Is it safe to cycle home this evening...

Alek

Scariest one here as well. Maybe because it was a bit unexpected...

rollingscone

gadetra wrote: »

Scariest one for me too. It wasn't as hard to cycle in, but the gusts took me out near the middle of the road several times, it was like someone had a hand on my bars and front wheel. It was bizarre, not a fight like the wind with 'Barney' and 'Desmond'. Although it damn near took my front wheel from under me about 400m from home. I squeaked. I actually squeaked the first time I was pushed out into the middle of the road, there were a couple of schoolgirls walking along the footpad, they looked at me like I was mental :pac:

I feel like there should be a supply of 410 "Footpad" gift vouchers to be given out for appropriate uses like this.

Darkglasses

Was a bit of a wobbly one for me too, but not too bad.

cdaly_

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Was raging that i didn't wait longer and avoiding the rain. I could see it would pass

Qualitymark wrote: »

forecast.io ftw

http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp

Qualitymark

forecast.io has a handy thing - if you put in a reasonably close version of where you are, it'll say something like "starting to rain in 10 minutes, stopping in 20".

Alanstrainor

cdaly_ wrote: »

http://www.met.ie/latest/rainfall_radar.asp

I was watching that one like a hawk, and getting impatient.

mcgratheoin

cython wrote: »

Fairly hairy spin home for me through the Phoenix Park out to Dublin 15. With the front light I have on the bike, I could easily see the direction of the rain (and thus the wind), and it literally seemed to be rotating around me, varying from left, via direct headwind to from the right. Thankfully there was nobody for me to overtake, and nobody looking to overtake me, as 2 abreast on the path would have been messy.

Yeah, it was mental through the park and out past Luttrelstown yesterday - the wind wasn't as constant as during the storms but the rain and gusting made the whole experience worse. I even got a gust behind me at one stage in town and it was like somebody had given me a hefty push forward!

5uspect

It was pretty rough last night with gusts pushing me all over the place. Didn't stop some numpty in a 206 passing me with mere inches to spare on an empty road.

Fian

Pretty heavy headwind on the way home yesterday but no sideways gusts fortunately. Christmas party this evening so bike will not come home this evening.

Wishbone Ash

Anyone else bracing themselves for 'Frank' and the commute home tonight? :eek:

eeeee

Going out tonight at 7 and home about 4am. Not looking forward to it!

Also how does a storm qualify for a name? Is it if It's particularly bad? I don't remember being on first name terms with so many!

Wishbone Ash

gadetra wrote: »

Going out tonight at 7 and home about 4am....

Drinking or cycling?

Weepsie wrote: »

They only started naming them in November or December. and go from A-Z....

They were named before that but possible it was a British thing which we adopted then. I used to hear my father talking about Hurricane Debbie in 1961.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Debbie_(1961)

And in more recent times we had Hurricane Charley in 1986.

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2013/0826/470307-one-of-the-worst-hurricanes-in-living-memory/

tomasrojo

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

They were named before that but possible it was a British thing which we adopted then. I used to hear my father talking about Hurricane Debbie in 1961.

They do it in the States too.

An episode of Veep had the fictional Vice President, Selina Meyer, lobbying hard for the prospective Hurricane Selina to be renamed, for fear of the jokes that would be made.

Qualitymark

The upper classes must be raging that there's no Hurricane Fionn or Tornado Lasairfhiona.

tomasrojo

Funnily enough, I was joking with someone on Twitter recently about Hurricane Caoilfhionn and the like. Then Bibi Baskin chipped in, to my great surprise.

(My friend has 180,000 followers on Twitter, it turns out).

It seems that Met Eireann vetoed the suggestion by the UK Met Office of "Patrick" and did a pronunciation guide for "Clodagh" and the like.

Djoucer

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Drinking or cycling?

They were named before that but possible it was a British thing which we adopted then. I used to hear my father talking about Hurricane Debbie in 1961.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Debbie_(1961)

And in more recent times we had Hurricane Charley in 1986.

http://www.rte.ie/archives/2013/0826/470307-one-of-the-worst-hurricanes-in-living-memory/

Hurricanes were always named. Naming storms only came in this year. Last winter someone named them and media picked up on it.

Met Eireann noticed that people took more heed of weather warnings if the storm had a name. Which has proven to be true.

Previous years, today's storm would be an orange or red weather warning. With probably a lot less media coverage.

bazermc

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Anyone else bracing themselves for 'Frank' and the commute home tonight? :eek:

Spencer?

aFlabbyPanda

Its really bad in Cork, might get my SO to collect me from work. Not sure I'm brave enough tonight.

LollipopJimmy

The_Sub wrote: »

Its really bad in Cork, might get my SO to collect me from work. Not sure I'm brave enough tonight.

So getting the SO to put themselves in danger by driving? tut tut tut...

Wishbone Ash

Djoucer wrote: »

Hurricanes were always named. Naming storms only came in this year...

Doh! I didn't notice the difference!

Bolloxology

Hurricane 'Debbie' rolled into the Gulf of Mexico a couple of years back and RTE weather decided to give it a couple of mins mention.
However,sharp eyed viewers or porn fans,depending on your outlook quickly picked up on the graphic of the Gulf which included Dallas on the map literally hundreds of Kms off its outer track and not even close to its predicted path.

The lovely Helen Curran could barely keep a straight face giving the forecast using such apt descriptions as 'blowing' etc.

Hehe

Beasty

Hurricanes have been named by the US National Hurricane centre since 1953 - Here's the list for the next few years

They "recycle" the names unless a hurricane is particularly devastating, in which case it's name is retired.

The principle has been adopted for heavy storms over here this year, although they seem to have reacted to their new notoriety with avengeance....

Having said that, this is an "el Nino" winter with warming temperatures in the Pacific causing chaos to weather patterns around the World. This is reported to be the "worst" el Nino on record, suggesting there may be a lot more to come (although if temperatures plunge it may turn into a "spectacular" winter....)

eeeee

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Drinking or cycling?

Cycling out to meet friends over the northside then cycling home. I won't be over the limit though :cool:

Just off rollers there now after a break of a month (oh the pain!) and giving serious thought to getting the bus :eek:

LollipopJimmy

Just left Sandyford for Ballyfermot, should have taken the bike. Seems grand

Hani Kosti

Horrible and dangerous out there, cycled from Dawson Street to Rathfarnham. Strong crosswind (literally pushing me to side) and headwind...did I say it's windy???
Doable but not enjoyable

Unknown Soldier

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Doh! I didn't notice the difference!

You're not the only one! Now I get it. I was wondering why the weather "was so bad" what with all the "names"

Thanks @Djoucer for the informative info!

Oh and the gusts around the Ballycullen/Knocklyon areas are horrendous, possibly due to being at the bottom of the Dublin hills/mountains. It got a tad very scary towards the end of my spin this afternoon

SchrodingersCat

I cycled home this evening at 6pm before the rain. It was gusty, but not too bad. Worse were the drivers in this weather. For some reason they appear to take more risks when overtaking whenever its dark and with a bit of wind and rain. No amount of flourescent clothing or lights appear to make a difference.

Wishbone Ash

Just heading home from work now - I may be some time!

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Just heading home from work now - I may be some time!

Made it with a few squeaky bum moments!:)

Fian

Seems that the predicted storm is approaching. Sounds like it will be dangerous tonight.

I am planning to head for home shortly (normally I would not leave until 6:30/7) to avoid the winds later on. Take care all...

Edit: oops, meant this to go in general thread not to start a new one. I can't figure out how to delete the thread guess that takes mod powers. If a mod sees this please oblige.

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