Dr. Eddy Graham's Hebridean Weather Blog
by Dr. Eddy Graham
Lowest pressure for 127 years recorded in Stornoway today (Confirmed) + Storm Videos
It is confirmed - the value of 936.8hPa (millibars) recorded at Stornoway at 13h00 (Christmas Eve 2013) is the the lowest value measured anywhere in the British Isles (Britain and Ireland) since 1886. It beats the previous value of 937.6hPa recorded on 20 December 1982, also recorded in Stornoway.
The lowest ever value recorded on land in the British Isles is 925.4hPa, at Ochtertyre (Perthshire, nr, Crieff) on 26 January 1884 - this record remains unchallenged today.
Why weren't the winds hurricane-force? Well, there isn't a direct linear relationship between intensity (depth) of a low and strength of the wind. But they were still very bad today (please don't complain - I am happy the roof is still on my house!).
Thankfully, Stornoway town was mostly spared from the rise in sea-level, though it was a close call. Much spray & many waves broke over the sea-wall threatening the town hall & town centre, but flooding was limited to large pools of water, etc.. Many people had a scary experience retrieving their cars from the car park beside Stornoway Harbour, getting soaked by waves & spray within a few seconds.
You can see how the conditions were in Stornoway today on either of these two videos that I made at Stornoway harbour:
and
An even better video of the (nearly white) stormy seas pounding over the Braighe Road (east of Stornoway) was taken by colleagues at the Stornoway Gazette:
VIDEO: Stormy seas at high tide - Stornoway Gazette
Eddie, 24 Dec 2013, 17h45