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Wind speeds

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  • 19-08-2011 3:24pm
    #1
    nacho libre
    Registered Users Posts: 16,647 ✭✭✭✭


    You know the way Belmullet or Malin Head usually record the strongest winds during a storm, is it possible some of the exposed hight points on islands off the West Coast of Ireland get stronger gusts during storms? Is there any Met Eireann weather stations on the islands off the West Coast. I'm guessing not, because in the official weather reports you never hear any of these Islands mentioned.


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    #2
    snowstreams
    Registered Users Posts: 1,315 ✭✭✭snowstreams


    Thats a good questions.
    Winds speeds are supposed to increase with height. So id imagine the wind on the top of the mountains in Achill Island might well hold the record for highest gust in ireland.
    I remember Iancar and wingerpl went up an achill mountain nearly 2 years ago during a storm. The winds seemed pretty high!


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    #3
    rhonin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,248 ✭✭✭rhonin


    snowstreams wrote: »
    Thats a good questions.
    Winds speeds are supposed to increase with height. So id imagine the wind on the top of the mountains in Achill Island might well hold the record for highest gust in ireland.
    I remember Iancar and wingerpl went up an achill mountain nearly 2 years ago during a storm. The winds seemed pretty high!

    That was last November. I think Belmullet had the highest gust that day. Achill could have been stronger indeed.


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    #4
    Pangea
    Registered Users Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭Pangea


    Good thread nacho. It would be interesting to see some weather reports from the islands.

    Rathlin o Byrne island is the most westerly spot in Donegal and theres no recording done there. Close by is Rossan point which is the most westerly headland in Donegal, Does anyone know if there's a weather station there?
    I hear Rossan point mentioned in the sea area forecasts but don't think they record there.
    Inistrull island is north of Malin head and is the most northerly island in Ireland, I'm sure it would be a tight place to be in the wind aswell.


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    #5
    tphase
    Registered Users Posts: 1,053 ✭✭✭tphase


    Malin Head would probably report higher speeds if the station was located further out on the headland and further away from the town. For some crazy reason, building was allowed right up to the station boundary .... only in Ireland:mad:


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    #6
    Harps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,548 ✭✭✭Harps


    Slieve League in south west Donegal must be close as well in a west wind, 2000ft high cliff just a few miles from the most westerly point in the county

    Tory island is another good shout


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    #7
    Pangea
    Registered Users Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭Pangea


    I hear Tory is meant to be in a very dangerous place regarding the rough seas. The exposed part of Aranmore would get a good bashing too I'm sure. Slieve tooey would be a good shout aswell, it has a decent height exposed to the sea.

    Does the met.ie weather stations require human assistance?
    They should put stations on some of the islands that are inhabited at least.


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    #8
    thetonynator
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,234 ✭✭✭thetonynator


    Pangea wrote: »
    I hear Tory is meant to be in a very dangerous place regarding the rough seas. The exposed part of Aranmore would get a good bashing too I'm sure. Slieve tooey would be a good shout aswell, it has a decent height exposed to the sea.

    Does the met.ie weather stations require human assistance?
    They should put stations on some of the islands that are inhabited at least.

    Remember RTE's reality show ''cabin fever''?

    Didn't get on too well with tory island!!!


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    #9
    thetonynator
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,234 ✭✭✭thetonynator


    They should put a met station here (Rockall):

    rockall.jpg

    Bet you'd get high windspeeds there!!!


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    #10
    Pangea
    Registered Users Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭Pangea


    Lol Imagine waking up there with a hangover...


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    #11
    Aiel
    Registered Users Posts: 501 ✭✭✭Aiel


    The Sky Road West of Clifden is a high scenic drive where the next piece of land beyond it is NewFoundland In Canada.Theres a house up on that drive where the owners have a small weather station in their garden with a decent looking Wind Gauge on it,ive thought of stopping and asking them whats their highest recorded wind speed:).


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    #12
    eskimocat
    Registered Users Posts: 1,204 ✭✭✭eskimocat


    Pangea wrote: »
    I hear Tory is meant to be in a very dangerous place regarding the rough seas. The exposed part of Aranmore would get a good bashing too I'm sure.

    I am from the mainland around those parts and the storms we had there were unlike anything else I have experienced down the country. Storms where the windows bowed inwards at an alarming rate, dustbins became lethal weapons, and slates frequently took flight! Small children, animals and those unsteady on their feet had to be assisted. Older children could lean forward almost horizontal on the wind, and cars rocked violently where they were parked. If it wasn't tied down, it was gone! I LOVED IT!:D

    If the above was what it was like half a mile in land, in a bit of a dip, can you imagine what was pounding the far side of Aran Mor Island :eek:


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    #13
    Su Campu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,279 ✭✭✭Su Campu


    There is no real need for stations in isolated, uninhabited islands when we have the coastal stations of Roches Point, Sherkin Island, Valentia, Mace Head, Belmullet, Finner (soon!) and Malin Head, as well as 6 buoys around our waters. Donegal, Sligo and Waterford Airports are all coastal locations, and hourly reports are sent to Met Eireann. Donegal and Sligo metars can be found here.

    The OSI have a wind map on their site, but it seems to be down tonight. It shows wind exposures for all areas


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    #14
    tphase
    Registered Users Posts: 1,053 ✭✭✭tphase


    Pangea wrote: »
    Does the met.ie weather stations require human assistance?
    They should put stations on some of the islands that are inhabited at least.
    The TUCSON stations are automated, they get an annual overhaul and apart from replacing failed sensors or cleaning bird**** out of the rain gauges, need no assiatance from us mere humans.
    There is one on Sherkin Island.


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    #15
    Iancar29
    Registered Users Posts: 5,068 ✭✭✭Iancar29


    snowstreams wrote: »
    Thats a good questions.
    Winds speeds are supposed to increase with height. So id imagine the wind on the top of the mountains in Achill Island might well hold the record for highest gust in ireland.
    I remember Iancar and wingerpl went up an achill mountain nearly 2 years ago during a storm. The winds seemed pretty high!

    " WoooooOOOO!!! " :)
    75131_10150092967051718_631736717_7868320_5170240_n.jpg


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    #16
    Harps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,548 ✭✭✭Harps


    eskimocat wrote: »
    I am from the mainland around those parts and the storms we had there were unlike anything else I have experienced down the country. Storms where the windows bowed inwards at an alarming rate, dustbins became lethal weapons, and slates frequently took flight! Small children, animals and those unsteady on their feet had to be assisted. Older children could lean forward almost horizontal on the wind, and cars rocked violently where they were parked. If it wasn't tied down, it was gone! I LOVED IT!:D

    If the above was what it was like half a mile in land, in a bit of a dip, can you imagine what was pounding the far side of Aran Mor Island :eek:

    I've been up at the cliffs on Arran plenty of times during storms and yeah its genuinely scary, feels like the car is going to blow over and its close to impossible to stand on the spot.

    Sticking an anemometer on the lighthouse would certainly be interesting!


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    #17
    Su Campu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,279 ✭✭✭Su Campu


    tphase wrote: »
    The TUCSON stations are automated, they get an annual overhaul and apart from replacing failed sensors or cleaning bird**** out of the rain gauges, need no assiatance from us mere humans.
    There is one on Sherkin Island.

    I think pretty much all of the automated stations are, or will be, TUCSONs. One was installed in Finner this year and is undergoing quality control at the moment.


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    #18
    Mothman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,498 ✭✭✭Mothman


    Not much change out of 100k to install a TUCSON station.

    Couldn't really afford to have them set up willy nilly around the place.


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    #19
    Mothman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,498 ✭✭✭Mothman


    Speaking of Finner, daily data is available from the 15th Aug


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    #20
    Deep Easterly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,150 ✭✭✭Deep Easterly


    Average windspeed map (50m - 200m resolution) of Ireland (Republic only) from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

    Not sure what or how many stations the data is based on but it seems pretty accurate.

    "Coordinate System: Irish National Grid
    Spatial Resolution of Wind Resource Data: 200m
    This map was created by TrueWind Solutions using the MesoMap
    system and historical weather data. Although it is believed to
    represent an accurate overall picture of the wind energy resource,
    estimates at any location should be confirmed by measurement"



    (Thanks to the Drizzle Queen for the link)


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    #21
    Pangea
    Registered Users Posts: 5,565 ✭✭✭Pangea


    Deep Easterly wrote: »
    Average windspeed map (50m - 200m resolution) of Ireland (Republic only) from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

    Not sure what or how many stations the data is based on but it seems pretty accurate.

    "Coordinate System: Irish National Grid
    Spatial Resolution of Wind Resource Data: 200m
    This map was created by TrueWind Solutions using the MesoMap
    system and historical weather data. Although it is believed to
    represent an accurate overall picture of the wind energy resource,
    estimates at any location should be confirmed by measurement"



    (Thanks to the Drizzle Queen for the link)



    Thanks for that, whats the M/S stand for?


    They seem to have gone to a lot of detail, I guess they are basing it on local topography seeing as their is some pink areas right beside the dark red areas. Although there is some areas I would seriously doubt should be coloured pink, e.g. there are green and pink areas in my area that are close to the red and yellow areas but by that chart my wind speeds would be the same wind speeds as the green and pink areas of the midlands, which I highly doubt it (but who am I to criticise ) .


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    #22
    Su Campu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,279 ✭✭✭Su Campu


    Pangea wrote: »
    Thanks for that, whats the M/S stand for?


    They seem to have gone to a lot of detail, I guess they are basing it on local topography seeing as their is some pink areas right beside the dark red areas. Although there is some areas I would seriously doubt should be coloured pink, e.g. there are green and pink areas in my area that are close to the red and yellow areas but by that chart my wind speeds would be the same wind speeds as the green and pink areas of the midlands, which I highly doubt it (but who am I to criticise ) .

    m/s = metres per second!

    These are windpeeds at 50 metres, not the normal 10 metres, so they're obviously not directly taken from observations. There must be some algorithm though that they've used based on observational data, topography, etc.


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    #23
    eskimocat
    Registered Users Posts: 1,204 ✭✭✭eskimocat


    Interesting Map. Edit: totally missed the link on the SEAI site!


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