The track of the storm as it approaches
The weather in Connemara had been about normal for the time of year, there had been one or two big storms before Christmas but that is not unusual during the winter on the Irish West Coast, and people are well used to strong winter winds and heavy rain, its part of life here.
The first indication that something out of the ordinary was happening was when some of the yachts competing in the Vendee Globe Race made big changes in course to avoid an unusually strong weather system forming off the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic.
These big yachts had sailed around the world single handed and had not had to avoid storms of this size any where on their journey, so this was certainly very unusual and powerful weather.
White areas are winds over 60mph
It was about this time that Met Eireann first started to mention a storm called Éowyn in weather reports, it was difficult to predict what its track was going to be but it was becoming obvious that it was going to carry some very strong winds and was heading towards Ireland. That was on Wednesday morning the 22nd January.
On Wednesday evening storm warnings were issued with a Red warning for the coastal counties in the west and an orange warning for the rest of the country.
By Thursday morning all warnings were red and people were advised that the storm will be extremely dangerous.
Met Éireann say the storm represents a “danger to life” and list other impacts as, “extremely dangerous travelling conditions, unsafe working conditions, disruption and cancellations to transport, many fallen trees, significant and widespread power outages, impacts to communications networks, cancellation of events, structural damage, wave overtopping and coastal flooding in low-lying and exposed areas.
Weather forecast images that use colour systems to denote wind strength had large patches of white in them, indicating the highest wind speeds possible.
Thursday evening was quiet and calm with little sign of a storm and people headed off to bed thinking that the predicted bad weather might not come at all.
A satellite image of the storm over Ireland
By midnight that was wishful thinking. The wind was strengthening rapidly. The Marine Coastal Radio stations broadcast a call informing all vessels still at sea that they should seek shelter immediately. The wind increased.
By three am the storm was here with a vengeance. Power was gone everywhere, the mobile phones didn’t work and everyone was wide awake listening to the howling wind and praying that their roof would stay put. There was lots of noise and debris could be heard flying around. In Connemara it blew strongly from about 1 am peaked at about 4 am then fell away slowly from about 5 am. When daylight came it seemed like an ordinary breezy day but when people went out to have a look around some things had changed. Trees were missing, as were the dustbins. People had things in their gardens that didn’t belong there.
Trees had fallen everywhere, across roads, houses, power and phone lines. Large pine trees that had stood for a hundred years had fallen and ripped water pipes up with their roots. People walked to see if their neighbours were ok and share information with those who they met. There was no traffic on the roads and it was really quiet. Everywhere you could see damaged roofs, missing windows and random objects where they should not be.
Recorded wind speeds.
In the aftermath the main source of information was from RTE news listened to on the car radio. as mobile phone signal was non existent and power was gone. It was obvious that this had not been an ordinary event.
Highest winds that night were recorded at Mace Head, South Connemara. Met Éireann reported that the highest gust was 114mph (184km/h) in County Galway and County Donegal, with sustained 10 minute average speeds maxing out at 88mph (142km/h). Hurricane force starts at 117 kmph.
The low pressure causing the winds had deepened very rapidly as the storm approached increasing the power of the storm explosively.
The M3 Ocean Weather Bouy 33 miles off the Cork Coast recorded seas of over 20m in height.
725,000 properties were without power. Many communication masts were damaged, or without power so phone and internet were non-existant.
The damage to power cables was so severe that it was three days before even larger towns had power. Rural connections were even worse, poles were broken and fallen trees caused problems all over. Many water schemes were out of order either by damage or lack of power to the pumps.
Roofs were damaged everywhere, some by trees and more by the slates being ripped off. A supermarket found its roof in the carpark. Windows were missing and broken.Odd things were in odd places,put there by the wind. Kylemore Abbey lost over seventy trees some of which were planted by MitchelHenry a hundred years ago.
Over a hundred rings.
When the roads were cleared people started to reconnect. Prime conversation was “who had got it” and “who is still out” Help was offered and received, shops opened despite lack of power and gave credit to those without cash. Some supermarkets had generators for which everyone was grateful. The air was filled with the buzz of chainsaws. Petrol remained scarce and cash was in short supply. Business staff, including those of Connemara Coastal Cottages had to drive up to 50 km to get phone and internet. Everyone got on with tidying up. The electricity supply board brought in crews from as far away as Denmark and Austria to help with repairs. In the evenings stoves were lit and board games were played by candlelight.
The windspeed beat the previous record recorded in Foynes in 1945 by 1km per hour.
Hurricane force starts at 117 kmh. Eowyn Reached 184 kmh.
The last electricity consumer was reconnected by the ESB on the 12th of February, 19 days after the storm. She said it was like Christmas all over again!
Met Eireann Irish Weather Website Here The best website for Irish weather forecasts.
Windy Website. Free forecast with very useful colour scale forecast world wide.
What is Hurricane Force? The Beaufort Scale
In 1805, this scale of wind force – which is still in use today – was developed on board the HMS Woolwich by its Irish-born Commander Francis Beaufort.
