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Christmas Eve storm 1997 (Yuma)
Christmas Eve Storm 24 December 1997 1130UTC
TypeExtratropical cyclone European Windstorm
Formed23 December 1997
Highest gust179 kph (111 mph) was reported at the Lleyn Peninsula[1]
Lowest pressure971.7[2] mb (28.69 inHg)
Fatalities13[3]
Damage$500 million Swiss Re 1998 () [3]


Christmas Eve storm of 1997 also known as Yuma[4] was a significant extratropical cyclone which affected the UK and Ireland during the day and night of 24 December 1997. Tens of thousands were left without electricity in northern England and northern Wales for up to four days.[5]

Meteorological History[edit]

A blocking pattern across Europe in mid-December gave way to an increasingly stormy Atlantic dominated pattern towards Christmas 1997.[6]

Forecast[edit]

is well known because it was an important case of failure for most of the operational centres at short ranges. A surprising feature is that some medium-range numerical forecasts (96 hours) are able to predict the storm quite well and then this feature is lost as the forecast range becomes shorter[7]

The UK Met Office models showed a moderate risk of gales on the 24 December for the western UK, on the 21 a preliminary warning was given.[6] By the following day the signal for strong gales was absent from the models, and over the next 48 hours the models from the major forecasting centres showed a varying pattern, but began to agree that cyclogenesis would be weak or absent on the 24 December.[6] By 23 December satellite imagery was beginning to show a low moving north-east, past the Azores displaying a "cloud head" structure, which is an accepted precursor to explosive cyclogenesis with a distinct dry wedge evident.[6] The available models were still displaying a weak depression would move towards the UK with a central pressure around only 990 hPa.[6] A buoy in the Azores area indicated a sharp pressure drop from the developing storm (which might have been dismissed as incorrect without the satellite imagery) led forecasters to view the NWP models with suspicion.[6] On 24 December the satellite imagery remained consistent with a major storm forming, forecasters recognised the NWP models were not representing the meteorological development correctly.[6] Further observations form buoys and ships backed up the forecasters' conclusions and so they intervened and released an early warning of severe gales on 24 December as a "flash warning".[6] This was updated later that day to an "emergency flash" of exceptionally severe weather, being the first such warning issued by the Met Office since the warning system was implemented.[6]

in Northern Ireland the 1997 storm was of shorter duration and less severe than the Boxing Day Storm of 1998, with an estimated return period of 5 to 8 years.[8]

The 1997 Christmas Eve storm in the Dublin area which produced the highest wind gust of the decade at Dublin Airport (76 knots / 39m/s) typified this process of" explosive growth of a wave depression.[9]

Impact[edit]

context[edit]

In Munster and south Leinster very severe and comparable to the Irish windstorm of January 1974 storm and Hurricane Debbie 1961.[10]

night of the big wind, ophelia, cyclone Tini Ulysses storm

1998 Boxing day storm

Impact[edit]

14:30UTC

In south Leinster and Munster this event was comparable with the January 1974 storm, and worst in Ireland since Hurricane Debbie (1961).[11] The face was blown off the clock on Penney's, formerly Cannock's, - one of Limerick's landmarks [12]

widespread gusts of 70-80kn over northern England during the evening of 24 December, having already given a gust of 96kn in North Wales. As a result of the storm much damage occurred to trees and buildings, with electricity supplies in north-west England severely disrupted. In addition, severe damage was caused to 100m section of the jetty to Blackpool pier washed away, and damaged the helipad.[6][13][14]

areas affected and impact similar to Cyclone Tini of 2014.[15]

Three killed when a tree fell on a car in Pengam, Gwent. motorist from Stroke-on-Trent [16] 2 deaths in Ireland one after wall in Waterville, County Kerry, Man clearing fallen tree off vehicle trapped, suspected heart attack in Togher, Cork.[17]

motorcyclist killed in North Wales[18]

The storm was described as the worst in the UK in over 20 years, and the police described conditions in several cities as chaotic.[19] 70,000 households in Ireland, 8000 families in England and an unknown number of households in Wales lost power Christmas Eve[19]

Toul an Trez missing with 5 crew aboard in Irish Sea.[18][20]

UK 35,000 lost power in NW and N Wales due to the storm. Brussels Belgium reported it's warmest Christmas Day since records began in 1830 due to the passage of warm air in the storm.[21]

8000 householders in Dumfries and Galloway without power. Warrington in Cheshire, where Manweb was struggling to cope with the number of downed power lines.At one point more than 21,000 customers in the area were without electricity, mainly in the Caernarvon, Holywell and Wrexham areas, with extra staff drafted in. in the North-west, almost 4000 homes were without power in Cheshire, but on Merseyside around 3000 properties got their electricity back after several hours. Small pockets of Greater Manchester were also blacked out for a time. The situation in Cumbria and Lancashire was more serious, with electricity company Norweb re-porting power loss in 50,000 properties. Damaged cables and a fault at a Lancashire sub-station were to blame and by lunchtime 20,000 homes had their power back on.[13] Manweb said it had no warning from the Met Office.[22] total 135,000 homes without power in Ireland from the storm, with ESB stating the damage to the network was the worst in 20 years, back to the 1974 storm in southern Ireland.[23]

Shannon airport saw the terminal building left with only emergency lighting. Phones were also hit by the power cut and a Boeing aircraft was tipped over by the wind and damaged at the airport.[23] Roads were blocked all over Ireland, severe transport disruption throughout the country to air, sea, road and rail transport. Phoenix Park was closed to the public in Dublin.[23]

Landing incident at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Transavia Boeing 757 hard landing in gusty winds, broke landing gear slid down runway for 3 km.[24] crew failed to compute crosswind component.[25]

The Christmas Eve storm of 1997 generated 47,500 insurance claims totalling £45M in Ireland, according to the Irish Insurance Federation 1999.[26] Christmas Eve storm in the Dublin area.[26] produced the highest wind gust of the decade at Dublin Airport (76 knots / 39m/s) t

half a million trees, were either snapped or blown over. not as bad forestry as 1974, severe around Cork.[27]

MANWEB states that the Meteorological Office gave it no advance warning.-http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1998/jan/21/north-wales-power-cuts

Irish storm climatology[edit]

storm Barra

References[edit]

  1. ^ Root, Jordan (14 December 2016). "5 of the worst storms to hit the United Kingdom during Christmas". www.accuweather.com. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Yuma". www.europeanwindstorms.org. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b ed. McCarthy, James J. (2001). Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability ; contribution of Working Group II to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 649. ISBN 0521015006. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |last1= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Yuma". Extreme Windstorms Catalogue. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  5. ^ Eden, Philip (2007). Great British weather disasters. London: Continuum. ISBN 9780826476210. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Young, M. V.; Grahame, N. S. (December 1999). "Forecasting the Christmas Eve storm 1997". Weather. 54 (12): 382–391. doi:10.1002/j.1477-8696.1999.tb03999.x. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. ^ Hello, Gwenaëlle; Lalaurette, Frančcois; Thépaut, Jean-Noël (January 2000). "Combined use of sensitivity information and observations to improve meteorological forecasts: A feasibility study applied to the 'Christmas storm' case". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 126 (563): 621–647. doi:10.1002/qj.49712656312.
  8. ^ "Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs Minutes of Evidence APPENDIX 30 Further Memorandum submitted by the Meteorological Office". House of Commons. 17 May 1999. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. ^ Sweeney, John (January 2000). "A three-century storm climatology for Dublin 1715–2000". Irish Geography. 33 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1080/00750770009478595. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  10. ^ "Windstorm of 24th December 1997" (PDF). Met Éireann. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Monthly Weather Bulletin December 1997" (PDF). Met Eireann. January 1998. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  12. ^ Quinlan, Arthur (27 December 1997). "North Munster counts the cost of Christmas winds". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Three die as storms leave trail of havoc Hopes fade for missing trawler Three die as storms leave trail of destruction". Herald Scotland. 26 December 1997. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  14. ^ "Helicopter rides may return to the Prom". Blackpool Gazette. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  15. ^ Verasamy, Lucy (12 February 2014). "Today's storm will be one of the most vicious so far". ITV. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Storm death total could reach 11". BBC News. 26 December 1997. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Two die in storms as emergency crews drafted in". Irish Times. 27 December 1997. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Britain braced for more bad weather". BBC News. 25 December 1997. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  19. ^ a b Fisk, Rolf (27 December 1997). "Orkanen stjal jula" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  20. ^ "MFV Toul An Trez [+1997]". Wrecksite. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  21. ^ "Wild Christmas storms claim at least five lives". Irish Times. 27 December 1997. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  22. ^ "North Wales (Power Cuts)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. January 21, 1998.
  23. ^ a b c Coulter, Carol (27 December 1997). "ESB repairs the damage as winds die down but more storms are on the way". Irish Times. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  24. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  25. ^ "Crew Fails to Compute Crosswind Component, Boeing 757 Nosewheel Collapses on Landing" (PDF). Flight Safety Foundation. March 2000. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  26. ^ a b Sweeney, John (January 2000). "A three-century storm climatology for Dublin 1715–2000". Irish Geography. 33 (1): 1–14. doi:10.1080/00750770009478595. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  27. ^ McWilliams, Brendan (24 December 1999). "When storms cause `endemic creep'". Irish Times. Retrieved 6 March 2016.

External links[edit]

The first windstorm (97G) occurred on Christmas Eve 1997, with the worst-affected areas being north-west England and North Wales. Seven people lost their lives as mean windspeeds of up to 100mph, and gusts of up to 115 mph, were recorded. In most areas, however, the winds were not sufficiently strong to cause structural damage to residential properties, and much of the insured property damage related to roof tiles, chimneys, windows, garden walls and fences. As a result of damage to overhead power lines, over 100,000 homes were left without electricity throughout the Christmas holiday period, leading to many claims for loss of freezer contents. Such claims had unusually high severity owing to the large quantities of frozen food purchased ahead of Christmas celebrations. It is the view of the working party that the losses for each of these events will ultimately turn out to be around £100m.[1]https://www.actuaries.org.uk/learn-and-develop/conference-paper-archive/1998

  1. ^ Jones, Stephen; Williams, Nathan; Winter, Richard. UK Household Business Working Party 1998. October 1997 GISG conference in Blackpool https://www.actuaries.org.uk/documents/uk-household-business-working-party. Retrieved 17 May 2018. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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