New severe weather warnings issued in Ireland ahead of Storm Jorge – IrishCentral

Met ireann has posted new and updated weather warnings as Storm Jorge nears Ireland

Storm Jorge, the third major storm set to hit Ireland this month, is expected to extreme winds and rain across the country this weekend.

Read More: Four weather warnings issued across Ireland ahead of Storm Jorge

Met ireann meteorologists said that Storm Jorge is the seventh named storm of the season. It was originally named by AEMET, the Spanish national meteorological service, due to the impact of the storms active cold front which is forecast to bring severe gusts and strong waves to the northwest of Spain.

On Friday, Met ireann issued new weather warnings, including a Status Red (the most severe) wind warning for two counties in the west of Ireland:

Very severe winds associated with Storm Jorge (Hor-hay) on Saturday.

Westerly winds will reach mean speeds of 85 to 100km/h in places on Saturday afternoon with gusts of 130 to 145km/h, with an elevated risk of coastal flooding.

Valid: 1 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020, to 4 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

Issued: 4 pm Friday, February 28, 2020

Severe winds associated with Storm Jorge (Hor-hay) on Saturday.

Westerly winds will reach mean speeds of 65 to 80km/h for a time on Saturday afternoon and early evening with gusts of 110 to 120km/h, possibly higher in very exposed areas.

Valid: 1 pm - 7 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

Issued: 4 pm Friday, February 28, 2020

Strong winds associated with Storm Jorge (Hor-hay) on Saturday.

Westerly winds of mean speeds 50 to 65km/h on Saturday evening and early Saturday night with gusts of 90 to 110km/h expected.

Valid: 7 pm to 11:59 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

Issued: 4 pm Friday, February 28, 2020

1. Southwesterly gales or strong gales will develop overnight on Irish coastal waters from Roches Point to Slyne Head to Rossan Point, extending to all Irish coastal waters and to the Irish Sea tomorrow morning.

2. Winds will veer westerly during Saturday morning and afternoon, increasing gale force 8 to storm force 10 and reaching violent storm-force 11 at times between Mizen head and Erris Head.

Read More: Snow and ice warning issued for the whole of Ireland

The new weather warnings come in addition to several other warnings that Met ireann issued on February 27. On February 28, some updates were made to the existing warnings:

UPDATE: Rainfall accumulations generally between 20 to 30mm expected during Friday and Saturday, but 40 to 50 mm possible in mountainous areas, with a continuing risk of flooding due to already saturated ground and elevated river levels.

Valid: 12:01 am Friday, February 28, 2020, to 11:59 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

Issued: 11 am Thursday, February 27, 2020

Updated: 7:48 pm Thursday, February 27, 2020

Strong winds associated with Storm Jorge (Hor-hay) on Saturday.

Southwesterly winds of mean speeds 50 to 65km/h on Saturday morning with gusts of 90 to 110km/h expected.

Valid: 9 am to 1 pm Saturday, February 29, 2020

Issued: 1:39 pm Thursday, February 27, 2020

Updated: 4:09 pm Friday, February 28, 2020

Read More: Storm Dennis lashes Ireland with 75 mph winds

On February 27, Joan Blackburn (Deputy Head of Forecasting Division), Sinad Duffy (Meteorologist, Technology Division) and Eoin Sherlock (Head of Flood Forecast Division) offered these remarks regarding Storm Jorge in Ireland:

Storm Jorge (named by AEMET, the Spanish meteorological service) is the latest in a series of Atlantic storms this month and is due to affect Ireland from early Saturday. Rain will extend countrywide from the west tonight, before the storm arrives.

Storm Jorge (pronounced Hor-hay) is a storm centre which will undergo rapid cyclogenesis in the mid-Atlantic during Friday 28th February as it tracks northeastwards towards Ireland. It is then expected to fill slowly as it crosses over the north of the country during Saturday 29th February.

Storm Jorge is forecast to bring severe winds to western and northwestern coastal counties (orange wind warning) and less severe winds to the rest of the country (yellow wind warning) from Saturday morning into early Sunday morning.

Spells of heavy rain associated with Storm Jorge will worsen the flooding situation across the country. A yellow level rainfall warning will come into operation for Munster, Connacht and Donegal from tonight (Thursday night) to late on Saturday evening.

"Currently river levels are elevated across the country, particularly in the Midlands (Shannon catchment). Levels across the Northern half of the country are also high. Therefore, additional rainfall over the coming days will compound the flooding issues here.

"We are in a period of transition between Spring (High) Tides and Neap (Low) Tides. This means there will not be a large variation between high and low tides. The combination of high seas and strong winds or stormy conditions associated with Storm Jorge may increase the possibility of coastal flooding, especially in flood-prone areas along the Atlantic coast on Saturday (particularly when coincident with high tides)."

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New severe weather warnings issued in Ireland ahead of Storm Jorge - IrishCentral