Are there too many weather warnings?

jasper100 wrote: »

Red warning was completely OTT. A bit of snowy and a bit cold but nothing exceptional, extreme or severe.

Just as well they didn't issue one then.

Posting alerts by county is a bit crazy but then how else do they do it. Another one from Virginia here in East cavan and as others have said when I see an alert for Meath I take notice.

Local schools here were closed and others in surrounding areas closed up halfway through the day.

Can't believe this is only the start of it! Unreal never seen anything like it before.

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

[QUOTE=sdanseo;106289341]UKMO have issued red warnings for Scotland. Very rare to see that since their impact-based criteria for red is so much higher.
The comments here sound positively scary

Apparently the first ever red warning issued for snow in the UK.

These warnings have only been in force since 2013 so not too surprising.

skeleton_boy wrote: »

First red snow warning for Scotland according to the BBC

Yeah, it was just that Cork Boy said the UK, which confused me.

Casualsingby wrote: »

And that's exactly my point it's a blanket warning for Dublin when the city centre is at best a yellow. That's why they need to improve their warning system and get rid of blanket county warnings, introduce a bubble type warning.

I’m afraid you are displaying lack of knowledge of weather forecasting and its challenges with your comments.

Let us step back from Dublin City Centre to the source of this weather.

Have a look at Europe, Google Maps or whatever and see Europe, from the top of Norway to Northern Italy and from Moscow to Galway.

Since Met Eireann issued a Weather Advisory last week regarding the current weather what we are getting now, it has travelled, roughly, across the area mentioned, c 4 million sq km or so.

On its way it has encountered a range of modifying factors.

Cities adding varying amounts of heat, mountains and valleys changing the wind flow, the influences of different vegetation, frozen water and open seas to list some.

It crosses into Britain, dumps a lot of snow there and then moves across the Irish Sea picking up energy again and finally impacts on Ireland.

Now add in the vertical extent, for simplicity let us say 10 km. We are now talking about a volume of 40 million cubic km.

During the week or so that it has taken to get here, that volume has had to be repeatedly measured and analysed and millions upon millions of mathematical calculations run, with the slightest error in the initial measurements being magnified over and over again, to arrive at values for the conditions over the island of Ireland, c 80,000 sq Km, which is just 2% of the area it has travelled over.

Now, you want Met Eireann to differentiate Dublin City Centre from its surrounds.

Let us be generous and say DCC is 2 by 2 km, 4 sq km. That is .005 % of the island, which in turn is 2% of the area over which the weather has travelled and been modified

and you want Met Eireann to distinguish between the City centre and the suburbs!

Really!

It’s madness. Schools and businesses now are gonna close in Sligo, Mayo, Donegal today? For what exactly? Freezing cold and the very very feint possibility of a tiny bit of snow or hail here? High winds, freezing temperatures and snow are not a new phenomenon in the north west...!!!

Red warning, there has been a hail shower in Glenties. Please everybody stay indoors.

They need to adjust these red warnings, either the parameters for issuing or something, particularly now with what comes (shutdown) as a result of them being issued. And yes “people could die, just because it wasn’t bad in your area” etc etc..... But that’s exactly the point. They have issued a general nationwide red warning again when there is absolutely no need to do so again. Red warnings must be reserved for definitive specific chaos/danger/threat to life in a definitive area. They should up the parameters of orange or create an amber warning and save red for “get in your bunker”. Maybe we are just more weather hardy on the Atlantic coast but two days now sitting around and looking out the window at the same weather we always get, I don’t know.

Red warning for the west not warranted. No snow here yet schools now jumped at the opportunity to close. Just back in from walking dog. Bit cold, bit windy, usual stuff. Now need to find babysitters as work has remained opened. Completely overhyped. Ballaghaderreen area.

Very bad to issue the nationwide Red at 11pm. Many parents simply won't know. Here in West Galway the conditions are no different to yesterday. Emma isn't due until tonight.

_Dara_ wrote: »

This afternoon.

Around 8pm this evening according to Hirlam & ME.

greenpilot wrote: »

Red warning for the west not warranted. No snow here yet schools now jumped at the opportunity to close. Just back in from walking dog. Bit cold, bit windy, usual stuff. Now need to find babysitters as work has remained opened. Completely overhyped. Ballaghaderreen area.

good grief. Have you seen any of the weather models? Have you looked a few miles down the road? Have you seen that people ehave to drive through 1. lucky areas like yours straight into inches and inches of compacted ice and snow?
Galway city is so dangerous I cant even tell you.
The motorway between Gort and Tuam deadly
Cars parked up as they cannot move,
Blizzard coming tonight along with high winds with possible electric outages
wind chill factor -10

While you may have not been affected and unfortunate you have to find baby sitters, have a think for the people down the road who are stranded. People who have driven through two counties to get to work like my partner and who nearly lost the car.
People who might loose electricicty later with the storm and no heating source.
People who actually have more than a myopic view of their own back yard. Ther eis a reason it is country wide because people who have to drive might well have to leave one small town and go into another.
Stay safe later.

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

It’s madness. Schools and businesses now are gonna close in Sligo, Mayo, Donegal today? For what exactly? Freezing cold and the very very feint possibility of a tiny bit of snow or hail here? High winds, freezing temperatures and snow are not a new phenomenon in the north west...!!!

Red warning, there has been a hail shower in Glenties. Please everybody stay indoors.

They need to adjust these red warnings, either the parameters for issuing or something, particularly now with what comes (shutdown) as a result of them being issued. And yes “people could die, just because it wasn’t bad in your area” etc etc..... But that’s exactly the point. They have issued a general nationwide red warning again when there is absolutely no need to do so again. Red warnings must be reserved for definitive specific chaos/danger/threat to life in a definitive area. They should up the parameters of orange or create an amber warning and save red for “get in your bunker”. Maybe we are just more weather hardy on the Atlantic coast but two days now sitting around and looking out the window at the same weather we always get, I don’t know.

Completely agree, No snow here from Roscommon northwards towards Donegal. usual conditions for this time of the year. Public asked to stay indoors from 4pm? Seriously.? As other posters have mentioned in these areas, the weather was worse two weeks ago. Staff are now calling work and giving the excuse of the red warning not to go in, yet the roads are completely clear. My boss will not close work as the roads are fine. Red warnings should have been confined to the worse counties.
I appreciate that things are extremely dangerous for the rest of the country, but further west, the red warning is a joke. especially today.

firemansam4 wrote: »

Not sure why Met Eireann have issued a nationwide red alert, it seems to be completely unnecessary for counties that are not being badly effected by this weather. Here where I am in Donegal there is hardly a flake of snow outside, and from looking at most the models it seems that the snow from Fridays storm will not reach the northern parts of this country bar maybe a few flurry's.
An orange warning should have stayed in place for some areas that will not be badly affected. Seems like a complete over reaction from Met Eireann.

The models are at conflict about how far north Emma will get.

No matter what the weather or the warning colours they will never get it 100% right.

It's just the nature of the beast (weather)

The 'better safe than sorry' mindset that infests all our public institutions will ensure that exaggerated and over-hyped of weather warnings are likely to remain a feature of Irish life.

Advising people to stay indoors between 4pm today and 12pm tomorrow? Despite a good chunk of the country remaining largely unaffected? It's the nanny-state at its finest.

Of course the teachers couldn't wait to close the schools and inconvenience thousands of parents. No surprises there.

facehugger99 wrote: »

The 'better safe than sorry' mindset that infests all our public institutions will ensure that exaggerated and over-hyped of weather warnings are likely to remain a feature of Irish life.

Advising people to stay indoors between 4pm today and 12pm tomorrow? Despite a good chunk of the country remaining largely unaffected? It's the nanny-state at its finest.

Of course the teachers couldn't wait to close the schools and inconvenience thousands of parents. No surprises there.

When I was in primary school 20+ years ago, you listened intently to the local radio to check if your school was open. Invariably ours was as it was in a low lying town that didn't get the snow as bad. You got on with it and accepted it as a feature of life for a day or two. If it was really bad then the school closed. This decision was (sensibly) made on a local basis- there was no social media for people to rant and rave about the government.