My target was to cycle 500 miles across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and in the process raise money and awarness of eating disorders, which are serious and life-threatening illnesses.
Altogether I raised some £2,100 for the BEAT charity (Beating Eating Disorders) and I gathered and harnessed a huge groundswell of support for my cause. And although I did complete the 500 miles sucessfully, it seems the journey to raise awareness of and to fight eating disorders has only just begun.
Below, you can find a wee summary of my adventure, including some photographs taken en route (see attachments underneath).
To be continued...
To Whom it Concerns
Now that the summer of 2018 has drawn to a close, I just wanted to finally thank you all again for your support during my #eddy500 cycle challenge this summer. Altogether I have raised well over ~£2,000 for the BEAT (Beating Eating Disorders) charity. Every single penny raised goes to them.
Of course, the cycling may be over for the moment, but the journey doesn't end here, as I hope my challenge will have gone some way towards supporting families with some-one suffering from an eating disorder. But even more important than the money, is the raising of awareness of these severe and life-threatening illnesses.
A reminder for those of you based in the UK, the BEAT helpline telephone number is: 0808 801 0677; And for more information, including online anonymous chat: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
For those interested, a quick summary of my cycle follows (attached also are a few photos taken en route):
I did the 500 miles in 11 different stages, starting (day 1 to day 3) by cycling the full chain of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland from north to south, from the Butt of Lewis to the Isle of Barra. The weather was glorious and dry.
I also made it my challenge to visit every populated Hebridean island, but realising that I had missed Great Bernera, I cycled there on 12 July, in yet more fine weather.
From the 23-27 July, the family joined me as we cycled the Great Glen of Scotland together, from Fort Augustus to Fort William, alongside the beautiful Caledonian canal. Again, the weather was stunningly warm, and we plunged into every loch en route, sometimes twice in a single day!
However, on the night of 27/28 July, the weather finally broke with a violent electrical storm, and we got soaked to the skin in a massive cloudburst while cycling the beautiful, lonely parallel roads of Glenroy.
On 30 July, I had another enjoyable run on the bike from Laggan, Glen Cluney, all the way to Inverness Raigmore, on the cycle track. Then it was back to Ullapool and Stornoway, where the children and family needed me.
The worst and most challenging run was on the final day (4 August), return from Stornoway to Scalpay (my final populated island). I waited impatiently to get going on Sat 4 August, starting at 5:30am at the crack of dawn. However, battling against a strong cold wind and miserable skies, by 8:00am I had journeyed only 25 miles. Like Toad, I hid temporarily under a bridge to escape the worst of the weather, falling asleep for ~30mins, only to awake shivering and wishing for my warm bed! Returning over the Clisham (a high pass), the mountain gods seemed to release all of their otherworldly demons at me - with torrential sheets of soaking rain, and I was nearly blown off my bicycle. But I got back safely to Stornoway that night... with 519 miles complete... and I had a long, long and very hot soak in the bath.
High points: Having a celebratory swim at Vatersay (Barra) after completing the first 170 miles; cycling the lonely Glenroy with the family on 28 July; getting fit again (LOL). Knowing that I am doing something positive.
Regrets: I did not get to visit some places on my original itinerary, but such is the nature of cycling and Scottish weather. Another time, another place, je serai lá.
I also quickly realised that Scotland needs many, many, many more cycle routes, completely separate from vehicular traffic - but this perhaps is another fight for some-one else to take up.
So from the heart, thank you again for all of your superb support.
With kindest wishes
Eddie and Family
Stornoway, Bonnie Scotland.
]]>
And the heat still goes on, with no sign of it letting up yet... #Scorchio #Scotland
]]>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After six and a half glorious months on Tenerife, Eddy's period of sabbatical leave is now over, and he has returned to Stornoway. What an adventure! See below for a few memorable meteorological photos and movies. It was certainly the "time of my life". With great thanks for everyone, Eddy.
Time Lapse Cloud Movie Videos (Tenerife playlist) here:https://youtu.be/xcWloQsuT0g?list=PL95LKZN9i_Qf4Wlnws8u0OVZ04msIRbpB&t=1
Teide (3708m) rises majestically above the stratocumulus clouds of the trade-wind inversion.
Eerie and stunning view of the Alisio trade-winds across Anaga to Roque de la Forteleza from La Laguna at dawn.
Stunning view towards Santa Cruz de Tenerife (and Gran Canaria more than 100km beyond in the distance), from San Roque, La Laguna.
El Bronco (725m) and Pico Cancelita, Pico Amarillo and Pico Colorado (775m) , La Laguna.
El Bronco and Vega de Las Mercedes, La Laguna.
The Solar Eclipse of 21 August 2017, captured by Eddy from San Roque, La Laguna.
A bumble bee searches for some nectar on La Gomera.
View from Guímar to Izana mountain.
'Purpi-heaven' at Garajonay, La Gomera.
Eddie's final day at the Institute de Astrophysics, La Laguna.
]]>Bloomsday is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses, the novel by James Joyce, arguably one of the greatest works of literature of all-time . The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning, in Dublin, Ireland.
Ulysses is riddled with enigmata (plural of enigma), tricks and conundra (plural of conundrum). Joyce even got the weather right on the day in question (it was a warm summer's day in Dublin, with a high temperature of 23-24degC, but there was a thunderstorm in the evening!
After a little bit of detective work (sorry, only a little), I have uncovered the following weather gems in Joyce's magnum opus:
"Warm sunshine merrying over the sea"
"His frocktails winked in bright sunshine to his fat strut"
"Thunder in the air. Was washing at her ear with her back to the fire too. He felt heavy, full: then a gentle loosening of his bowels"
"The deafening claps of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning which lit up the ghastly scene testified that the artillery of heaven had lent its supernatural pomp to the already gruesome spectacle"
"past ten of the clock, one great stroke with a long thunder"
OK, ok, next time I'll use 20th century reanalyses by NOAA-CIRES or ERA20C by ECMWF - sorry time does not allow today.
Happy Bloomsday 2017 to all!
]]>
If you cannot see the animation here - click here!
]]>Answer: Much like the way a motorway traffic jam propagates backwards against the flow of traffic, the velocity and air pressure fields change considerably in the airflow ahead of the Isles
@eddy_weather
#NASA MODIS Terra
]]>Looking more closely, one can see the actual impression of the lee atmospheric gravity waves on the sea surface (these are not regular ocean waves - instead these have wavelengths of several kilometres).
@eddy_weather, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 19 mayo 2017
]]>The view from el Mirador de San Roque (~725m) in La Laguna, down to the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with the island of Gran Canaria beyond across the sea in the distance.
View to the Guajara campus of the University of La Laguna.
View across towards La Vega de las Mercedes
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with many beautiful buildings dating back to 17th century and earlier.
Eddy on his first day of work at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in La Laguna.
The view from my workplace to the Anaga mountains in the distance. The large satellite dish sits on top of the roof of the nearby Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos.
Of course, a trip to Tenerife would not be complete without a visit to desert landscape of Mt Teide, the world's 3rd highest volcano at 3,718m in altitude
Inside the huge volcanic crater, many different coloured and solidified lava flows can be seen (the black ones on the mountain slope are thought to date from the late Middle Ages)
@eddy_weather, April/May 2017
]]>Based on long-term Met Office records for Stornoway (which digitally stretch back to 1873, one of the longest such series in Scotland), the winter of 2016-2017 so far in Stornoway is the 2nd mildest (out of 144 years), 21st driest (out of 144 years) and 48th sunniest (out of 88 years), according to the latest data from @eddy_weather.
Let's look at the data with the aid of a few charts. Firstly, air temperature: Up to the end of January 2017, the current winter's mean air temperature of +6.9C has only be exceeded once before, in 1989:
Next, precipitation (rainfall & snowfall): We are having a dry winter, the driest in 6 years (since 2011) and the 21st driest in the whole 144-year record (so about a 1:6 or 1:7 year event):
And finally, days with air frost: There have been only 3 air frosts this December and January, which is the joint 10th lowest total since 1873. Overall, there's been a decrease of about 25% in the number of days of air frost since 1873 for these months (see trend line).
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, 5 February 2017.
]]>
1) Looking south across Rannoch Moor
2) North-west across The Trossachs to Ben Lui and Ben Cruachan (near Oban).
3) The Nevis Range and the Great Glen.
4) Now looking eastwards (from the other side of the aeroplane): Fog winds its way through the Pass of Drumochter
5) The Fara and Dalwhinnie (the bow waves indicate the fog is flowing upwards from the south, and perhaps is sloshing in seiche fashion e.g. https://youtu.be/liwEP03SgVw?t=4 and https://youtu.be/bWKiRsHSBFw?t=1)
6) A Broken Spectre 'Glory' from the fog top indicates that the fog droplets were 'old', with a variation in size of more than 20%.
7) And finally, out of the clouds: Carn Eighe / Sgurr na Lapich with a rather thin snow cover for the time of year.
A radiosounding taken at Abermarle, Northumberland (which was also lying under the fog layer) at 12z on this day shows a strong temperature and humidity inversion at 700-800m. The air temperature was -1.1degC at 766m with 99% relative humidity, whereas at 1050m it was a shocking +8.2degC but with a relative humidity of only 30%.
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, Scotland, 24 January 2017
]]>
Firstly, let's look and see what two of the biggest power stations in the UK are up to (from a viewing height of 32,000 feet):
Oh dear, it's looks like some stratocumulus or stratus undulatus pyrocumulugenitus!
Let's look more closely:
Drax is the bigger plant marked 'A' (with presumably a greater emission of water vapour); Ferrybridge is 'B'. Drax's cumulus thermal (pyrocumulus, as it is caused by an anthropogenic heat source) is so powerful, that when it hits the inversion, the cloud oscillates up-and-down downwind (north) in a wave train - that's the undulatus bit.
Now, let's consider the NASA Terra 721 satellite image of the same time. The Drax plume again is most apparent - I wonder if its total water vapour emissions are proportionate to the cloud liquid water extent across the north of England that day? There is surely a link, whether minor or major, as shown by Graham (2007) for the Energie Wasser Bern (EWB) incinerator in Bern Switzerland.
Reference:
Graham, E. (2007). Clouds - Nature's Landscape? Montagsseminar, Institut Fuer Angwandte Physik, Universitaet Bern.
]]>
There's a near complete snow cover over the country but it's all very ephemeral I'm afraid - it'll disappear as quickly as it came!
(False colours: Left: red=snow; Right: cyan=snow).
@eddy_weather, 14 January 2017
]]>
@eddy_weather, 13 January 2017.
]]>A few facts on the current cold snap:
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, 12 Jan 2017
]]>
Listen to Eddie explaining more on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086lh6q at 1hr 26mins 36 secs (or 10:26a.m.).
]]>I've completed a climatological analyses of the weather in Stornoway during the year of 2016. Rather than write a tedious monologue, I'be summarised all relevant monthly values in a Table, which is presented below.
Overall the year was mild with the mean temperature about +0.5degC above normal (but not as warm as it was in 2014). Rainfall was close to average (i.e. much drier than in 2015, which was a record wet year) and there was near average sunshine too. The number of air frosts was below normal.
Station: |
Stornoway Town 04004 |
||||||||||||
Status: |
Semi-Homogenised |
||||||||||||
Year |
2016 |
||||||||||||
Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Mean Max |
7.1 |
6.7 |
9.2 |
9.6 |
12.9 |
15.6 |
16.1 |
16.8 |
15.7 |
13.3 |
8.6 |
9.9 |
11.79 |
Mean Min |
2.8 |
0.9 |
3.8 |
3.4 |
6.8 |
10.2 |
10.8 |
10.5 |
10.2 |
6.9 |
2.9 |
4.9 |
6.18 |
Mean (degC) |
5.0 |
3.8 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
9.9 |
12.9 |
13.5 |
13.7 |
13.0 |
10.1 |
5.8 |
7.4 |
8.98 |
Highest Max |
12.9 |
10.7 |
13.5 |
12.5 |
19.7 |
20.0 |
22.0 |
22.2 |
19.2 |
17.4 |
13.3 |
13.1 |
22.2 |
Highest Min |
10.8 |
4.9 |
8.9 |
6.9 |
9.8 |
13.5 |
14.9 |
13.9 |
13.4 |
12.8 |
11.2 |
9.6 |
14.9 |
Lowest Max |
2.5 |
3.6 |
4.6 |
5.8 |
9.7 |
11.9 |
14.3 |
14.2 |
12.2 |
9.6 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
2.5 |
Lowest Min |
-1.9 |
-2.3 |
-2.1 |
-2.7 |
2.8 |
7.2 |
6.2 |
4.2 |
6.2 |
0.8 |
-2.5 |
-1.7 |
-2.7 |
Air frosts |
7 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
30 |
Grass Frosts |
16 |
23 |
19 |
12 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
17 |
10 |
107 |
Lowest Grass |
-6.4 |
-5.5 |
-6.4 |
-5.4 |
-1.4 |
4.0 |
3.1 |
3.0 |
1.9 |
-4.1 |
-6.7 |
-6.7 |
-6.7 |
Precip (mm) |
157.5 |
154.7 |
92.6 |
53.4 |
62.9 |
80.0 |
143.5 |
86.8 |
139.0 |
38.9 |
114.6 |
133.0 |
1257 |
Wettest |
18.8 |
24.0 |
27.7 |
5.8 |
11.0 |
12.5 |
26.1 |
20.2 |
20.6 |
10.8 |
23.2 |
14.3 |
27.7 |
Raindays (>=0.2mm) |
24 |
26 |
22 |
24 |
12 |
17 |
30 |
16 |
23 |
12 |
25 |
27 |
258 |
Wetdays (>=1.0mm) |
18 |
23 |
14 |
14 |
10 |
14 |
23 |
12 |
21 |
10 |
21 |
23 |
203 |
Hail |
7 |
12 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
44 |
Thunder |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
Snowfall |
10 |
16 |
6 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
49 |
Snow Lying |
7 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
Max snow depth (cm) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Cloud percent |
0.8188 |
0.7349 |
0.6956 |
0.7318 |
0.7042 |
0.8073 |
0.9346 |
0.6821 |
0.7243 |
0.5559 |
0.6170 |
0.7917 |
0.73 |
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, 2 Jan 2017
]]>Eddy reports that the average air temperature for this December will clock in at approximately +7.7°C, almost a full 3°C above normal – or about half a degree warmer than the long-term average temperature for April!
Such a degree of warmth is ‘highly unusual’, and follows very high global air temperatures during both 2015 and 2016. This December will also rank as the warmest of any winter month (December, January or February) for the full period of the Met Office archives, which stretch back over 150 years in Stornoway (one of the longest such series in Scotland).
The following chart places the warmth within the long-term context of all winter months from 1873-2016:
The weather is set to change over the weekend, however, as a short cold snap ushers in wintry flurries and chilly north wind for the New Year.
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, 30 December 2016
]]>
The 4pm SYNOP for Thorshavn WMO station 06011 read as follows:
Air Temp: 4.0C Dewpoint: 1.4C Pressure: 966.6hPa Wind dir: NW Mean speed: 72kts (Hurricane Force 12), gusting 102kts (117mph)
and again at 6pm:
Wind gust: 102kts (117mph)
That's several mph stronger than the Stornoway 03026 Hurricane of January 2015. Thorshavn 06011 also recorded 4 consecutive days from 23rd-26th of wind gusts exceeding 95mph (and 3 consecutive days of over 100mph).
The satellite animation above (courtesy of sat24, images copyright METEOSAT) shows that Conor was a classic Shapiro-Keyser low, with a probable #stingjet being the reason for the exceptional wind speeds (Shapiro-Keyser 1990). Further evidence for the stratospheric intrusion of very dry air (usually found in the region of a tropopause lowering with a #stingjet) can be seen in the following METEOSAT 6.7µm water vapour channel image for 12h (below). A prominent dark area (dry intrusion) lies directly east of the cloud head tip, and also west of the main frontal boundary:
This dry air arrived in Stornoway during the evening of Christmas Day. A dewpoint of -6.4C was recorded at 18h with a relative humidity of only 45% (due to the 'ice-bulb' effect, the ground was freezing despite an ambient air temperature of +5.5C). The NAVGEM global met model also indicated that widespread tropopause lowering was taking place near #StormConor (red blotches on following chart):
@eddy_weather, Stornoway, 29/12/2016
Reference:
Shapiro, M.A. and Keyser, D.A., 1990. Fronts, jet streams, and the tropopause. US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Research Laboratories, Wave Propagation Laboratory.
]]>
---BEGIN--- (original post)
Please note this is Eddy's final prognostic on #StormBarbara. I will however, be posting analyses and diagnoses during and post-event on Twitter (should power supplies permit so).
Here's how I view the development of #StormBarbara:
Barbara will be a very powerful storm, with maximum wind gusts within the #stingjet* of probably over 100mph. However, there is disagreement still between the models over the exact track of the jet. The final track of this jet will prove crucial regarding the impact of Barbara.
Currently the Global Forecast System (GFS) mean has the #stingjet remaining out to sea, to the north-west beyond St. Kilda, Butt of Lewis, Flannan Isles and Sulisker (see charts below). In this run, gusts of 70-80kts affect N and W Lewis, with up to 100kts (120mph) within the #stingjet, well offshore:
However, the all met model ensemble mean (the best estimate from all met models at the moment) indicates that GFS has slow wind bias for the region 58.0degN, -4.0degW (see next chart):
In contrast the COSMO European model (run at highest possible resolution) has a quite frightening prediction with windspeeds in excess of 115mph (180km/h) blasting into west Harris and westside Lewis at 17-18h (see next chart). If realised, this would make it almost as strong as the 'Stornoway Hurricane' of 8-9 Jan 2015.
Conclusion: With such disagreement, analyses of real-time satellite imagery will prove key as to the position and area of the sting jet / cold jet which will cause the most violent winds, as well as indicating the Langrangian (relative) speed of the system itself.
p.s. Late addition: I notice the US NAVGEM model is now pulling Barbara further NW again, in line with GFS.
Likely temporal Sequence of Events (very rough guide ± 2-3hrs):
6am: Frontal trough of storm reaches Barra, torrential rain and wind gusts reach 60-70mph.
8am: Same reaches Stornoway
9am-12 noon: Winds increase to gusts of 75mph
~Lunchtime: As frontal trough clears, a temporary 'lull' back to 60-70mph gusts
2pm-8pm: The main hooley, with the most violent winds moving northwest across the Hebrides from Barra to Lewis. Highest wind speeds are likely to last 2-3 hours in duration (depends on speed of system herself). Max gusts are as indicated above (between 80-115mph). If the #stingjet stays well offshore, this stage will be reduced in severity.
10pm-midnight: Worst hopefully over.
The Christmas Day Storm (perhaps #StormConor): It looks like it will also be a strong storm, but current model runs suggest a track further still to the NW. Let's deal with him only after ##StormBarbara!
22 Dec 2016, @eddy_weather, Stornoway
* Please note that I am using the term 'sting jet' for both sting jets and cold jets (or cold conveyor belts). This is not strictly correct meteorologically speaking - but since the public are more familiar with the term sting jet, I am using this term alone to avoid confusion.
---END---
]]>