Storm Eunice - 18th February

[Pixel]

1 minute ago, lawrenk said:

Out for a walk now things are a little calmer. Interesting place to position your trampoline.

I'd bet the owner of that would say "my App didn't tell me it was going to be windy" 

[Nick L]

21 minutes ago, Bartlett High said:

Not sure this storm was anywhere near as bad as some were suggesting 24hrs ago tbh.

We get the picture. You missed out on strong winds. 

This was spot on to forecast.

[James1979]

Pretty much done and dusted here now.  Liveliest storm since I've been here (4.5 years), possibly on par with St Jude's and longer lasting but not reaching the temporary extremes gusts of that one.  Probably around the 6th strongest I've ever seen overall and miles off an '87 but sounds like a very intense day elsewhere.  Thoughts are with anyone with damage or worse.

 

[alexisj9]

21 minutes ago, MKN said:

They will be back when they see that the showers in wales, birmingham area and central southern england are falling as snow. 

Had some sleet even here earlier.

[danm]

6 minutes ago, Man With Beard said:

Localised differences. The really bad winds didn't really materialise in the Midlands and East Anglia, I am guessing. Clearly it was bad in the SW but not sure if it was more than a 1 in 3 year event there. However, from Dorset up to the Solent where I am, it seems it was bang on track with the worst forecasts, I think the fact we've broken the English wind speed record on our doorstep says it all. Not sure how those further inland (N Hants, Surrey, Kent) would view the event?

Inland here in Greater London this is an unusually strong storm. 

[alexisj9]

21 minutes ago, SnowBear said:

The potential was there to be a lot worse, but to get even this level of forecast for a storm that didn't really start forming barely 48 hours ago I think is good going. Maybe we didn't see those high end gust speeds but what we have had is still bad enough. 

Bad enough to topple a powerstation chimney, and they are built good and strong.

[suffolkboy_]

41 minutes ago, Man With Beard said:

So no conclusive sign of a sting jet. Of course, if it were very localised, it may be that official stations would miss it. There are a few stations in E Anglia claiming max gusts between 80 and 90mph but can't be taken seriously of course, calibration could be wrong. Maybe late reporting Met Office stations will pick up on something.

That said, some gusts well into the 70mphs in that area (which ECM and GFS have flagged for days), just as strong as many in the red zone, is not to be sniffed at.

I recorded a gust of 78mph in mid-suffolk as the band of showers came through. This was by far the windiest part of the day. Those stations seemed to record maximum gusts as the showers passed too, so I'm guessing not sting jet, more wind increased via downdraughts from showers? It certainly felt nothing like the sting jet I experienced with St Jude storm. That was wild and I'll never forget it.

[Don]

4 minutes ago, alexisj9 said:

Had some sleet even here earlier.

Have graupel at the moment here.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Don

[FlightlessWings]

 

This beauty just passed overhead and brought back the crazy strong winds for a short time. Now it’s clearing to the east. 

[sunnijim]

10 minutes ago, Nick L said:

We get the picture. You missed out on strong winds. 

This was spot on to forecast.

Yes,spot on from the met office this time.

Gusts have been generally pegged between 70mph and 80mph on English coasts and 50mph to 60mph inland.( the debate about what constitutes a red warning is for another day)

What hasn't been spot on and maybe leading to some bust comments here is the hyperbole surrounding some of the more extreme model runs in the run up to the storm,on here from some and in the media in general.

Talk of commonplace wind gusts between 80mph to 90mph didn't happen today.

The 'gloss' of 122mph at the Needles shouldn't detract from the wider picture.

The storm was notable,but worst since 1987,no way,1990,no way,in fact imby no way all the way to 2016 when I last recordeded 74mph as a gust,previous to that 2014 77mph.

Edited February 18, 2022 by sunnijim

[CurtisOliver]

Just had a lull of infrequent gusts and now the winds are back up to strength again and more persistent. Must be gusting in its high 50's, low 60's. 

Although in the last few moments the wind has become very strong. 

Forecasts in my area are showing the storm easing. This storm obviously doesn't agree.

Edited February 18, 2022 by CurtisOliver

[The PIT]

The shape of the low delayed the strong winds for here so the forecast went astray slightly. Winds arrived in the afternoon peaking at 61 mph gusts and force 7. So duration less than forecast this morning. Like the old days when winds like this were common here.

[Moss]

Anyone have any idea why gusts are still so strong in Nottingham? Thought it was supposed to have eased by now?

[LightningLover]

Well in my eyes the red warning for Bexhill was wholly justified. A very potent storm indeed for these parts, There were a couple of gusts just before 12:00 that felt as if they were approaching 80mph! It was interesting to note the 'stop and start' nature of the storm, particularly early on. High tide was at 12:30, so just after what I considered to be the peak. The waves were very large and the swell was quite something to behold!
 

As you can see from the attached photos, there were numerous instances of noteworthy storm damage, the most attention worthy of which being the De La Warr Pavilion bandstand structure, which has been standing in place since 2004. Eunice made short work of it. This was certainly an event for the old weather journal, and an unexpected surprise from an otherwise turgid winter.

[Bristawl Si]

Winds seemed to have picked up again here, in last 20 mins or so.

[Long haul to mild]

17 minutes ago, suffolkboy_ said:

I recorded a gust of 78mph in mid-suffolk as the band of showers came through. This was by far the windiest part of the day. Those stations seemed to record maximum gusts as the showers passed too, so I'm guessing not sting jet, more wind increased via downdraughts from showers? It certainly felt nothing like the sting jet I experienced with St Jude storm. That was wild and I'll never forget it.

Agreed, St Jude was, for about an hour or so, really quite frightening. It never got to that level here today despite being quite a strong storm.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Long haul to mild

[alexisj9]

3 minutes ago, Bristle Si said:

Winds seemed to have picked up again here, in last 20 mins or so.

We'll have the wind that's around now all night I think, it's a long drawn northwesterly, will gust harder with any showers. I don't think it's the storm any more, or at least no where near storm force.

Edited February 18, 2022 by alexisj9

[lottiekent]

36 minutes ago, Man With Beard said:

Localised differences. The really bad winds didn't really materialise in the Midlands and East Anglia, I am guessing. Clearly it was bad in the SW but not sure if it was more than a 1 in 3 year event there. However, from Dorset up to the Solent where I am, it seems it was bang on track with the worst forecasts, I think the fact we've broken the English wind speed record on our doorstep says it all. Not sure how those further inland (N Hants, Surrey, Kent) would view the event?

It was crazy here in SE Kent for a while early afternoon. A local weather station in Capel recorded 116mph which is pretty breezy(for all the nay sayers). Lots of trees down, tiles off roofs etc.

Have seen reports that a chimney came down on a power station in north Kent and the shopping centre in the centre of Ashford in Kent sustained damage to their roof.
 

We have a small garage block outside, all the houses in our close have one each and the roof came off the lot on one side, pulling part of the wall down at one end.

So not quite a normal winter storm!

 

 

 

(this was worse a bit later, the whole roof lifted and took the red garage door up with it)

 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by lottiekent

[NO LONGER POSTING]

36 minutes ago, Man With Beard said:

Localised differences. The really bad winds didn't really materialise in the Midlands and East Anglia, I am guessing. Clearly it was bad in the SW but not sure if it was more than a 1 in 3 year event there. However, from Dorset up to the Solent where I am, it seems it was bang on track with the worst forecasts, I think the fact we've broken the English wind speed record on our doorstep says it all. Not sure how those further inland (N Hants, Surrey, Kent) would view the event?

North Surrey bad.. posted in my regional thread house next door to me is missing tiles we lost a garage tile and a whole ridge has unfortunately come crashing down on a range rover a few streets away.. my friend 3 doors down has a pine over and hung up in a tree next to it.. tree blocking road out out my village earlier..

my van was the other side so glad it came this way!

Mum sent me this video of staines upon Thames High Street 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Surrey

[Jimmyh]

Check this out 

[cobbett]

Personally a storm that won’t be remembered even tho we were in the mid red zone - not notably more windy than a standard winter storm  - no trees down in the village and roads clear all day. Only notable feature is an ongoing power cut 

[stevofunnelcl]

over 6 hours past the expiration of the Red Warning, my lights are still flickering a bit. Hoping for some calmer time now TBH. but yellow warning out for tomorrow

[damianslaw]

29 minutes ago, sunnijim said:

Yes,spot on from the met office this time.

Gusts have been generally pegged between 70mph and 80mph on English coasts and 50mph to 60mph inland.( the debate about what constitutes a red warning is for another day)

What hasn't been spot on and maybe leading to some bust comments here is the hyperbole surrounding some of the more extreme model runs in the run up to the storm,on here from some and in the media in general.

Talk of commonplace wind gusts between 80mph to 90mph didn't happen today.

The 'gloss' of 122mph at the Needles shouldn't detract from the wider picture.

The storm was notable,but worst since 1987,no way,1990,no way,in fact imby no way all the way to 2016 when I last recordeded 74mph as a gust,previous to that 2014 77mph.

I'm sure there were a number of worse storms winter 13-14.

[MattStoke]

Forecasters did a good job on this one, warning people days before the storm even existed and no doubt saving lives. Still though get some who moan that it was all scaremongering because they themselves weren’t badly hit, ignoring the damage and disruption elsewhere. Some people will always be ignorant and selfish by their very nature.

[Zookeeper]

After a pleasant sunny lull, Eunice seems to be leaving the Bristol channel with a sting in her tail. It's right gusty again and we've had dramatic cloudscapes, hail and some very sharp showers.

I'm enjoying it as interesting weather now the threat of serious damage has (hopefully) passed.