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Forecasting Wind Gusts


ZONE 51

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Posted
  • Location: Stanwell(south side of Heathrow Ap)
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms, squally fronts, snow, frost, very mild if no snow or frost
  • Location: Stanwell(south side of Heathrow Ap)

Hi everyone, something i have always wanted to learn more about is how wind gusts are forecast, i know that the strongests gusts hit exposed hills and coasts but that depends on wind direction, i have heard many times about how mountains and hills can stop the wind from a certain direction even when a severe gale is in effect, and that we get most severe gusts up the Irish sea or in the Channel and other places that are prone to the wind. i used to think that if a wind storm is taking place from one direction then it would just be severe across the whole area, last year severe gales hit the North and i was reading reports that some places had not had strong gusts, wheres other had damaging winds, but the isobars tightly packed across the whole area i would have expected it to hit all areas in that zone. im now starting to understand why wind can be lighter or stronger depending on hills, coasts, and direction.

Edited by ElectricSnowStorm
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Posted
  • Location: Stanwell(south side of Heathrow Ap)
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms, squally fronts, snow, frost, very mild if no snow or frost
  • Location: Stanwell(south side of Heathrow Ap)

Do the models take into account the effects of mountains and hills that block the wind? i use the model data to make the wind charts and sometimes the strongests winds are in a narrow area, so they are being funnelled, some warnings i see when a gale or storm is coming have a small area sometimes with the strongests winds, where some forecast in general have whole large areas for example Northern areas or the far South, Western coasts, and Eastern exposed hills. Is a higher res wind model used by forecasters that get into more local detail than what i look at? are convective gusts the same with the hills/exposed land?

Thanks in advance for replies and i really am interested in this as im sure many of you are.

Edited by ElectricSnowStorm
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