Storm Pia drubs Caithness and the far north, says Wick weather watcher

Wick weather watcher Keith Banks shared information on how Storm Pia has developed over the day and its effects in the far north.

Keith says that gale force 8 west-north-west winds that developed on the western flank of Storm Pia have been blasting Caithness since the early hours. He adds that peak gust in Wick on Thursday was 73mph (hurricane force 12) on the Beaufort scale. This velocity was logged during the 20 minutes ending at 6.20am.

He continues: "However,the day has been punctured by lots of very damaging gusts that have been in the violent storm 11 category (64mph-72mph) recorded in the town. The relentless force 8 west-north-west gale will ease very gradually to a near gale force 7 as the afternoon progresses. The WNW wind eventually moderating further and veering into the NW. As Storm Pia tracks eastwards to the north of Shetland and then across Scandinavia an increasingly cold and unstable showery polar airmass will become established across Caithness and the far north of Scotland by Thursday evening.

"Storm Pia developed below the left 'exit' of an unusually vigorous and powerful polar front jetstream originating above Labrador in Canada, subsequently flowing with a well-defined 'zonal' configuration above the NE Atlantic and then across N Scotland. Wind velocities on Thursday at the jet core are in excess of 200mph.

"Interestingly, in terms of the atmospheric dynamics of Storm Pia, the temperature in Wick peaked at a very mild 9.7C just ahead of the passage of the trough and its associated cold front. This unusual ambient temperature spike that occurred during the night was caused by a phenomenon that meteorologists refer to as a 'thermal ridge'."

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