Everything they could have told us about this storm
Unwittingly, I turned onto the road. Music on, a list of people to call in my head, and a coffee in the center console. The relaxing drive south that I had in mind turned out to be a bit different; Dudley had other plans.
Trucks swerved with their backsides as if they were doing the samba, and on the A12, I had horizontal rain. Ho-ri-zon-tal. It came straight at my car window like a block. Let's just say that staying within the lines was difficult because I didn't see any lines at all. How come everyone was only talking about storm Corrie, but we only mention Dudley when it's already going wild?
The KNMI only names storms when they matter. Sounds like a plausible rule. But who actually comes up with those names, because after Dudley we will be dealing with Eunice on Friday and that seems to be quite a tough lady.
Storms, like hurricanes, are neatly classified in alphabetical order. Together with Ireland and England, the Netherlands classifies storms because we form the so-called western group. It is a requirement that the forecast reaches at least an orange or red code in the gusts to give the beast a name. But why does one storm get a name while you hear nothing about another, even though it's blowing hard and flapping? It could very well be that a storm loses some strength on its way from Ireland or England towards us. In that case, a storm does have a name because the trouble was brewing with the neighbors, but it has calmed down before reaching land.
By the way, Dudley owes his name to the English public, as the population submits real storm names. D’n Dud was the big winner, and he is indeed causing quite a stir. The KNMI also always makes a neat list of options, including our Corrie, for the composition. The funny thing is that this list of names has been fixed for a long time. Corrie came from our Corrie van Dijk (I can probably say ‘our’), the first female meteorologist at the KNMI in 1964. Eunice Foot was one of the first climate scientists who already researched the greenhouse effect back when we didn't even know it existed. And Dudley is just Dudley from England.
Even though we are neatly going through the alphabet of storms, the letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are never eligible for a storm. That is the international agreement for storm names from the National Hurricane Center. What awaits us? Soon we will probably have to deal with Franklin, Gladys, Herman, and Imani. One of those four will definitely send the garden set flying off the balcony, while you are trying to find your key and it seems like wind force eighty is blowing through every gap in your clothing. Exciting.
Image: MET Office
Source: KNMI
