The storm, named Eowyn, is being fueled by the same weather pattern that has brought brutal cold and a rare winter storm to the Southern United States.
New York Times
A fierce storm headed to Britain this week will bring the potential for wind gusts of 100 miles per hour to some places, one last punch from a weather pattern that has already delivered bitter cold and record-breaking snow to parts of the United States.
Damaging gales from the storm, which is named Eowyn, are expected to hit on Friday, with the strongest winds forecast for parts of Northern Ireland, southern Scotland, and northern and western areas of England and Wales. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 miles per hour are forecast, and gusts of up to 100 miles per hour are possible around the hills and coasts of the Irish Sea as well as southwest Scotland. Some forecast models are suggesting gusts between 100 and 120 m.p.h. for the west coast of Ireland, the equivalent to wind speeds of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane.
The intensity of Storm Eowyn prompted the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office to issue its most severe red wind warnings for Northern Ireland and central and southwest Scotland. It warned of “very dangerous conditions with widespread disruptions and significant impacts.” This is the first red wind warning issued for Northern Ireland since the Met Office moved to impact-based warnings in 2011.
Paul Gundersen, a chief meteorologist at the Met Office said, “We reserve the issuing of red warnings for the most severe weather which represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption, and that is the case with Storm Eowyn.”
The Irish meteorological service issued equivalent top level wind warnings for the whole country on Friday. Rain is also expected, as well as snow in the hills of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.
Initially heavy rain is forecast to spread eastward on Thursday, before conditions turn wet and windy through early Friday as Storm Eowyn arrives, with rain as well as some snow.
The Met Office has been naming impactful storms since 2015 with its storm-naming partners Met Eireann, the Irish weather service, and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute during the autumn and winter seasons. This storm’s name was chosen by the Dutch weather service, which took suggestions from members of the public.
The stark temperature contrast created by the arctic blast that has gripped the United States in recent days and the warm moist air in the Gulf of Mexico intensified the jet stream, a high altitude current of fast moving air that drives global weather patterns west to east, and often plays an active part in Britain’s weather.
The speed of the jet stream is usually between 190 to 220 miles per hour, but this week it strengthened to around 260 m.p.h. This strengthening has deepened Storm Eowyn rapidly in the Atlantic, steering it toward Britain and Ireland with heightened ferocity. The last time Britain experienced a storm of this strength was at the start of December with Storm Darragh, which was also influenced by a strong jet stream. Wind speeds for that storm reached 93 m.p.h. in Wales.
The jet stream is also known for powering trans-Atlantic flights, which pilots sometimes use to speed up journeys and save on fuel. On Wednesday, the ground speed of a flight from Las Vegas to London hit 814 m.p.h., close to the subsonic speed record of 835 m.p.h., which was set by a flight from New York to Lisbon last February.
In the United States this week, the bitter arctic air mass plunged much of the country into dangerously cold conditions, delivering record-breaking low temperatures not seen in decades, and life-threatening wind chills.
The National Weather Service called it the coldest air of the season, and it disrupted daily life for many across the country.
It helped fuel a rare winter storm along the Gulf Coast, which received record amounts of snow from Houston to New Orleans, and prompted the first-ever blizzard warning for some parts of Texas and Louisiana. Florida appeared to have shattered its record for the most snow over 24 hours, and in New Orleans, eight inches were recorded at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, giving the city its snowiest day in over 100 years.
Eowyn is expected to clear into the Norwegian Sea on Saturday, allowing a brief lull of drier and calmer conditions for the day. Another storm system is forecast to bring similar hazards for Britain on Sunday and Monday.
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