Reports that a storm as strong Storm Ophelia is headed Ireland’s way made headlines this week.
According to Met Éireann, however, reports of a tropical storm headed Ireland’s way in the coming weeks are somewhat premature, for the time being at least and likely to be wide of the mark.
The initial reports stemmed from a satellite image posted online, an image depicting a tropical storm, reportedly “stronger than Ophelia”, that was set for the Northern Atlantic.
Illustrated in the picture below is a particularly ominous-looking weather pattern a short distance off the west coast of Ireland, allegedly set to hit within the next two weeks.
Over the next 14 days, we do not normally see the weird tropical cyclones as strong as #Ophelia form in this part of the Northern Atlantic with a central pressure of 943mb, as the same of the equivalent in Category 4 hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/YW62vd6K31
— Joint Cyclone Center (@JointCyclone) August 29, 2018
Speaking to JOE, a representative for Met Éireann said that it’s impossible to predict weather forecasts more than 10 days in advance, which is the very reason why Met Éireann don’t release long-range forecasts, as it would decrease their accuracy.
The Met Éireann representative also mentioned that if such a storm does hit the North Atlantic, to the best of their knowledge, Ireland isn’t likely to be affected.
Storm Ophelia – a tropical revolving storm which hit Ireland’s south coast – evolved from the strongest eastern Atlantic hurricane in a century.
It brought with it wave heights of 17.81 metres, top gusts of 191 km/h and sustained winds (10-minute mean) of 111km/h when it hit the country in October.
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