]

I don't recall it being windy but it was a wet period

[wimblettben]

The strongest winds only occurred from the Midlands southwards so anyone above this area probably wouldn't remember it that much.

The complex low itself was over Ireland and Northern England at the time which is why it was the rain that made most of the stories there.

Edited October 8, 2011 by wimblettben

[Isolated Frost]

Yep wimblettben summed it up pretty well there.

[willinkent]

Since 1987 the worst i can think of was oct 2000. I was first year at uni in Canterbury Kent. Weather on bbc said big storm on the way..... we'd had lots of flooding weeks previous..... then this storm wrecked pond outside keynes college.... i opened my curtains one morning, saw a plank of wood fly passed my window and closed my curtains and swent back to bed..... the trees were swaying almost 90 degrees.... was like nuclear bomb went off round pond.... from what i remember we had 90mph gusts in canterbury itself...... the time people are refering here i think this was when we had a tree down on the road past preston park causing the usual traffic chaos....

[Aaron]

February 1990 was pretty severe. 98 mph gust recorded in Leeds city centre, god only knows what damage was done.

Edited October 8, 2011 by Aaron

[wimblettben]

Here's a video I found of one of the news bullitins on the 14th of November after the winds reached there peak.

Edited October 9, 2011 by wimblettben

[Timmead]

Official figures for Heathrow confirm my suspicion...

It wasn't that bad.

In fact, Feb of this year had 2 windier days.

[wimblettben]

Official figures for Heathrow confirm my suspicion...

It wasn't that bad.

In fact, Feb of this year had 2 windier days.

Our local weather forecaster Ian Fergusson for here in the Southwest mentioned that quite a few places hit 70mph and Yolevilton had a gust of 65mph so maybe it wasn't quite as widespread as I first thought. Even then though that's not exactly a forgetable windspeed especially this far down south.

Maybe I should change the description of the topic to just Sothwest England to help stop any confusion.

Edited October 9, 2011 by wimblettben

[wimblettben]

Well thats annoying.

I can't seem to be able to change the title of the topic.

Edited October 9, 2011 by wimblettben

[Styx]

Ha, never mind, it was obviously a memorable event, but probably quite localised.

It is interesting to see such wide variations in measured wind speeds sometimes at different locations at any one point in time.

I was living at Littlehampton in the autumn of 1998 and witnessed an unforgettable evening of a ferocious gale, the like i have never seen before. Walking to work literally scared me - the sound of the whistling power lines and loose objects and branches flying thru the air. I barely could stand upright let alone walk.

Amazingly, absolutley amazingly, I cant find any record of it being a newsworthy event. Wanted to see what kind of windspeed I may have encountered, it would have had to have been 80mph+.. I am guessing it was probably something incredibly localised, or maybe I imagined the whole event.. .

[Timmead]

Gusts are an odd thing; they can indeed be very localised, making it difficult to ascertain true windiness from gust readings.

I therefore tend to stick to average wind speeds, which show more regional consistency.