On Wednesday, May 15, 2013 9:15:14 AM UTC+1, Graham Easterling wrote:
I don't think I've ever known calm to gale force conditions happen so quickly.



If you use your imagination it looks a bit like the eye of a hurricane

passing over the SW peninsula on satellite imagery. I guess the rapid

increase in wind speed was from the passage of the eye as the low centre

tracked across you to the rain and strong winds on the back side of the

low, possibly enhanced by a sting jet.



I'm curious as to how much more potent (if at all) this low would have

been had it developed in the winter with more baroclinic energy to feed off.



Maybe this? http://www.sennen-cove.com/10march08.htm



It occured to me that the pressure gradient only went some way to explaining the wind strength and it's incredibly rapid onset.



The rapid fall in temperature was also notable, in Penzance from around 10C to 5.7C in 30 minutes.



Even away from the north coast, the exposed parts of west Cornwall saw 70mph.

Culdrose reported a mean speed of 46mph, gusts to 67mph @ 19:00, the peak was slightly earlier. Sevenstones was reporting mean speeds of 7mph @ 15:00, 58mph @ 16:00, so a F10 over the sea. The strongest gust I've seen on land was a 75mph at St. Ives.



Graham

Penzance

Not a night to be out in a small boat. Terrific meal at the Orange Tree in Torquay yesterday evening, but the walk to the car park was awfully cold. 4C and a force 6/7 with intermittent rain made it feel like January. Seriously perishing!

On 15/05/2013 09:15, Graham Easterling wrote:


The strongest gust I've seen on land was a 75mph at St. Ives.


Good job that coastguard station is strongly built!
--
Regards,

Paul Hyett

On Tuesday, 14 May 2013 18:24:49 UTC+1, Graham Easterling wrote:

Also 70mph at Land's End
I don't think I've ever known calm to gale force conditions happen so quickly.

The artist formerly known on here as Waghorn - probably the most active "weather" researcher on any of the newsgroups did some interesting stuff on the storm - with hints of a sting jet in the system as identified by the latest research from Manchester that uses frontogenesis to help identify sting jets:

http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/foru...ow-1415th-may/

The radar yesterday was an absolute cracker.

Richard