Storm Erik : Friday 8th February 2019

Met 2303 update


23:03
TONIGHT - Thursday 7th February
Becoming increasingly windy tonight as Storm Erik tracks to the northwest of Ireland bringing gale force winds at the coast. Some damaging wind gusts are possible in western and northwestern coastal counties by dawn. It will be a wet night with widespread rain giving heavy falls in parts. Temperatures rising overnight to range 6 to 10 degrees by morning.


TOMORROW - Friday 8th February
Very windy in all areas on Friday with stormy conditions for a time in the west and north as Storm Erik tracks just to the north of Ireland. Heavy rain in eastern counties will clear quickly in the morning to leave a mix of bright intervals and widespread blustery showers during the day. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees with gale force southwesterly winds and some damaging gusts in parts of the west and north.


Friday Night

Widespread blustery showers will continue on Friday night, and some of the showers will be heavy with a risk of hail and isolated thunderstorms. Lowest temperatures will stay around 4 and 7 degrees. Strong to near gale southwest to westerly winds, with gales or strong gales near the coasts, will slowly ease overnight.

Tomorrow night is quickly looking like a nationwide orange

Right on the west coast here, when is it expected to be at its worst?

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Right on the west coast here, when is it expected to be at its worst?

When gusts are a top speed I guess it will be at its worst!!!

But really I say 8am looking at the chart above, then another strong part in the evening.

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Right on the west coast here, when is it expected to be at its worst?

About 0500h to 0900h should be your peak winds but now we're getting some suggestions of a long-duration event with a second peak, so that timing is mainly for onset. It should be quite blustery by 0300h.

No real wind in Galway at the moment, has been raining ,(unsurprisingly) for hours though.

Unlikely to be interesting. That said it's been a very boring winter so I wouldn't mind something.

And the first paragraph of my post completed with my microphone just accepting my words and writing them. Most cool

As storm Erik approaches Ireland today and over the coarse of this evening and tonight the area of low
pressure will under go Explosive cyclogenesis also known to many as a weather bomb. Explosive cyclogenesis
is the rapid deepening of an cyclonic low-pressure area. The change in pressure needed to classify something
as explosive cyclogenesis is latitude dependent. For example, at 60° latitude, explosive cyclogenesis occurs if
the central pressure decreases by 24 mbar (hPa) or more in 24 hours. This is a predominantly maritime, winter
event. The centre of the area of low pressure named storm Erik is forecast to drop around 40 mbar (hPa) in less
than 24 hours which is a massive drop in pressure.
Tonight a band of rain will cross the country moving west to east and will be heavy with the risk of spot flooding
and as this rain sweeps across Ireland winds will start to strengthen and becoming windy. Strongest winds will occur
between 5am Friday morning to 1pm Friday. But wind will remain very strong across the northwest and north with the
strongest winds not easing there until 6am Saturday morning.





Worst effected county’s will be Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Derry especially
along coastal region where winds may gust up to 130km/hr within the warning period. Wind along the exposed
coastal areas of Galway, Mayo, Donegal and Derry may exceed 130km/hr for a time on Friday morning into the
early afternoon with gust close to 140km/hr.
widespread power outages could occur along southwestern, western , northwestern and northern county’s on Friday
morning and over the afternoon as the rapidly deepening depression, named Storm Erik by Met Éireann tracks to
the northwest of Ireland early Friday morning with an expected minimum pressure of 954hPa at 9am 8th Feb 2019.
Away from Atlantic coastal regions winds will gust up to 90km/hr to 110km/hr with the risk of scattered power outages.
The public should avoid all coastal areas, piers and walkways on Friday into Saturday morning and not put your
life at risk as well as others at risk.
Anyone planing to travel by air or sea on Friday morning there is likely to be some disruption and it would be
important to check in before travelling



Donegal weather channel

Am around 8 miles to the NW of Tuam and the wind is really picking up. Lashing rain too.

I’m in Fanad head Donegal at the min. Horizontal rain and very strong gusts.

Strong gusts Kinsale.