Storm Brendan Orange Warning

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 3:57pm #1

In Dublin here, so I'm not commenting on what it was like in the West, only in the East of the country really... but:

Was that it? Was that seriously it?? That bit of rain was worth a weather warning?

The weather was worse last Saturday morning FFS. I know forecasts can be wrong, but the only weather warning that was in any way justified was for Ophelia - which turned out to be nothing major in many parts of the country. I say it was justified only because of the two people killed, one of which was a freak event in all fairness.

Anyone else think the warning system should be scrapped?

is_that_so · 13-01-2020 3:59pm

Well, it's been and gone on the east coast. Pretty bad for a while but just a nasty winter's day and now beautiful sunshine.

The Tetrarch · 13-01-2020 4:00pm

We West-Brits in The Pale need to know what the yachting weather is like.

WhatsGoingOn2 · 13-01-2020 4:00pm

Every single time there is a storm, same threads.
If it didn't happen in Dublin, it didn't happen...
Look at this to see how many power outages there are countrywide

https://www.esb.ie/esb-networks/powercheck/

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 13-01-2020 4:02pm

I thought the east only had a yellow warning in place.

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Every single time there is a storm, same threads.
If it didn't happen in Dublin, it didn't happen...
Look at this to see how many power outages there are countrywide

https://www.esb.ie/esb-networks/powercheck/

Yeah, same bitching about Ophelia even though three people died during that storm. People seem almost disappointed when there isn’t more disruption.

jam_mac_jam · 13-01-2020 4:02pm

Better they are over cautious then under cautious.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 13-01-2020 4:04pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

In Dublin here, so I'm not commenting on what it was like in the West, only in the East of the country really... but:

Was that it? Was that seriously it?? That bit of rain was worth a weather warning?

The weather was worse last Saturday morning FFS. I know forecasts can be wrong, but the only weather warning that was in any way justified was for Ophelia - which turned out to be nothing major in many parts of the country. I say it was justified only because of the two people killed, one of which was a freak event in all fairness.

Anyone else think the warning system should be scrapped?

Three people died. All three deaths were storm-related. In a low population country, it wasn’t an insignificant death toll.

biko · 13-01-2020 4:06pm

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Every single time there is a storm, same threads.
If it didn't happen in Dublin, it didn't happen...
Look at this to see how many power outages there are countrywide

https://www.esb.ie/esb-networks/powercheck/

If it doesn't happen in Dubland it will have a thread in a regional forum.
If it happens in Dubland there will be a thread in AH instead to let the nation know how very important it is..

JohnnyFlash · 13-01-2020 4:09pm

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Every single time there is a storm, same threads.
If it didn't happen in Dublin, it didn't happen...
Look at this to see how many power outages there are countrywide

https://www.esb.ie/esb-networks/powercheck/

Most of those outages are due to vegetation hitting the lines and causing a trip fault.

This wasn’t a significant storm event. In Dublin it was nothing more than a few moderate gusts and some rain. I hit the golf links this morning hoping for some proper wind and rain so I could work on playing in those conditions. Didn’t even have to take the wet weather gear out of the bag.

13-01-2020 4:09pm

We're not exactly Russia. Our east and west coasts aren't far apart. The west coast being battered can be devastating to the east coast too. Not a great expanse of land for the wind to dissipate into.

Beeping Kitchen Appliances · 13-01-2020 4:10pm

The Tetrarch wrote: »

We West-Brits in The Pale need to know what the yachting weather is like.

There's a terrible blow coming in along the promenade.

punisher5112 · 13-01-2020 4:11pm

I've driven in much worse.

Was driving all morning and there was a few gusts around Dublin and South Dublin but nothing crazy even as the bus acts as a sail.

WrenBoy · 13-01-2020 4:13pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Most of those outages are due to vegetation hitting the lines and causing a trip fault.

This wasn’t a significant storm event. In Dublin it was nothing more than a few moderate gusts and some rain. I hit the golf links this morning hoping for some proper wind and rain so I could work on playing in those conditions. Didn’t even have to take the wet weather gear out of the bag.

We all have our trials on the journey Johnny, stay strong.

Graces7 · 13-01-2020 4:20pm

This was always going to be a West Coast event. Still is raging here on the Mayo coast, until midnight. Gale force winds and deluges. Non stop.

And yes Obviously Desperate Breakfasts they seem to seek worse events

Maybe keep an eye on met.ie.

Marine/coastal areas Red warning and that is justified.

Be thankful if the day was calm.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I thought the east only had a yellow warning in place.

Yeah, same bitching about Ophelia even though three people died during that storm. People seem almost disappointed when there isn’t more disruption.

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:23pm

biko wrote: »

If it doesn't happen in Dubland it will have a thread in a regional forum.
If it happens in Dubland there will be a thread in AH instead to let the nation know how very important it is..

You didn't read the first line of the OP, no?

jimgoose · 13-01-2020 4:24pm

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:25pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Three people died. All three deaths were storm-related. In a low population country, it wasn’t an insignificant death toll.

I thought it was two. As I said, Ophelia was the one where a warning was justified.

ChikiChiki · 13-01-2020 4:29pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

In Dublin here, so I'm not commenting on what it was like in the West, only in the East of the country really... but:

Was that it? Was that seriously it?? That bit of rain was worth a weather warning?

The weather was worse last Saturday morning FFS. I know forecasts can be wrong, but the only weather warning that was in any way justified was for Ophelia - which turned out to be nothing major in many parts of the country. I say it was justified only because of the two people killed, one of which was a freak event in all fairness.

Anyone else think the warning system should be scrapped?

Christ people are fierce stupid. Met Eireann cannot win.

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:31pm

WhatsGoingOn2 wrote: »

Every single time there is a storm, same threads.
If it didn't happen in Dublin, it didn't happen...
Look at this to see how many power outages there are countrywide

https://www.esb.ie/esb-networks/powercheck/

I knew I'd get this kind of f#cking BS the minute I posted it. Read the first line - I'm talking about the fact that they extended the orange warning over the entire country where there was no need to extend it everywhere.

And what that does is make people complacent about weather alerts. They will start to ignore them if Met Éireann continues to issue warnings in areas where they are not needed, possibly putting themselves in danger.

I'm not "disappointed" it wasn't worse. My da is an electrician, whenever these things happen I won't see him for days so I am relieved when they are not as bad as expected.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-01-2020 4:32pm

This was Orange for all the country for a period and the warning was not restricted to the west coast. I can see it was fairly wild in areas but what we got did not warrant an Orange warning. We just about had a Yellow.

Agree with the OP - speaking only about the affect in this area and the orange warning for herd.

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:32pm

ChikiChiki wrote: »

Christ people are fierce stupid. Met Eireann cannot win.

Met Éireann are defeating the purpose of having countrywide warnings if they are going to make people complacent by issuing orange warnings in areas where they aren't warranted.

lertsnim · 13-01-2020 4:33pm

It was wild on the south coast anyway.

Asitis2019 · 13-01-2020 4:35pm

These warnings are totally unnecessary. Bejesus you would be afraid to leave the house based on some of the reports. A bit of wind and rain, that's all. Sun has been shining for the last three hours or so in Dublin

A load of codswallap and popycock. ME need to tone themselves down. We live in a mild country with very few extremes.

As a result nobody pays any attention to the warnings. They need to get rid of them STAT

GLaDOS · 13-01-2020 4:36pm

Was pretty bloody windy tbf, yellow warning probably more suitable though. Forecasting is always difficult however.

Met Eireann's original warning (West Coast Orange, rest of the country Yellow) may have been more accurate in the end?

Don't like to go too hard on ME though, it's not an easy task.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 13-01-2020 4:41pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

I thought it was two. As I said, Ophelia was the one where a warning was justified.

You also said it was “nothing major”. Three people died. It was major. Like, how much worse does it have to be to qualify?

Ipso · 13-01-2020 4:42pm

Asitis2019 wrote: »

These warnings are totally unnecessary. Bejesus you would be afraid to leave the house based on some of the reports. A bit of wind and rain, that's all. Sun has been shining for the last three hours or so in Dublin

A load of codswallap and popycock. ME need to tone themselves down. We live in a mild country with very few extremes.

As a result nobody pays any attention to the warnings. They need to get rid of them STAT

I think your last word is incomplete

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:43pm

GLaDOS wrote: »

Was pretty bloody windy tbf, yellow warning probably more suitable though. Forecasting is always difficult however.

Met Eireann's original warning (West Coast Orange, rest of the country Yellow) may have been more accurate in the end?

Don't like to go too hard on ME though, it's not an easy task.

No it's not an easy task at all, and I'm not having a go at their ability to forecast or MÉ themselves. I think that this warning system should be scrapped as it's too broad, it's misleading and it inclines Met Éireann to be overly cautious too - there must be a certain amount of "what if we don't issue a warning and it gets even worse? We'll be blamed if anyone gets hurt".

I don't think it's fit for purpose.

ednwireland · 13-01-2020 4:44pm

picking up again now in SW donegal wouldnt want to be out in it thats for sure

Graces7 · 13-01-2020 4:45pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

In Dublin here, so I'm not commenting on what it was like in the West, only in the East of the country really... but:

Was that it? Was that seriously it?? That bit of rain was worth a weather warning?

The weather was worse last Saturday morning FFS. I know forecasts can be wrong, but the only weather warning that was in any way justified was for Ophelia - which turned out to be nothing major in many parts of the country. I say it was justified only because of the two people killed, one of which was a freak event in all fairness.

Anyone else think the warning system should be scrapped?

No; but folk should learn to read it properly and appreciate that with a volatile storm like Brendan that is very large, there can be no exact. precise forecasting and all bases must be covered. Which met.ie did very well.

Had they not done so and worse had affected you? You would have complained then!

Marine /coastal is Red still, until midnight. Totally accurate and raging still

And complaining that the weather was not as bad as forecast?

met ie have to state the worst possible scenario and they do an excellent job.

It is in the reading the issues arise. Most folk have more nous than you give them credit for. This time total accuracy for the greatest areas.

Have a read of the thread on Weather; the experts there are grand.

Asitis2019 · 13-01-2020 4:46pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

No it's not an easy task at all, and I'm not having a go at their ability to forecast or MÉ themselves. I think that this warning system should be scrapped as it's too broad, it's misleading and it inclines Met Éireann to be overly cautious too - there must be a certain amount of "what if we don't issue a warning and it gets even worse? We'll be blamed if anyone gets hurt".

I don't think it's fit for purpose.

A will you go wan and get out of the park

I lived in other countries where if the forecaster said it would snow at 9pm, it would snow at 9pm.

We just don't have that accuracy here

jam_mac_jam · 13-01-2020 4:48pm

And if it had been bad and there was no warning everyone would be moaning about that.

Graces7 · 13-01-2020 4:48pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

Met Éireann are defeating the purpose of having countrywide warnings if they are going to make people complacent by issuing orange warnings in areas where they aren't warranted.

There were indications of strong possibility. Had it happened the other way round? ie turned worse than yellow?

No intelligent person is going ever to be complacent about weather at this time of year.

Giblet · 13-01-2020 4:48pm

Asitis2019 wrote: »

A will you go wan and get out of the park

I lived in other countries where if the forecaster said it would snow at 9pm, it would snow at 9pm.

We just don't have that accuracy here

We use the same models. We are a small island in an ocean, it's pretty difficult to be accurate.

Ipso · 13-01-2020 4:49pm

ednwireland wrote: »

picking up again now in SW donegal wouldnt want to be out in it thats for sure

Mind the gap!

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:49pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

You also said it was “nothing major”. Three people died. It was major. Like, how much worse does it have to be to qualify?

Nothing major in many parts of the country, I said. And I said the warning was justified for Ophelia.

I'm not going to argue about Ophelia, I have said it was justified in that case. I was pointing out that the storm was not as violent as expected.

wiggle16 · 13-01-2020 4:50pm

Graces7 wrote: »

There were indications of strong possibility. Had it happened the other way round? ie turned worse than yellow?

No intelligent person is going ever to be complacent about weather at this time of year.

Okay, Graces. What about the stupid ones then?

whisky_galore · 13-01-2020 4:51pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

No it's not an easy task at all, and I'm not having a go at their ability to forecast or MÉ themselves. I think that this warning system should be scrapped as it's too broad, it's misleading and it inclines Met Éireann to be overly cautious too - there must be a certain amount of "what if we don't issue a warning and it gets even worse? We'll be blamed if anyone gets hurt".

I don't think it's fit for purpose.

What do you suggest?
Have you got a background in meteorology?

13-01-2020 4:53pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

Okay, Graces. What about the stupid ones then?

We hope they're complacent regardless :pac:

Darwin ftw!

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 13-01-2020 4:57pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

Nothing major in many parts of the country, I said. And I said the warning was justified for Ophelia.

I'm not going to argue about Ophelia, I have said it was justified in that case. I was pointing out that the storm was not as violent as expected.

They didn’t know exactly where it was going to hit. It changed course a bit as it neared Ireland. The warnings were correct because had it stayed on the same track, it would have caused a lot of damage.

What do people not understand about it not being an exact science? Maybe Met Eireann are not insulting people’s intelligence and hoping that they will understand that it’s precautionary.

seamus · 13-01-2020 4:57pm

It was a short but hard hammering tbh. Well worthy of an orange warning; if you had to work outdoors in the east today, especially at any kind of height, you'd have been at serious risk.

A waste pipe carrying gutter water internally in our office burst during the heaviest of rain due to the volume of water. There was definitely enough in that short burst to cause flash flooding or other issues that can turn nasty very quickly.

All of the weather warnings did state between 8am and 3pm. It's not like they were telling people to batten down the hatches until tomorrow.

GLaDOS · 13-01-2020 4:58pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

No it's not an easy task at all, and I'm not having a go at their ability to forecast or MÉ themselves. I think that this warning system should be scrapped as it's too broad, it's misleading and it inclines Met Éireann to be overly cautious too - there must be a certain amount of "what if we don't issue a warning and it gets even worse? We'll be blamed if anyone gets hurt".

I don't think it's fit for purpose.

I think the warning system is ok in itself, maybe room for improvement, but I certainly wouldn't scrap it. I'm not convinced its communicated in the best way every time (think there was a marked improvement this time however, the forecast last night nicely explained the situation I felt.)

At least part of the problem I think is clickbait media building every weather event up unnecessarily, often taking quotes from ME or other meteorologists out of context, to make it sound more dangerous than it really is.

Orange warning was maybe over cautious for Dublin in the end, but what we got wasn't that far from what I was expecting tbh.

Graces7 · 13-01-2020 4:59pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

Okay, Graces. What about the stupid ones then?

Sorry; power is flickering here. Lost a message.. But as a former teacher I would not ever call anyone stupid.

And I am sure from the weather forum thread that folk will not ever ignore warnings.

Excuse me please? In Red Marine area and need to light candles. Dire out here.

JohnnyFlash · 13-01-2020 5:00pm

Graces7 wrote: »

Sorry; power is flickering here. Lost a message.. But as a former teacher I would not ever call anyone stupid.

And I am sure from the weather forum thread that folk will not ever ignore warnings.

Excuse me please? In Red Marine area and need to light candles. Dire out here.

The power is flickering and you lost a message? Huh?

Tacitus Kilgore · 13-01-2020 5:04pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Most of those outages are due to vegetation hitting the lines and causing a trip fault.

This wasn’t a significant storm event. In Dublin it was nothing more than a few moderate gusts and some rain. I hit the golf links this morning hoping for some proper wind and rain so I could work on playing in those conditions. Didn’t even have to take the wet weather gear out of the bag.

Tellus, what caused the vegetation to hit the lines?

This was a significant storm event, in many places, except for dublin CC, a fuckin tiny geographical area.

Yourself, Emmet & Paddy would be better off staying out on the golf course with yizzer big bag of cans and each others balls tightly hand-cupped and not be in here wasting your time with all the nerds on boards.

Tipperary animal lover · 13-01-2020 5:13pm

Im not on social media anyone have the video of the trampoline taken a road trip in limerick

sirmixalot · 13-01-2020 5:18pm

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

Im not on social media anyone have the video of the trampoline taken a road trip in limerick

Video half way down this page
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/incredible-footage-shows-trampoline-blown-21270650

13-01-2020 5:18pm

Met Eireann are in the unfortunate position of having to deal with twitter histrionics. Everyone is now an armchair expert. They have a tough gig with pedants ready to proclaim "I told you so!" if the forecast isn't 100% accurate. Damned if they do, and damned if they don't. The colour-coded system ultimately played right into the hands of the tabloids, sharpening their knives. Evelyn Cusack has a near impossible balancing act, but as long as lives are saved by issuing warnings early then I salute her.

EmmetSpiceland · 13-01-2020 5:20pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Met Eireann are in the unfortunate position of having to deal with twitter histrionics. Everyone is now an armchair expert. They have a tough gig dealing with pedants ready to proclaim "I told you so!" if the forecast isn't 100% accurate. Damned if they do, and damned if they don't. The colour-coded system ultimately played right into the hands of the tabloids, sharpening their knives. Evelyn Cusack has a near impossible balancing act, but as long as lives are saved by issuing warnings early then I salute her.

They could do with adjusting the levels, the “yellow” warning is pointless.

Arghus · 13-01-2020 5:35pm

They're dealing with weather which is dynamic and hard to predict so while an Orange warning probably isn't strictly necessary for all the of the places that got one it's better to err on the side of caution if in doubt, because things can't be predicted by 100% accuracy.

I suppose that brings with the disadvantage that some man babies on the Internet get a bit gleefully annoyed because it wasn't too bad exactly where they were. Life is tough.

Necro · 13-01-2020 5:35pm

Power completely out here where I am for the last 30 mins or so, just checked ESB and looks like multiple faults so itll be a quiet one in the Necro household:(

ChikiChiki · 13-01-2020 5:43pm

wiggle16 wrote: »

Met Éireann are defeating the purpose of having countrywide warnings if they are going to make people complacent by issuing orange warnings in areas where they aren't warranted.

You would swear we are living on a huge landmass and not a tiny island. Weather is unpredictable, it can change very quickly in our climate. There is only a couple of hours between the east and west coasts. Sure it is never going to be bang on the money but they got it right today.

People have been injured in some parts of the country.

I think the fact that everyone seems to want something in an instant largely driven by social media, they now want their bloody storms delivered in an instant.

Storm Brendan Orange Warning

Comments