Cumulus Support

Storm Gerrit was mainly for England but now it is Henk. Both Dutch names in honour of weatherman Gerrit Hiemstra and a name chosen by the people. Yes democracy to the bone

But anyway, much wind S - SW which will create some flooding problems in some towns on the border of the large water area's in the centre of the country. Flooding already mildly takes place and is expected to increase. No serious deep flooding but definitely a nuisance. And wind. And a lot more rain. Above all along the coast but the rain penetrates deeper inland. Note: the strong runoff current disasters we see from all over the world including the UK can't occur in NL: too flat. So we get wet feet but as long as the sea stays out that's just that: wet feet.

I have already 17 mm, expecting it to go until 25. Yesterday I had 17mm so the year is starting well.
The rain drainage approaches ground level (already too dark for a photo)

And one special feature: because of the abundance of rain, the largest steam pump in the world has been fired up to assist in draining the pastures.

The worst of Henk is to the N of me, max so far 36mph and 6mm rain (now stopped).

Stuart

Henk's wind is well to the SE of me - I see Heathrow airport had gusts to 60 knots which is exceptional for that site. Here we have had 16 mm of rain since 0900, but it has all but stopped now. Coupled with the 10 mm yesterday, it has been a wet year No strong winds here, but it started off southerly this morning, backing north-easterly during the morning, then backing through north to become west or west-northwest mid afternoon as the low centre moved past just to the south of my location. Air pressure fell quickly during the morning and reached a minimum of 973.8 hPa just after 1350, but has been rising since then and is now approaching 983 hPa.

Storm Henk and the introductory front left me with 54 mm (2,13 inch) of rain in 2 days and 6 hrs and some more to come though it seems as if the worst has past. Fortunately I live just far enough away from the coast so the wind gusts of up to 110 km/h I did not have but some damage and flooding has occurred in the West. 2024 had a good start. Calming down now, I prepare for a walk along the Waddenzee dyke (east to west i.e. against the wind)

Storms around this time are common. None more so than that of 2 January 1976. Why would I remember that? Because we went to see the premier of Jaws in Manchester and there was a really violent storm that day. The film and the weather left a lasting impression.