Breezy day

8th February 2023

White Horses on the Loch this morning, a sign that it is likely to be very windy on the tops.

White Horses on the Loch this morning, a sign that it is likely to be very windy on the tops.

The windsock on Tower 17 of the gondola line was seeing some action today. I am not sure what type/classification this windsock is, but I know someone who is. To me it is horizontal, that means it is pretty windy (although I didn’t feel that I needed a windsock to tell that).  According to the T17 holfuy station (seen just to the right of the windsock) it was gusting about 75mph  from the SSW or SW. At the top of the quad (about 250 m high up the hill) the maximum gust were similar, but it was more consistently gusting over 70 mph from a more Southerly direction. The met office weather station another 250 m or so further up the hill recorded a maximum gust of 91mph. 

 Carn Beag Dearg and Carn Carn Dearg Meadhonach, the highest point (Carn Mor Dearg) is just out of sight.

 Water ice. Not much, but enough to show it got quite cool at this altitude (about 750m) last night. The snowpack surface had also frozen overnight and was quite firm, but then softened through the day as it got warmer and damper. 

 

 

 

Comments on this post

  • JT
    8th February 2023 4:24 pm

    Nice shot. I would assume this is a 15 knot sock, which is pretty standard. In aviation a properly-functioning windsock will orient itself to a breeze of at least 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) and will be fully extended by a wind of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Source: https://skybrary.aero/articles/windsock It would be interesting to check with Doppelmayr…?

    • lochaberadmin
      8th February 2023 9:55 pm

      I knew you would come up with the goods when it came to Windsock knowledge. Would it be a Doppelmayr windsock, or something that Nevis range stuck up there. Suspect you will need to come over for further investigation!

Got something to say? Leave a comment

    Latest Lochaber Avalanche Report
    Archives
    Categories
    RSS Feed
    Keep up to date by subscribing to our RSS feed
Service funded by sportscotland
Forecast data supplied by the Met Office
SAIS Sponsors