October 1987

I was driving a truck from Newcastle to deep south that night loaded with glassware, now that was a journey and a half. to cap it all when I arrived at 04.00 I was told they couldn't unload me 'cos it was too windy!'.
You just couldn't make it up.
 
I lived in Sarisbury Green (between Southampton & Fareham) at the time and slept through the night. Was in a shared house and went into college in Southampton each day - we got in to be told to go home again. Went back via Weston shore where there was a coaster on the beach, then onto the Hamble and to Solent Breezes where there were static caravans upside down.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I don't think it was anything particularly unusual by Scottish standards, but anything which happens in SE England is automatically news.
Click to expand...
You may well be correct, but it was bruddy wet !

IIRC the stock market plummet was nothing to do with the storm in the UK, rather a computer programme mal-function on Wall Street, USA.
Perhaps had my broker (and others') been able to get to work then the financial impact this side of the pond might have been mitigated.

I was sad to hear that Sevenoaks lost its trees, along with millions of others; the trees regenerated - my portfolio didn't :dejection:
 
I slept right through it in my semi-basement flat in Putney. The first thing I knew about it was my boss calling to ask if I was coming in to work, which I thought was a bit odd - I worked for a landscape company and I think he could already smell the money coming in for clearing and replanting work.
 
Corribee Boy said:
I slept right through it in my semi-basement flat in Putney. The first thing I knew about it was my boss calling to ask if I was coming in to work, which I thought was a bit odd - I worked for a landscape company and I think he could already smell the money coming in for clearing and replanting work.
Click to expand...

I was studying in central London at the time, and was a bit miffed to find no Northern Line trains at West Finchley. I had to walk all the way to Golder's Green to find one. On crutches, too, as I had turned an ankle two days previously. Oh happy days.
 
Cantata said:
Often 15 million trees blown down in a few hours in Scotland, then?
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No, because we get lots of wind on a regular basis, so the weak ones tend to get knocked over steadily rather than in one go. So yes, perhaps a little more upset forestry than we'd get, but not a spectacularly windy night. Of course we southern Scots are soft compared to the denizens of the wind-blasted islands to the north:

10690100_10204103335520302_5026188485992627309_n.jpg
 
I lived in Gosport at the time. That evening I was driving back from Fair Oak where my gf (latter Swimbo) lived. Anyway my most vivid memory of the next morning was that at least one boat ended up on the Easten road, causing traffic chaos.

My boss at the time had a moody bilge keeler (I think) on a swinging mooring in Langston and it broke loose and came shore near the Royal Oak, no damage but we needed high tide to refloat her.
 
we were on my father's boat, initially in the Beaulieu River, but moved across to Yarmouth, thinking that it was a better place to ride out the forecast gale. We were ok close in, with plenty of warps and the rails held.
CHAOS with boats leaping about and poorly secured boats careering about. we went the next day back to Chichester and the home mooring to find my father relieved to find us and the boat ok.
 
Jumbleduck's Scale reminded me:-

[TABLE="width: 556"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 4"][TABLE="width: 563"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 4"]North West Coast of Scotland Rain Scale (Beaufort Type)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]Ashore Scale[/TD]
[TD]Observed Effects[/TD]
[TD]mm/24 hrs[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]1[/TD]
[TD] Dry[/TD]
[TD] No records available[/TD]
[TD]?[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]2[/TD]
[TD] Not dry[/TD]
[TD] Unnoticeable[/TD]
[TD]0.01[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]3[/TD]
[TD] Lightly damp[/TD]
[TD] Feels like perspiration[/TD]
[TD]0.1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]4[/TD]
[TD] Damp (Fine droplets visible)[/TD]
[TD] Spectacles need a wipe[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]5[/TD]
[TD] Mizzle visible[/TD]
[TD] Wouldn't polish car[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]6[/TD]
[TD] Windscreen wipers - quick flick[/TD]
[TD] Paper charts go soggy[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]7[/TD]
[TD] Washing taken in[/TD]
[TD] Come indoors from BBQ[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]8[/TD]
[TD] Windscreen wipers on - intermittent[/TD]
[TD] Locals mention "Damp today"[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]9[/TD]
[TD] Waterproofs worn (If outdoors >1hr)[/TD]
[TD] Consider not varnishing outdoors[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]10[/TD]
[TD] Sou'westers worn[/TD]
[TD] Outdoors[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]11[/TD]
[TD] Wellingtons worn[/TD]
[TD] Indoors[/TD]
[TD]250[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"]12[/TD]
[TD] Dog stays indoors[/TD]
[TD] BBC mentions rain in NW Scotland[/TD]
[TD]500[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="align: right"][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
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[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
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[/TR]
[/TABLE]
 
JumbleDuck said:
No, because we get lots of wind on a regular basis, so the weak ones tend to get knocked over steadily rather than in one go. So yes, perhaps a little more upset forestry than we'd get, but not a spectacularly windy night. Of course we southern Scots are soft compared to the denizens of the wind-blasted islands to the north:

10690100_10204103335520302_5026188485992627309_n.jpg
Click to expand...

That is worthy of my http://weather.mailasail.com/Franks-Weather/Historical-And-Contemporay-Versions-Of-Beaufort-Scales
Do you hav a link to a better copy?
 
Ophelia is a good example of Murphy at his most effective and virulent worst. It appeared at about the same time that the Met Office issued its in memoriamof the great storm of 15/16 October 1987. Ophelia is expected to be near the U.K. on the same dates. On a personal note, it appeared just after I had completed what should have been my final draft of an article on hurricanes for the CA magazine Cruising. Obviously, I was tempting fate.

Ophelia is a one-off in several ways. It formed outside the usual spawning ground for Atlantic hurricanes. There has never been a hurricane near the Azores in October since NASA’s records began over 150 years ago. In that time there have been only 15 hurricanes ever near to the Azores.

The 1987 storm was a “normal”Atlantic low that acquired some very moist warm air with explosive latent heat effects. Two earlier 2017 hurricanes, Maria and Lee weakened as they entered mid-latitudes and losing the effects of the warm water necessary to hurricane formation. Lee, more vigorous but smaller when off Cape Hatteras, fizzled out completely before it got anywhere near the British Isles. The larger but, at that time, less active, Maria became a near total nonentity when its remnants approached the eastern Atlantic. Both were south of the jet stream and never acquired energy from that source..

Ophelia, has become embroiled with the jet stream and will gain energy from the jet rather than from warm water. Together wit the latent heat in its surrounding moist warm air, it is likely to develop into a major extra-tropical depression.


Watch this space.
 
Let's hope Ophelia doesn't morphinto ''Opheck I wish my boat was ashore'':ambivalence:

Sorry and I shouldn't tempt fate as we still have a week or two of hurricane season left to get through. Been lucky so far. In 6 years we have had several close encounters, including Sandy, one needless evac, Matthew, one sit it out at home, Irma, and a couple, like Harvey that bothered the gulf states farther west Not to mention the nasty Maria that devastated Puerto Rico et al.. I could happily live with good old winter wet and windy UK and a nice secure hidey hole. ( not to mention a leccy blanket and a bottle of good scotch, even a mediocre one come to think of it).. ;)
 
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