Damp Squib?

The forecasted weather for overnight was fairly bad. Gusts up to 100 mph in exposed areas were warned of. The storm was obviously fast-moving and looked as though it would be worst early this morning. Being a fast-moving depression the wind would come at us from all angles; starting in the south and moving through the west and up towards North.

We anticipated a sleepless night with the window being battered.

In the event, it all passed quite quietly. A bit of a damp squib. That makes me laugh a little, that we see it that way –  when other parts might consider a Force 9 to be horrendous.

We slept OK – though I did wake around 4am when things became a little noisy. However the directly-at-the-window thing must have passed very quickly. We maxed an average of 55 mph and a max gust of 70 mph but not until breakfast time this morning. Kirkwall fared much worse, getting gusts up to 86 mph so we clearly caught the edge of things.

It’s still rather unpleasant out so we haven’t done a roof inspection tour yet.

There was damage however.

Mr L has a weather station. It’s his major interest in life and he develops some well-respected software to work with it. He spends disproportionate amounts of time on this project, working at it as though it were a second full-time job. Slightly ridiculous, when he gives the software away. That’s by the by. I’m simply noting how important his weather station is to him.

This morning he told me of a glitch with the weather station – it had stopped sending temperature and humidity data this morning. He surmised that there is a fault with the solar panel or its connection.

A little later he opened the curtain and looked out. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “That explains the loss of data. The Stevenson Screen has blown off!”

I brought the weather station in while Mr L was having his shower. Amazingly, it began to send data again and appears to be unscathed. Mr L points out the merit of purchasing quality equipment…

Our weather data website will for now be presenting misleading data – the anemometer is still working away up on the roof but the other sensors are in the conservatory. The Stevenson Screen looks to be irreparable, so the weather station will be needing a new mounting point.

There is more weather on its way, with another Met Office weather warning issued from midnight tonight until 6pm tomorrow. Don’t expect the situation to be repaired any time soon.

There were no ferries this morning, this afternoon’s sailing is “under review” and tomorrow’s sailings are “liable to disruption” so I am wondering if there is any point in attempting a local shopping run this week or if any stocks will have arrived on the shelves.