Abersoch Main Beach Storm Surge. (16/07/2010)

Last night saw some severe weather conditions in Abersoch with far stronger winds than forecast with unconfirmed local reports of gusts up to 90mph and Aberdaron weather station recording 84mph. These winds were caused by a small area of low pressure that came closer to us than expected and also caused an exaggeration of an already big spring tide on the main beach. We have been talking about the big night time tides and their possible exaggeration in our forecasts each day since Monday, but the extremity of last nights wind and the resulting tide was not expected and has done alot of damage to some boats on the main beach and also reports of at least one yacht sinking in the moorings. The road to Llanengan this morning was littered with broken branches and leaves. The BBC have a report from other areas here.

The West Coast Webcam @ SCYC shows the conditions at 10.15pm (1.5 hrs before high water!)

Clearing Up - Many Dinghies Were Swept Into This Area

A Large Shelf Was Created

Damage At Both Ends of Abersoch Main Beach

How Did It Happen?

The Met Office analysis chart for midnight last night shows the area of low pressure that caused the problems. It deepened more than expected which resulted in the unusually high winds that we experienced last night. The combination of a big spring tide (5.0m) at 23.42hrs last night, the low pressure moving up the Irish Sea and its exceptional wind strengths created a much bigger tide than normal.

Chart: www.metoffice.com

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