During a 737's final for 25 at BFS this afternoon, couple of wind checks:


240@20kts
240@30kts
240@48kts
240@40kts
240@58kts

58kts is the highest I've heard at BFS today though my aerials are rock solid on the gable:E

NWSRG,
Idea that springs to mind is with such strong 'head' winds of between 30 and 50kts, groundspeed at touch down is going to be much less than the 'usual.'
With windshear around, perhaps flying well above VREF and a lower flap setting, is handling not better with a lower flap setting in gusty conditions.

Anyway, over to the experts to answer :cool:

Kestrel,

Thanks for that...sounds reasonable, but groundspeed still seemed high though.

Any idea if the 'Palmair' 732 and Aer Lingus 733 on the apron were diversions?

OO never heard those, had some earlier in the week including an EI 737. but surely should have left by now.

Could have diverted today due to the obvious but I'm not sure.

Bit breezy up north!!

BENBECULA EGPL 111820Z AUTO 20064G86KT 1600 -RA SCT010 SCT014 06/04 Q0961 RERA

(86KT = 99mph)

Mains power back on after a mere 40 min blackout, phone lines OK throughout. The ATC lads on shift tell me they can't get home tonight, latest they had was surface wind 21061G81kt.

Hope the roof holds out, it's making unprecedented noises. The
double-glazing is bending to "Hall of Mirrors" levels too.

I'm told it'll get worse before it gets better. That's nice.

Guga.

Can someone give me guidance on how (as a non-pilot) I can read those weather descriptions.

Jordan

For the wind bit...

21061G81 is 61 knots at 210 degrees, gusting to 81.

Jordan,

Taking the following as an example

ABERDEEN - EGPD - ABZ
FT: TAF EGPD 111010Z 111812 16027G45KT 9999 SCT018 BKN040
PROB40 TEMPO 1812 8000 SHRA BKN014
BECMG 2124 22040G65KT
BECMG 0912 25030G50KT =


TAF=aerodrome forecast
EGPD = code for Aberdeen
111010Z = forecast made 0n 11th (today) at 1010Z 10:10GMT time
111812 = forecast for period 11th Jan 18(00)GMT until 12(00) GMT next day
16027G45KT= wind direction 160 degrees (South East) at 27knots gusting to 45 kts [add 15% to convert to mph]
9999 = visibility 9999metres (or more) = good
SCT018 = scattered cloud at 1600 ft above the ground
BKN040 = broken cloud at 4000ft
PROB40 TEMPO 1812= 40% chance of temporarily between 1800 and 1200GMT of:
8000 SHRA BKN014 = 8000metres via in showers of rain, with broken cloud at 1400ft
BECMG 2124 = changing between 2100 and 2400 gmt to:
22040G65KT = 220 degrees 40kts gusting to 65kts (about 80mph) etc

Hope that helps

Guga

Are you in Benbecula? Sounds like a wild one. Can't ever remember seeing a METAR like this:

BENBECULA EGPL 112150Z AUTO 22061G89KT 0800 -SHRA FEW007 SCT010 04/03 Q0971

89kts is 102mph :ooh:

Hope everyone is safe indoors up there tonight. Low pressure system seems to be moving away though as pressure has gone up 10 mb in 3hrs 30min.

Batten down the hatches
 

All this going on, and what do we get on the ITN Evening News? Two minutes of bad a weather video from California showing a landslide! Who gives flying f*ck? Are they showing our bad weather on channels in CA? Silly Question!
The wind was so bad in Carlisle that it blew over the broadcasting equipment, and the reporter had to make a report over the telephone! Very little has been said on the national news about conditions up north - situation normal I suppose!
Good luck to all of you caught in the worst of this - let's hope it's the last one for a long time.

talking about TV-news reports like that, ITV tonight interviewed a electric board emergency team on standby in Northern Ireland.. The power company's Landrover and 4x4 Unimog were blowing around side to side and looked like they were about to flip over, anytime.

All quiet on the western front tonight at EGLL if its any consolation. A few high but very light clouds, good vis and only a very gentle breeze here. 2300z.

@barry lloyd

the German news brought footage of Scotland AND California! did YOUR news bring reports about Scandinavia and the North Sea where ferries had to be canceled? I doubt it :mad: ours did!

It's unimportant who reports what ....it depends are what news the stations get. I wouldn't emphasize it so much.

Westy

P.S. why is this thread no longer in R&N? It for sure doesn't belong by the spotters!! (and soon it'll belong in JB I believe :E )

Well, I don't know who moved it here, but it is not really that significant for a spot on R&N. Strong winds are part of life in aviation (and will be more so, I feel) and this thread is really of more interest to 'spotters' than to professional pilots who just get on with it without too much public whimpering.

Yes the winds are strong, but, no, they are not unusual. There are those of us who operated in the 2 'hurricanes' that we had in the SE of England, and I have no doubt that some of those METARS which appear to cause such shock in some of our community would be looked an as nice days by some in some parts of the world.

Typing this in KEF where 30 gusting 50 is by no means unusual, and if the wind speed exceeds the limit for the passenger airbridge (65 knots, I believe) we go and have a cup of coffee and wait until we can board.:D

Passengers should be reassured that we can and do operate safely in strong winds.

Out of interest, what is the highest wind speed (and crosswind) you can have on MS Flt Sim?

You can set it to 200kts gusting to 220kts at the very most.
Ever done 150kts backwards in a Cessna?:E

Ta Kes - no, but have been in a Chipmunk doing 7 kts backwards.......................

Remember going to Coltishall once and been shown how the nav system worked on a Jaguar by putting a fictious wind of 450Kts in, flew all round East Anglia without moving

G-I-B

Pretty windy in the Carlisle area yesterday and today. Anyone know the actual windspeeds at CAX/EGNC?

Batten down the hatches
 

Westy,

The North Sea Ferries were mentioned. Nothing about Scandinavia, though. The point is that news programmes are meant to inform, but I'm well aware that all that went down the pan years ago, unless it concerns a 'celebrity' getting married/divorced/pregnant or whatever.
This afternoon on ITV we got 30 seconds of somewhere in Scotland (taken at night, so you couldn't see anything!), and yet another two minutes of the (same) landslide. I think that qualifies as biased reporting, and yes I have made representations!

Jet2 Nope, not PL but somewhere North of there.

Anybody seen my central heating oil tank? I'm sure it was still there when I went to bed. It's a bit chilly without it.

Guga

Graham K

I should think windspeeds are fairly irrelevant. The last I heard (yesterday pm), was that EGNC was closed due waterlogging/flooding. Don't know if the waters have receded today...

Have just heard that EGNC is (and has been) operational - mostly \'copter flying. Previous report about it being closed was erroneous - winds gusted up to 72knots yesterday, but more or less down the runway. City is still under water, and biscuit factory (one of biggest local employers), is about to close, putting 1500 out of work.