Cyclone Oratia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Oratia on 30 October 2000 | |
| Type | European windstorm Extratropical cyclone |
|---|---|
| Formed | 28 October 2000 |
| Dissipated | 3 November 2000 |
| Highest gust | 176 km/h (109 mph) in Camaret-sur-Mer, France |
| Lowest pressure | 941 mb (27.8 inHg)[1] |
| Fatalities | 16[2][3] |
| Areas affected | Western Europe |
Cyclone Oratia, (Tora in Norway)[4] was an unusually deep European windstorm which affected Western Europe from 28 to 30 October 2000. The storm was the fiercest to hit Britain in October since the Great Storm of 1987, with wind gusts reaching 109 mph (175 km/h),[5] and gusting at up to 70 mph (110 km/h) over much of the south of England. Its barometric pressure fell to 941 hPa (27.8 inHg), over the North Sea making it one of the deepest lows recorded in the country in October.[6] The lowest land-based pressure observation reached 951.2 hPa (28.09 inHg) at RAF Fylingdales.[7] The storm contributed to the Autumn 2000 western Europe floods.
On 26 October 2000, a deep low pressure centre anchored between Greenland and Iceland, trailing a cold front across the North Atlantic Ocean which spawned three strong storms.[8] Cyclone Oratia developed in the Atlantic to the southwest of Ireland on 28 October 2000 during a strong 240 km/h (150 mph) upper-level jet.[1] The low explosively deepened, with a 53 mb (1.6 inHg) drop in pressure in 18 hours preceding 18:00 UTC on 30 October 2000.[9] The centre of the low pressure passed south of Ireland, undergoing frontal fracture according to the Shapiro-Keyser model of cyclone development,[1] and continued across North Wales and Northern England on a line approximately from Aberystwyth–Manchester–Teesside.[10] The cyclone developed complex mesoscale features such as a sting jet, convective rainbands and inertial gravity waves.[1] Strong winds affected areas on both sides of the English Channel with the worst winds since 1987. The storm produced sustained hurricane-force winds across the North Sea.[1][10] Oratia began to fill as it approached Norway and was eventually absorbed by another cyclone.
