Storm Loris & aftermath

Storm Loris blasted through yesterday with record-high wind speeds for the time of year. Storms in August are not unusual but they're normally not like this severe. 

While the storm raged I went outside very briefly and shot a few seconds of video with my phone. Rain was lashing down and the trees were thrashing wildly. I certainly wasn't go into the woods or even very near them. Watching the storm from inside seemed wise and I was soon back indoors.

Unlike many people, some not too far away, we didn't lose power and we weren't affected by road and rail closures as we'd no plans to go anywhere, having been following the build-up to the storm for several days. So a combination of luck and planning meant Loris didn't affect us. 

In fact the biggest shock was this morning when I woke up. It was unnervingly quiet. No wind in the chimney, no rain rattling the window. Just silence. 

In fact it was quite windy. Just normally windy though. It felt safe to venture into the woods so I went out for a walk to see what damage Loris had wrought. It was less than I'd expected. Plenty of twigs and dead branches everywhere of course but not that many fallen trees. Most of the latter were at two corners of the woods vulnerable to winds and where trees had come down in previous storms. 

At one of these spots the wind was still fierce and I recorded another little video, again having difficulty holding the phone still.

The weather looks unsettled the next few days but not abnormally stormy. The second half of August looks like it might be fine. I hope so. I have a walk planned.

Storm Bert's Big Thaw

The Cromdale Hills, November 22. 

Whilst Storm Bert has brought chaos and destruction to many areas of Britain, causing big problems for many people. Locally the only noticeable effect so far is the astonishingly rapid stripping of the snow. Today I walked on snow free ground where I was skiing just two days ago. Rapid thaws are not uncommon but this is one of the fastest I've seen.

The Cromdale Hills, November 24.

Storm Bert isn't over yet. There are weather warnings for strong winds tomorrow. I'm hoping these don't do too much damage as many areas are still recovering from last winter's storms. (See this post). 

Ben Rinnes, November 22

Climate change means storms are becoming more powerful and therefore more damaging, here and worldwide. The weather is becoming more unstable as the climate heats. This and the nature crisis, which are intertwined, are the crucial problems facing humanity. How we deal with them in the next few decades will have a huge effect on the future for our children. 

Ben Rinnes, November 24

Locally and immediately I'm waiting to see just how windy it is tomorrow and after the storm is over how much snow is left high up in the Cairngorms. I'll probably go and have a look soon.

June cold In the Cairngorms and why I was glad to leave the Cape Wrath Trail

Squalls streaking across the Lairig Ghru

A week ago I lay in my tent wondering whether to continue my Cape Wrath Trail (CWT) walk. I was just three or four days from the finish. But the forecast was for those days to be filled with strong cold NW winds, hail, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, and even snow above 600 metres.

The day I pondered leaving the trail I’d come through the Bealach Trallgil at just over 500 metres with Tony Hobbs, who’d been with me for the last few days, and we’d been faced with fierce winds roaring through the notch of the pass, winds that took your breath away and made walking arduous. I was glad the wind was in our faces and trying to blow us back up the pass as the narrow path wound above a steep drop. A crosswind or one behind us would not have been good.

Lower down the winds were very strong too and the rain showers heavy. I was glad to find a sheltered camp site. Walking into this weather for several days wasn’t appealing and maybe wasn’t even wise as I wasn’t equipped for cold wintry weather. I fell asleep still pondering. When I woke in the early morning and looked out at the dark clouds racing overhead the decision was made. I would go home. It was a wrench to leave the trail. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.

A week later and that cold arctic airstream is still with us. For seven days snow has fallen on the summits. The wind is cold and strong. In the glens the rain showers are heavy. At home we’ve lit the fire every day. I made the right decision.

Cairn Lochan

That was confirmed when I went up into the Cairngorms to experience the weather on June 9. I went more dressed for January than June and it wasn’t too much. Gone were the mesh trail shoes, thin socks, thin hiking trousers and shirt, ultralight windshirt, baseball cap I’d worn on the CWT. In were boots, thick socks, thick trousers, wool shirt, thick Ventile windproof jacket, wool beanie, and three pairs of gloves. In my pack were heavier waterproofs than I’d carried on the CWT and a thick synthetic insulated jacket.

On Cairn Lochan

Climbing up to Cairn Lochan I soon had my hood up over my beanie and gloves on my hands. The wind was cold. Approaching the summit a stinging hailstorm blasted in and the wind came in savage gusts. On went the waterproofs, thicker gloves and shell mitts. This was winter. Snow lay underfoot. The hailstorm passed by, the cloud it came with didn’t and I completed the walk over Stob Coire an t-Sneachda in dense damp mist. Only when I was well down into Coire Cas did I come out of the clag.

The Vent on Cairn Lochan

This unseasonal weather is forecast to last for another couple of days. A touch of snow and cold happens sometimes In June for a day or two but for it to last over a week is very unusual. I’m glad I left the Cape Wrath Trail. I expect I could have made it to the end, but it would have been a struggle and I’d have been wet and cold much of the time. Most importantly, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. I’ll return in better weather.

All photos taken on June 9.

Rains, Floods, Rivers, Climate Change

River Dee flood plain

The rain began in the evening. For two days it fell steadily. The big rivers rose, spread over flood plains (as they should). Hill burns became torrents, roaring and crashing down. The sky was dark, the hills hidden.

Before the rain

The day the rain started I was camped in a forest not far above the river Dee with my friend Tony Hobbs and his dog Lassie. It was the fourth and last night of a wet and windy trip (I'll tell that story in another post). A pleasantly gurgling burn ran through the trees not far away. After days of wind and rain it was wonderful to sit outside in the calm soothing forest. 

A burn bursts its banks

Then the rain began. Dawn came with a tent dripping with condensation inside and running with water outside. Breakfast inside then pack up, leaving the tent until last, trying to keep everything as dry as possible.

The wet track leads towards the river Dee and Braemar Castle

Knowing heavy rain was forecast we'd already decided to walk out by the shortest low-level route, which was along the track beside the river Dee. At least mostly alongside it as the river had already spread out and sometimes overflowed the track, as did the surging rushing burns in spate as they tore down the hillsides. The water was never too deep or too strong. The next day it could have been. Or even that afternoon. I was glad we hadn't far to go. We didn't linger. The rain ensured that, along with the concern we might meet a difficult ford. I only took a few photos with the phone. The camera stayed in its bag.

Trees in the water on the Dee floodplain

The single track road to Braemar was filling with water in dips but again not too deep for the car. Then the drive home to Grantown-on-Spey was uneventful, just slower than usual on wet roads and, at the Lecht ski resort, in dense fog. Back home drying out gear began. Two days later that's not complete. 

After the storm

The morning after the rain brought drifting mists and occasional sunshine. I wandered down to the river Spey. As expected it was a brown mass of rapid water and had burst its banks in many places. The riverside path was mostly under water, as was a low section of road at one point. In the thirty-four years I've lived here I've never seen the river so high.

Trees in the Spey

The floods are dramatic, frightening, exciting, destructive.They're also worrying when put together with all the other major weather events this year. The effects of climate change are occuring faster than many scientists thought. Action really is needed. 

Excessive rain may not seem a likely result of a warming climate. But it is. As the climate warms it becomes more unstable. The US Environmental Protection Agency says "scientific studies indicate that extreme weather events such as heat waves and large storms are likely to become more frequent or more intense with human-induced climate change". (https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate). We can expect more storms like this.

All the photos below were taken along the river Spey at Grantown-on-Spey, October 9

A road disappearing into the river Spey

Where's the path?

Sunshine!

Steps to water

Birches in the Spey

Surging flood water

An Atmospheric Day In The Cairngorms

Swirling clouds in the Lairig Ghru

The forecast of clearing clouds and touches of sunshine for the evening suggested a late walk on the Cairngorm Plateau, especially as winds were forecast to be light so midges were very likely lower down. The heavy rain and the thick clouds blanketing the hills when I arrived in Coire Cas weren’t so encouraging. I checked the forecast for Cairn Gorm again. The sunshine and evaporating clouds had vanished, replaced by rain and drizzle. Wandering round in mist and wetness didn’t appeal – I’ve done that too many times. A change of plan then. 

Creag an Leth-choin during a brief clearance

Creag an Leth-choin (Lurcher’s Crag), that rugged peak dramatically overhanging the mouth of the Lairig Ghru pass, was just brushed by the clouds. It’s 200 metres lower than the Plateau and so more likely to stay clear. I decided to head that way. I remembered a path up Lurcher’s Gully below the peak, though I hadn’t been that way except when it was snow covered (it’s a great downhill ski run) for many years. This path isn’t shown on the OS 1:50,000 map but is on the 1:25,000. Was it still there? Finding out would be interesting.

Buachaille Etive Mor & Creagan Gorm

Exiting the car I was instantly assailed by midges. A man in a t-shirt passed by flapping his arms. “The midges are terrible”. I set off briskly, the rain having given away to gentle drizzle. Across Glenmore the heather was purple on Buachaille Etive Mor and Creagan Gorm, until they disappeared into rain and cloud.

The line of the path up Lurcher's Gully just visinle

The start of the Lurcher’s Gully path where it left the main path up to the Plateau wasn’t clear. When I found it the path was narrow and overgrown. In places it was barely visible. I lost it several times soon picked it up again. The walking was no easier on the path than off but trying to find the line was an intriguing game.

Springs in Lurcher's Gully

The fading path suggests not many people come this way, which is a shame as the wide gully is lovely and colourful in summer with masses of flowers – mainly heather and bog asphodel, in places bog cotton, tormentil, common butterwort, harebells, and even some hawkweed. Higher up a series of springs and wet flushes glowed bright green, yellow and red. A covey of grouse, maybe a dozen, exploded from the heather noisily.

Rainbow

A squall swirled over Glenmore, hiding the hills, then swept on over Cairn Gorm, leaving a bit of rainbow in its wake. 

View over the Lairig Ghru

The gully gradually ended on flatter ground which I wandered across to the edge of the Lairig Ghru. Across the deep cleft of the pass clouds and rain squalls drifted over Strathspey. Looking back there was a similar scene over Cairn Gorm. Some of the clouds were below me. 

On the summit

Rocky slopes led to the short summit ridge of Creag an Leth-choin. The clouds thickened and the Lairig Ghru became a seething mass of vapours. All around the summit the swirling mass continued, a very mobile atmosphere. Ring ousels flitted and called in the rocks.

The Lairig Ghru

Mist came and went as I rested on the summit. The air was damp and chilly. On the descent the cloud lifted at first, giving a good view along the curves of the Lairig Ghru and out to hazy hills split by shafts of sunlight. Then the mist enveloped me and stayed most of the way down, creating a silent vague world. 

Sunset

I was almost back at Coire Cas when a line of red appeared under the clouds far to the north-west. The sun was setting. Soon the clouds flared up, startlingly bright and fiery, a stunning finish to the rather atmospheric day. 

Coire Cas Glowsticks

Not quite the finish though. After the sunset had faded I could see two glowing lurid green columns rising into the air, the raised Coire Cas car park barriers. Why they have to look like giant glowsticks I can’t imagine. I’d rather they didn’t. 

Book Review: The Royal Meteorological Society Weather A-Z

Like many outdoors people I’m obsessed with the weather. I check forecasts daily and have several weather apps on my phone, including the wonderful Blitzortung lightning map and of course the Mountain Weather Information Service.  Whilst detailed knowledge of meteorology isn’t essential weather does play a major part in outdoor trips so I think it’s wise to know at least a little about it, especially with regard to aspects that can affect safety such as wind speed, blizzards and thunderstorms. I often change route plans to suit predicted conditions. As I write this a hill walk tomorrow may be abandoned as thunderstorms are forecast.

Weather is a complex subject with far more to it than storms and sunshine, as shown by this fascinating book from The Royal Meteorological Society. The book covers every type of weather phenomenon worldwide and is packed with spectacular images from the annual Weather Photographer of the Year competition.

As well as the A-Z of over 600 weather terms explained in scientific and geographic detail the book has more detailed special features on fourteen phenomena, such as snow, jet streams, halo phenomena, and cloud spotting for beginners – the last written by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, author of The Cloudspotter’s Guide.

I’ve been dipping into this book on and off the last few months and have learnt a great deal of wonderful stuff about the weather I didn’t know before. Common terms are explained too. I didn’t know that drizzle specifically means very small water droplets with a diameter between 0.2 and 0.5mm or that mist is when visibility is more than 1km and relative humidity is more than 95% but if the visibility is less than 1km it’s fog.  

For anyone interested in weather this is a very useful and entertaining book.

The Royal Meteorological Society Weather A-Z is written and edited by Adrienne Le Maistre with sections by Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Viel Richardson. It’s published by the Natural History Museum, London, and costs £12.99.