The recent high winds to hit Ireland and Scotland have been very destructive.
Apparently they are the most damaging type of winds to occur in any European storm. With winds of 172km/h recorded at Malin Head, it’s no wonder there was a lot of structural damage around the country.
“A sting jet is a meteorological phenomenon which is believed to be the cause of the most damaging winds in European windstorms. Following reanalysis of the Great Storm of 1987 researchers identified a mesoscale flow where the most damaging winds were shown to be emanating from the evaporating tip of the hooked cloud head on the southern flank of the cyclone. This cloud, hooked like a scorpion's tail, gives the wind region its name the "Sting Jet".
Stalker likes the last line of the sting Jet Wikipedia entry: There are indications that conditional symmetric instability also plays a role in its formation but the importance of these processes remains to be quantified.
Conditional symmetric instability? All sounds a bit wobbly.
