Cyclone Center Talk

[Suggestion] European windstorms

  • Listronomer2005 by Listronomer2005

    Well we, Europeans, might not get hurricanes, cyclones or something like that. But we get windstorms. You might not know about them, but sometimes they can be really intense, like the Braer storm of 1993, which had a low pressure of 914 milibars, a record low in the entire continent, or Lothar and Martin, which combined caused 9.9 billion euros of damage. And they often reach tropical storm force winds, and sometimes even exceed hurricane force winds. We even created naming systems and seasons for these storms, so they are basically just small extratropical hurricanes.

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  • Listronomer2005 by Listronomer2005

    Oh, and while we are here, you could also include the so called 'medicanes'. They form in the Mediterranean sea, and they act like hurricanes. They usually have clear eyes, they look like hurricanes overall, and they can reach high-end tropical storm force winds. They are known to cause floods and damage.

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  • Listronomer2005 by Listronomer2005

    I mean, by the central pressure, the Braer storm is comparable to Irma! And, in theory, the windspeeds within the maximum windspeed radius could have been about 120 mph - that's comparable to a Category 3 major hurricane!

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  • peterthorne by peterthorne moderator

    Thanks for the suggestions. Having sat through 18-hours w/o power after ex-Ophelia I understand the interest. In theory certain aspects may be amenable. In particular I suspect that sting jets could be ascertained from imagery. There is certainly room for multiple distinct projects on zooniverse.

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