andyhb Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Not only with the major flooding, but Wales and adjacent areas are getting 100 mph winds with the latest storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewave Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/pdf/1/2/Recent_Storms_Briefing_Final_SLR_20140211.pdf This winter the UK has been affected very severely by an exceptional run of winter storms, culminating in serious coastal damage and widespread, persistent flooding. This period of weather has been part of major perturbations to the Pacific and North Atlantic jet streams driven, in part, by persistent rainfall over Indonesia and the tropical West Pacific. The North Atlantic jet stream has also been unusually strong; this can be linked to exceptional wind patterns in the stratosphere with a very intense polar vortex. This paper documents the record-breaking weather and flooding, considers the potential drivers and discusses whether climate change contributed to the severity of the weather and its impacts. Although no individual storm can be regarded as exceptional, the clustering and persistence of the storms is highly unusual. December and January were exceptionally wet. For England and Wales this was one of, if not the most, exceptional periods of winter rainfall in at least 248 years. The two-month total (December + January) of 372.2mm for the southeast and central southern England region is the wettest any 2-month period in the series from 1910. During January and into February the tracks of the storms fell at a relatively low latitude, giving severe gales along the south and west coasts and pushing the bulk of the ocean wave energy toward the southwest of Ireland and England. Peak wave periods were exceptionally long; each wave carried a lot of energy and was able to inflict significant damage on coastal infrastructure. In a series from 1883, flow rates on the River Thames remained exceptionally high for longer than in any previous flood episode. Correspondingly, floodplain inundations were extensive and protracted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1900hurricane Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 That next bomb headed for the British Isles looks pretty loaded with moisture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1900hurricane Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Two jets are better than one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewave Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 The exceptional run of storms in that region produced the lowest surface pressure anomaly from 12-1 to 2-14 in either the North Atlantic or North Pacific since at least 1950 for any given location. You can see how this surpassed the pressure anomalies near the centers of low pressure associated with the record El Ninos of 1983 and 1998. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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