Storm Isha–Don’t Be Fooled By 99 MPH Claims
By Paul Homewood
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-68036507
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Storm Isha is now moving away, having caused some disruption, mainly falling trees.
But did it really live up to the hype about 99 mph winds? Or have we been conned again by the Met Office?
That 99 mph comes from Brizlee Wood:
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In reality however, Brizlee is not a wood at all, it is an RAF radar station on top of a 250m hilltop above Alnwick Moor.
To use a site like this with the intent to suggest that it is somehow representative is quite clearly fraudulent.
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We can carry on down the list.
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Capel Curig – 216m – established 1993
Needles – 80m – established 1996
Shap – 252m – established 1982
Prestwick – 27m – established ?
Salsburgh – 277m – established 1964
The only site that can be regarded as representative is Prestwick.
It is also worth noting that most of these unrepresentative upland sites, all official Met Office stations, are relatively new. Why did the Met Office decide to start setting them up in the 1990s? Could it be the propaganda value of them?
Brizlee Wood, by the way, does not even appear on the latest Met Office listing, dated 2019, so presumably is even newer. I have asked the Met Office to confirm the date it opened.
Nevertheless, when we try to compare storms like Isha with others in the past, we are not comparing like with like. Met Office reports decades ago tended to focus on places where people actually lived!
Boulmer is a village on the coast, just a few miles from Brizelee. There average wind speeds only reached 34 mph, referred to as a near gale.
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In February 1990, the month after the Burns Day created so much carnage further south, Boulmer’s average winds peaked at 48 mph, and gusts at 75 mph.
https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/IO_476be283-e544-44a0-8087-ecddc31ad5d9/
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Three years later, Boulmer had even stronger winds, gusting to 66 mph:
https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/IO_3d632b15-bcce-4486-96dd-6044c82f44ea/
Meanwhile the BBC note that gusts of 70-80 mph were recorded across Scotland’s Central Belt:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-68036507/page/2
But in January 1993, 89 mph winds hit Glasgow, with 83 mph gusts in Edinburgh too:
Meanwhile the Met Office took full advantage of the storm to ramp up the alarm:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/21/storm-isha-batter-uk-winds-floods-met-office-warning/
They’ll have us all sleeping in our cellars next!
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Here in Aberdeen it was a bit blowy last night. Today dawned with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze.
Aye, with both windows open, it lifted the downie a bit out here in Leslie…..
Nothing out of the ordinary here in East Yorkshire. A bit windy overnight but much calmer with some sunny spells this morning.
Certainly not a howling gale for me (in those the chimney whistles) – and rather less rain than forecast too. Not many twigs down either. A couple of brief power cuts of a few seconds – enough to reboot the router.
Paul, is it worth you writing to the DT to show how the MO get their high readings?
49 mph maximum gust here in mid devon, quite normal for a winter storm, a few branches blown down, we see these EVERY year!
Last night’s BBC News at 6 and 10 were laughable, with a woman standing on Blackpool beach pretending to report high winds that had clearly not arrived.
Her hair was barely being ruffled and in the distance waves were hardly lashing the beach. However she was standing as if braced against a hurricane.
She had clearly been told to fake it.
“She had clearly been told to fake it”
Much like the news bulletins from war zones where the reporter is wearing a flak jacket and helmet. Then a day or so later someone posts a picture taken from a different angle on social media, and we see the camera crew are dressed in Tee Shirt & Shorts!
Why do TV News programmes have to send staff for on the spot reports, particularly when it’s dark or/and the building is empty and everyone has gone home?
It adds nothing
I watched that too and thought “Why choose Backpool”? It was a bit windy here in Cheshire. In fact the empty green bin blew over.
To give a fair comparison of windspeeds over time and areas, all reported windspeeds should be recordings at ground level
For the second time in recent months, Capel Curig has reported remarkably high wind-speeds considering it is in the lee of the bulk of Snowdonia – perhaps a Fohn (lee wave) effect?
This site is however consistently one of the wettest, but that’s another story.
Wet on the lee side of a mountain range? What’s it like on the windward side?
You probably know it but Boulmer also has an RAF base.
If my research is correct upgrading work on the radome at Brizlee Wood was completed about three years ago. I doubt if the site was intended to be used by the Met Office — or indeed anyone else outside the military!
The 99mph figure is almost certainly accurate — just irrelevant
Then bang off a letter to the DT (whoever) and tell ’em, Mike. They ignore mine.
Was quite breezy here, 106mph at Tan Hill apparently. We’re used to it.
My son had a weekend in Scotland watching various Scottish Cup matches Clyde on Friday night, Morton on Saturday and Celtic last night. They set out for Derby after the Celtic game. He said it was a bit hairy on the M6. Mainly keeping an eye on lorries doing Russ Swift impressions. They passed 4 or 5 on their sides.
Nothing too exceptional from what he’s said
When I listen to the BBC News now I realise they are working on a program of indoctrination: keep associating the slightest deviation from normal weather as a storm and pretty soon all the brain dead in society will think that all the storms are coming from the climate change they’re always talking about: so it must be true! We really do live in interesting times… The BBC is far too powerful: a law to itself.
I wonder if having Ofcom check their online lies will have any effect?
im guessing its to counteract the terrible weather that the Palestinian people are experiencing ..& to stop the UK from even thinking about it ..”sleep away from windows” ..should actually read ” sleep away from collapsing buildings that have been bombed by million pound bombs paid for by the weather battered indentured slaves forced to pay tributes to the demon god Baal”..cheers& have a beautiful day exploring & adoring our magical plane ( no T ) X