Storm Éowyn “was kind of Russian roulette along the west coast of Ireland”, said Fergus Sweeney, a photojournalist from Blacksod Bay in Co Mayo.
When he thinks back now, to a storm that caused unprecedented destruction in Ireland, he sees reasons to be thankful.
“It could have been worse, we dodged a bullet in some senses. Had the storm stayed in the southwest, we would have seen a lot more damage.”
Living in an exposed peninsula in Mayo, Sweeney said he was “used to the wind”, but he was in his “little house and the noises you were hearing were just not what you wanted to hear”.
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Blacksod Bay, one of the westernmost points in Ireland, often experiences the brunt of Atlantic storms.
At the beginning of the storm season in September, Ireland sometimes sees the remnants of tropical hurricanes mixing with North Atlantic weather patterns.
For example, Storm Ophelia, in October 2017, originated as a hurricane in the US and then became extratropical as it moved over Ireland and the UK.
Most storms occur later, in December, January and February, when low-pressure systems bring strong winds and rainfall from the Atlantic.
Storm Aileen was the earliest to occur, with winds of 65km/h peaking on September 12th, 2017.
Since 2015, Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and the Dutch KNMI have named a total of 82 storms, 79 of which resulted in at least gale-force winds.
There is an average of eight storms during each season, Met Éireann says.
“Each storm is different, with its own risks to life and property. When storms occur, it is rarely just one element; wind, rain, high waves and snow can combine, amplifying impacts,” said Sandra Spillane, climatologist at Met Éireann.
Storm Éowyn brought hurricane-force winds that ripped off the roofs of houses and flattened forests, for example. But it brought less rainfall than Storm Desmond in December 2015, which was memorable for RTÉ reporter Teresa Mannion’s windswept report from Galway.
We remember a storm because of the damage it wreaks, but also because of the clever naming scheme used by meteorologists to make storms “more memorable”, Dr Spillane said.
In comparison to an abstract numeric code, the personal name helps “the public and media talk about the same event and track information more easily”.
The first named storm of storm season – Storm Amy – is due to hit the country on Thursday and Friday, with rain and wind warnings being issued by Met Éireann. There is a risk of difficult travelling conditions and fallen trees.
The Name our Storm project that began in 2015 was the initiative of Dee Cotgrove, previously the head of media and communications at the Met Office, who was inspired by the success of the US hurricane naming system. The Dutch weather forecaster joined the project in 2019.
To be named, a storm must have the potential to “cause medium or high impacts in one of the three partner countries (UK, Netherlands and Ireland)” and have not been named by another national meteorological service, Dr Spillane said.
It is a fine art as the group must avoid “naming fatigue”, says Neal Dorst, a meteorologist at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in the US, who conducted research on how the naming of hurricanes began.
“People will tune it out if there’s so many one after the other and if the consequence is maybe just a rainy day,” he said.
However, to make sure people understand a big storm is coming and to prepare for the risks, naming is very effective.
“Psychologically, people are hard-wired to recognise faces; we don’t have to think about it when we see someone we know,” he said.
“We also have a part of our brain that is hard-wired with names because they’re so personal ... Putting a personal name on something makes it a little more relevant, our brains handle it better.”
Sweeney said the community around Belmullet still talked about Storm Éowyn nine months later, particularly “those who were without power [who] are still a bit resentful”, he said.
“If we get another one of those storms this season, it’s a good indication that things have really changed.”
