A Southeaster for a Change

The wind backed into the southeast last night and, by early evening, was blowing a full gale.  This was the front edge of a nasty little depression coming in off the Atlantic (see yesterday's post).  As predicted, it brought thunder and lightning and, because the wind was coming from a different direction from the earlier storms, further damage to trees, sheds and people's roofs.  Motorists crossing higher ground, such as along the road from Caim to Branault, experienced blizzard conditions.

It was a very intense depression: by this morning, as the centre passed over, the barometric pressure had fallen to 962mbar, the lowest we've recorded in the last six years.

The associated fronts have dumped 35mm of rain on us in the 24 hours to 8.00am this morning.  By this morning, the burns on the far side of the Sound, which normally don't show as they tumble over the cliffs, had become white waterfalls.

As the depression passed this morning, it brought a short spell of very windy and wet weather with more thunder and lightning.  Sanna lost its power, and the fronts deposited a further 10mm of rain in a couple of hours and brought gusts to gale force.  Picture shows Grianan farmhouse in Ormsaigmore at ten thirtyg.

The wind has now moved round into the southwest.  More rain is forecast, turning to snow over the next two days as the wind moves into the north.  Then, on Sunday, the sun's going to come out, and by early next week, we'll be enjoying a fine and cold few days.  Perhaps.

More Gales

A watery sun appeared on several occasions this morning.  The wind remained in the west but had dropped further, enough for several ships to pass through the Sound, including this one, the bulk carrier Yeoman Bank, on passage to the Glensanda quarry on Morvern.

By midday the wind was beginning to back into the south as....

....a depression, L 946, rattles in from the Atlantic - this chart, taken from the Met Office website, shows the situation at midnight tonight.  By six tomorrow morning we'll be enjoying gale force SSE winds gusting to 52mph (force 9), followed by a lull during the day, after which the system gears itself up again for another, this time northwesterly gale by six in the evening.

There's a rumour circulating among the few small birds that are left here - the rest have been blown to Aberdeen - that we're to have a complete change in the weather early next week, when the winds are going to fall light from the north, the sun's going to come out, and we're going to have some cold, bracing days.

Not that there's any rest for the birds: a sparrowhawk has been harrying them at the bird feeders.

Changing Sanna

 Old bridge....

....new(er) bridge.

Old croft house....

....new croft house.

Rain, Hail, Sleet, Snow and.... Pigs

We woke to a bitterly cold morning and a thin carpet of snow down to sea level, laid by heavy, wintery showers, but....

....while the wind remained strong, it was not as fierce as the last few days, so the ferries seem to be back in business, though there are still reports of disruption - picture shows the Clansman entering the Sound of Mull.

For anyone interested in the infinite variety of types of frozen water that can fall from the skies, today would have been a joy.  The picture shows the product of a heavy shower which passed over shortly after one this afternoon.  It was rounded like hail, but softer like snow, but hard enough to hurt if it hit you; and we've had proper rain and sleet and snow and hail and everything else between.

Just after two, the sun came out, and for the few minutes it lasted....

....the small birds were out in force looking to be fed, though finding the food which had been buried in the latest fall of hail was no easy thing.

For some people, there's no rest.... unfortunately.  We were absolutely thrilled to see Hughie arrive and disappear into the field across the road clutching an armful of plastic posts of the sort that support an electric fence.  So we are to have new neighbours, one of the sows that produced piglets recently.  I did offer to help put up the fence, thus giving me an opportunity to check that it was secure, but Hughie declined the offer.

First Sign of Spring

The weather at last shows some sign of relenting, though winds remain strong until at least Thursday.  The showers which come in vary from rain through hail to snow, but none of the latter is settling, with the summit of Ben Hiant only showing a dusting of white.  What's even better is that we've had some sunny intervals today: it's unremitting cloud that's depressing.

There hasn't been a ship in the Sound all day, and only one went down it yesterday.  Even our local ferry, the Raasay, has been off, and the conditions need to be pretty bad for that to happen.

The foul weather hasn't deterred this primrose from making a brave bid to be the first spring flower of 2015.  Tucked up against a lump of limestone, and in the lea of a wall, it enjoys its own microclimate.