Storm Éowyn packed a serious punch

 

The entire island was under an unprecedented Red Warning. Éowyn hit around 2 am Saturday morning 25/01/25. It had undergone explosive cyclogenesis when it collided with a superpowerful jet stream. A Bomb cyclone. They say it was the worst in recorded history. 

The sound was most eerie. Whistling, howling wind caused the house to heave as though breathing and the floors to creak throughout. It was too dark to see anything so we just tried to sleep through it. At one point I heard a slate sliding down the roof. Little did I know that pieces of slates would be strewn around the house and gardens, and a large gaping wound would lay open in the roof. One of the slates broke the plexiglass in the greenhouse but the polytunnel and shed were all intact. Miraculously, there was no damage to the cars. Next time, we put the cars in the shed. 

The animals were all flustered. Cats were upset, donkeys were prancing nervously, birds were panic eating and raining a cacophony of noise. I managed to feed the donkeys in the morning while the wind was still blowing fiercely, just not as fiercely as through the night. We had power but no internet or mobile signal, and no way to report outages. We had no clue just how bad it was going to be. 

At the height, almost one million entities were without power. Many were also without water, as the pumps used to send the water out lost power. Wells were not working. Curiously, mobile and internet were down in vast swathes of the country. It certainly was an eye-opener. Our power went out during the day. It must have been to prevent surges while workers were working on neighbouring connections. It was back up by evening. We were the lucky ones. Once again, Selkie covered us in between. 

We tried to drive out to Ross House in the afternoon with power saws in hand. Had to cut our way out of our road. There were wires on the ground and we decided to turn back. 

On Sunday, we got to Ross, OK, without much damage in sight. Then the carnage came into view. We had to cut our way through five trees down on the avenue. At least 15 more trees were down in the woods. Some were giant ash trees, but most were Scots pine. Some snapped in two, others were lifted out with their roots. An apple tree is leaning in the walled garden. But thankfully, no damage to the house or other structures, and there were no roof tiles in evidence on the ground. 

I haven't ventured into the vineyard but, from the outside, I could see several support poles down. Otherwise, pretty ok although the land is very wet. The poor donkeys had a mud field outside their shed. 

Several hundred thousand homes are still without power, water, mobile service, or the internet. This is a testament to how dependent we have become on electricity and technology. When it fails, we are lost. Supermarkets were caught without backup generators and lost all their stock. Restaurants remained closed. People couldn't work from home. Schools were closed, and daycare was unavailable. Buses and trains weren't running. People went hungry, cold, bored, and unbathed. 

And how lucky are we today for being stuck in the eye of the next storm, Herminia. Named by the Spanish Met office, its winds are bashing Galicia today while France gets the brunt of the rains.  Alex says Éowyn was the worst he's ever seen in Ireland. Let's hope it's a once-in-a-lifetime event. I am truly grateful for the break we got today. 

Weather Station Reports from Newport Furnace

Date	Rainfall (mm)	Max Temp (°C)	Min Temp (°C)	Grass Min Temp (°C)	Mean Wind Speed (knots)	Max Gust (>= 34 knots)	Sunshine (hours)
24/01/2025	7.3	10.4	1.2	-1.7	n/a	68

 

The maximum gust reported in Newport Furnace during the storm was 68 knots. MSC recorded 81 knots for 7 hours duration. We learned later that the system at MSC maxes out at 81 knots so our wind speed could well have been higher than that. We had 7.3 mm rain and a temperature range from 10.2C to 1.2C exactly as forecast. Minimum pressure was 945 hPa.