Sgeir
Well-known member
How long does it last? I'm starting to lose count, but I think we've just had our third one sine May.
Hurricane Season
- Thread starter Sgeir
- Start date
Robin
Well-known member
You have not seen a single hurricane, sorry. There may have been wind gusts of hurricane strength but that is nothing like the same as sustained winds and anyway there is more to hurricanes than just the wind strengths, like massive rainfall and tidal surges.
Sandy
Well-known member
Well from my time in 'An Gearasdan' from about 1st July to 30th May the following year.
robp
Active member
Not sure about the tidal surges but I've never seen so much rain, moving so fast, sideways as I saw today in the ex Westerly town of Waterlooville!
And I've seen a bit of rain in my time..
ParaHandy
Active member
I'm afraid Robin's right. You would also have to have a lot more water falling on you. A tropical storm is more appropriate but tropical?
TQA
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Sorry but unless you have moved south you ain't had any.
You have to be in the tropics to have a hurricane, you have just had ex tropical storms.
Woodlouse
New member
Actually, whilst Hurricanes are the tropical storms native to the Atlantic tropics a Force 12 wind on the Beaufort scale is also described as being a Hurricane. Just the same way a Force 8 is described as a Gale.
See here:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/guide/beaufortscale.html
See here:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/guide/beaufortscale.html
Sgeir
Well-known member
I'm not in the habit of using smileys but I fear that it may be necessary in future....
V1701
Well-known member
I know we're not having hurricanes etc., but living on my wee boat in Brighton I'll admit I'm getting a bit tired of all the strong winds now, can we have some respite please...
TQA
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I thought the full description of F12 to be ' hurricane force winds ' ?
OK yes I am being pedantic but words and definitions matter, esp. here.
![[32511]](https://ybw-data.community.forum/avatars/m/32/32511.jpg?1576058889){kind=avatar}
[32511]
...
Hurricane force WINDS? what else would they be?
Robin
Well-known member
Sorry Sgeir, I did realise that you were being flippant but I had just heard several people here calling it a hurricane!
Tide surge where we were originally going to keep our boat in Virginia has reached 14 feet in a hurricane and when the normal tide range at springs is less than 3ft it causes huge problems! Even boats ashore are vulnerable, because the area can flood deep enough to float them off their shores or cradles and dump them down anywhere. A lot of USA marinas have fixed docks and with a tidal range in places of under 2ft that isn't surprising. Even those with floating docks have problems when the pontoons rise above the height of the piles and go walkabout.
alan_d
Well-known member
The Met Office graphic is wrong. Beaufort 12 is "Hurricane force", which is not the same as a hurricane. (Being as strong as a horse is not the same as being a horse.)
Woodlouse
New member
It is the same difference as calling the Union Flag the Union Jack. It may not be 100 percent accurate but it is a more than acceptable colloquialism.
The fact that the winds are labled as being Hurricane Force means you can't be criticised for calling it a Hurricane even if it isn't a tropical storm.
webcraft
Well-known member
.
Sustained winds of 80mph on the Forth Bridge for a while today. While that may not technically be a hurricane it is hurricane force wind.
Going to be a lot more Scottish 'hurricanes' in years to come as well.
- W
Sustained winds of 80mph on the Forth Bridge for a while today. While that may not technically be a hurricane it is hurricane force wind.
Going to be a lot more Scottish 'hurricanes' in years to come as well.
- W
Robin
Well-known member
webcraft
Well-known member
I doubt there would be a tide surge high enough to bother it though.
Probably not - but the Clyde seemed to be lapping at the squinty bridge in Glasgow today.
- W
Salty John
Active member
I don't think we need to sex up these big extra tropical cyclones by calling them hurricanes - that's a media thing. Our storm systems are powerful enough in their own right, as we are seeing.
Hurricanes (or typhoons or tropical cyclones) are quite different from extra tropical storms - they don't have associated fronts and they have a warm core. They develop over warm water, are very symmetrical and have a calm eye. They break up quickly when encountering cold water or land. Hurricanes are more powerful, generally, but smaller in size than extra tropical storms.
So, it isn't just wind speed that defines a hurricane.
Hurricanes (or typhoons or tropical cyclones) are quite different from extra tropical storms - they don't have associated fronts and they have a warm core. They develop over warm water, are very symmetrical and have a calm eye. They break up quickly when encountering cold water or land. Hurricanes are more powerful, generally, but smaller in size than extra tropical storms.
So, it isn't just wind speed that defines a hurricane.
Sgeir
Well-known member
I was being flippant about our "hurricane season", and of course we have had some very severe storms in the past, but, and without wishing to speculate on the possible causes of all this (best kept for discussion by expert opinion in the Lounge), it does seem as though the frequency of these events is increasing, which is a bit worrying.
Perhaps 2012 will be a year of F4/5s, rather than the normal summer forecast of F5/7 and rather worse. I live in hope. Here's to some decent sailing!
Perhaps 2012 will be a year of F4/5s, rather than the normal summer forecast of F5/7 and rather worse. I live in hope. Here's to some decent sailing!
VO5
New member
For the North Atlantic region, a well tried and tested mnemonic:~
June - too soon.
July - stand by.
August - look out you must.
September - remember.
October - all over.
I hope that helps.
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