Winds are likely to increase to hurricane force for several hours across the northwest Highlands bringing very hazardous whiteout conditions by the end of the day.

http://www.mwis.org.uk/sh.php

I know MWIS is a pessimistic bugger, and we are talking at 3000 feet, BUT…..

😯

Saw that, gusts of 90mph and snow in the Cairngorms on Sat.No ta!

….Good for the ski areas / winter climbing

It’s all relative – the WS record at The Gorms is something approaching 200mph+ iirc.

Yeah but…

…”Hurricane Force” on the Beaufort Scale is anything over 73mph.

Yeah but…

…”Hurricane Force” on the Beaufort Scale is anything over 73mph.

Yes but that is steady wind speed of over 73mph. Gusts aren’t included.

Thats fine then,when I am getting battered by wind so strong they are almost lifting me off my feet,I will just sigger and mock their pathetic un-hurricaneness 😀

Gusts aren’t included

But is common parlance to say “Storm force 10, gusting to 12”

This is nothing unusual in the Scottish mountains in winter.

Winds over 100mph are recorded regularly up there. 😀

It’s been a very quite winter so far on the wind front, due to a lot of high pressure being around, and not many storms.

While the winter storms are common here, it is a rather windier than usual one. The 200m altitude windspeed over my office at the moment is gusting steady 40+ and gusting 50+ at the moment and has been building all afternoon. Wild night ahead!

Yes BigJohn

But is common parlance to say “Storm force 10, gusting to 12”

People do say that all the time, but they are wrong to do so (and coastguards are some of the worst culprits.

Beaufort forces are just descriptions of the mean wind speed…not the gust speed. Force 10 implies mean wind speeds of 52kt (strictly 10min means of 52kt…during which the wind could easily gust to say 65kt…or as low as 30kt). The expression “gusting to force 10” is as meaningless as saying “winds gusted to reach budgerigar eels”.

I know you’re right, Gwaelod, but as a windsurfer who sails all around the world (not in one go) it’s easier to understand when a German hire centre manager says “Ja, Beaufort 7, some gusts of 9 over there where the water is dark” then if he were to say 14 metres/sec and 23 metres/sec.

I’ll take a 4.2m sail and be prepared to have a little swim when the gusts come through.

Off to glenshee this weekend! Looks like there will be some snow anyway (if we can get there and he lifts are open).