
Ophelia became a major hurricane where no storm had before - sndean
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/10/ophelia-became-a-major-hurricane-where-the-waters-are-usually-too-cold/
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littlestymaar
30 years ago, almost the same day, a hurricane category 2 on the Saffir-
Simpson scale reached France and the British Isles :
[http://tempetes.meteofrance.fr/L-ouragan-
du-15-au-16-octobre...](http://tempetes.meteofrance.fr/L-ouragan-
du-15-au-16-octobre-1987.html) (in French).

Edit: fixed the quotation on the Saphir Simpson scale that was incorrectly
taken from the article.

~~~
Retric
That did not make landfall as a hurricane.

"In south-east England, where the greatest damage occurred, gusts of 70 knots
(130 km/h; 81 mph)"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987)

However, it takes Sustained winds of 111–129 mph to be a Category 3.

Also the great storm of 1987 made landfall significantly south of this one.
[http://engweb.swan.ac.uk/~hewstonr/Great_Storm.html](http://engweb.swan.ac.uk/~hewstonr/Great_Storm.html)
vs.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ophelia_(2017)#/medi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Ophelia_\(2017\)#/media/File:Ophelia_2017_track.png)

~~~
littlestymaar
The Meteo France article I quoted is actually a bit misleading, it talks about
a category 3 hurricane in a not really rigorous way «damages caused by this
storm has been on par with the ones done by a category 3 hurricane» even tough
you're right the sustained wind speed has been below the limit for a category
3. It's still strong enough to be classified as a category 1 (in england) or 2
in France.

The actual reason why it wasn't a proper hurricane was because this word is
reserved for tropical cyclones. Neither the great storm or Ophelia are
tropical.

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marcosscriven
It happens also to have turned the afternoon sky a deep Mars-like red. It was
quite a fascinating sight, lots of people comparing it to Blade Runner 2049 or
Instagram filters.

~~~
nejenendn
Heh, we have a similar experience here in the bay area from all the wild
fires.

~~~
theyregreat
Confirmed. The iOS weather app even listed “Smoke” instead of “Cloudy” or
“Overcast.” It’s not funny though. For example, my folks live on a mesa
surrounded by pine trees and vegetation on three sides. Last week, an
intentionally-set fire (quickly contained) took out their phone lines.

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satysin
Many parts of the UK (including London where I am) had an oddly beautiful
phenomenon thanks to Ophelia [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
england-41635906](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41635906)

~~~
gadders
When I saw it today it reminded me of the nuclear winter in The Strain.

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jacquesm
It has been a few weeks now that the air here has been uncharacteristically
warm. I've heard quite a few people remark on this totally unprompted. Today
was 21 degrees here, when it normally would be 12-15 tops.

All that energy will have to go somewhere.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
The south of the UK often has a last gasp of summer in late Sept or early Oct.
So the temps aren't that unusual.

A couple of years ago I was living on the south coast.

Towards the end of a recent summer we had a no-holds-barred tropical storm.
Not only did lightning put on an incredible show across a huge area, but the
external air temperature and humidity were tropical.

Going outdoors was like stepping into a hot house, with torrents of warm rain.

I've never experienced anything like it in the UK before.

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ojbyrne
Not much of an effect in Dublin so far.

~~~
theyregreat
Any rain or clouds?

~~~
secfirstmd
Light rain. Bit of wind.

Have to say, while it is tragic that a few people have died on the roads, the
way that Irish people handle a "National Emergency" like this is hilarious.
Gotta love some of the dry humour going round!

~~~
seanalltogether
N. Ireland for some reason has decided to close schools tomorrow as well.
Seems like a bit of an over reaction.

~~~
noelrock
They literally have no parliament, Government or decision making capacity
right now. Both days of closures in NI were clear copy and paste efforts
within an hour of the rest of Ireland announcing same. Not a great way to make
decisions !

~~~
Turing_Machine
Hmmm... why wouldn't it be a good way to make decisions, assuming that the
Republic of Ireland's weather people are competent, and their own people were
unavailable (for whatever reason)?

Some things are independent of politics, and tomorrow's weather is pretty high
on that list. :-)

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mcguire
As an aside,...

" _The Irish National Meteorological Service, Met Éireann..._ "

Someone please tell me there's an "An Bord Rain" joke around here.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bord_Snip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bord_Snip)

(Dang it, I can't find a link for An Bord Bun.)

~~~
soVeryTired
That'd be An Bord Baiste to you...

~~~
Y_Y
The baptised board?

Do you mean An Bord Báistí?

~~~
soVeryTired
Feck it, I do. My Irish is banjaxed after ten years away from home.

