Post by theshee on Jun 10, 2011 2:50:13 GMT 10
Ten farm workers near the rural Derry village of Eglinton had a lucky escape on Wednesday afternoon when the barn they were working in was hit by a tornado.
The farmers, who were trimming cows at the time, reported hearing a loud bang before the roof of the building was ripped off and part of the outer wall collapsed, destroying a parked car.
Farmer Fergie Kelly told BBC Northern Ireland (features video): “The cows all stampeded … We saw a tornado going down through the field. The tin was hurled into the air, along with the roof trusses and blocks and a lot of other debris. It was quite a scary experience.”
According to Irish Weather Online’s synoptics analyst Fergal Tierney, the European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX) had warned of the possibility of funnels for the British Isles in their storm forecast Wednesday morning.
He continued: “Conditions were suitable for funnels Wednesday, with strong solar heating destabilising the cold polar airmass that has engulfed the country this week. Derry Eglington Airport’s METARs for yesterday afternoon reported frequent showers, with a north-westerly wind of around 15 knots. Vigorous upward air currents develop as heated pockets of air at the surface rise through the cold air above. These updrafts can develop rotation and in some cases become vertically aligned, forming a funnel that extends from the base of the cloud.”
Fergal added: “If the funnel is strong enough it may reach the ground, where it then becomes a tornado. With similar conditions set to continue for the next couple of days it is very possible that we may see more funnel reports.”
Wednesday’s incident in Eglinton, which lies 13 km east of Derry, occurred less than 24 hours after a funnel cloud was reported near Maghera in the east of the county.
www.irishweatheronline.com/news/storms/tornado-damages-farm-building-in-eglinton-county-derry/19356.html
The farmers, who were trimming cows at the time, reported hearing a loud bang before the roof of the building was ripped off and part of the outer wall collapsed, destroying a parked car.
Farmer Fergie Kelly told BBC Northern Ireland (features video): “The cows all stampeded … We saw a tornado going down through the field. The tin was hurled into the air, along with the roof trusses and blocks and a lot of other debris. It was quite a scary experience.”
According to Irish Weather Online’s synoptics analyst Fergal Tierney, the European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX) had warned of the possibility of funnels for the British Isles in their storm forecast Wednesday morning.
He continued: “Conditions were suitable for funnels Wednesday, with strong solar heating destabilising the cold polar airmass that has engulfed the country this week. Derry Eglington Airport’s METARs for yesterday afternoon reported frequent showers, with a north-westerly wind of around 15 knots. Vigorous upward air currents develop as heated pockets of air at the surface rise through the cold air above. These updrafts can develop rotation and in some cases become vertically aligned, forming a funnel that extends from the base of the cloud.”
Fergal added: “If the funnel is strong enough it may reach the ground, where it then becomes a tornado. With similar conditions set to continue for the next couple of days it is very possible that we may see more funnel reports.”
Wednesday’s incident in Eglinton, which lies 13 km east of Derry, occurred less than 24 hours after a funnel cloud was reported near Maghera in the east of the county.
www.irishweatheronline.com/news/storms/tornado-damages-farm-building-in-eglinton-county-derry/19356.html