Weather Warning?

[johnoddy]

I’ve just been given a warning by one of the village’s “old men”. He told me that tomorrow expect heavy winds, hailstones and snow, the snow, he says, will settle.
I’ve checked both weather forecasts that I use and both give rain for tomorrow with no mention of snow. So does he know something we don’t or has anybody else heard the warning?

[emgee]

There is a Coptic Storm due on 11 January. I read somewhere that the winds were due to be the highest ever recorded in Cyprus.

Don't shoot the messenger.

Alan

[cyprusgrump]

I’ve just been given a warning by one of the village’s “old men”. He told me that tomorrow expect heavy winds, hailstones and snow, the snow, he says, will settle.
I’ve checked both weather forecasts that I use and both give rain for tomorrow with no mention of snow. So does he know something we don’t or has anybody else heard the warning?

Same here in Pissouri...

Accuweather says it will be windy/raining but the village has received a severe weather warning - wind/hail/snow,freezy etc.

On the subject of Coptic Winds, Devil debunked them some time ago...

*searches*

To elaborate, I posted the following to the CL forum in January of this year:
Once and for all, Coptic winds are a myth , pure and simple. There is zero statistical or scientific correlation between the dates and the presence of winds. Consider:
1. If a wind happens to blow on a given "Coptic" day, the gullible will say, 'Ah! it's a Coptic wind!'
2. If a wind does not happen to blow on that day, they will say, 'Ah! it's a day or three late or early this year!'
3. The Coptic calendar is lunar (similar to Arabic and Hebrew calendars) and dates change with respect to the solar calendar (ours) each year.
4. Strictly speaking, Coptic winds blow up the Nile from Sudan to the Nile Delta and are always southerly. In Cyprus, the gullible care not from which direction (all 360°) the wind blows if they deem it "Coptic"
5. There are always a few days of strong winds in Cyprus, especially in the Spring; these are the result of successive fronts passing, usually from W to E. These fronts are associated with depressions and anticyclones (central L and H barometric pressures respectively). We had a depression pass here during this past night with a peak gust of 12.1 m/s at 02:39 with a total duration of ~2 hours, veering from SW to NW, but the Copts (NE African Christian ethnicity) did not send it to us.
6. Between about mid-February and early April, we often get the benefit of the tip of the Khamsin (the word is Arabic for 50, Arabic folklore having that it is supposed to last 50 days). This is a warm, dry, dust-laden wind that blows off the Sahara, from the Libyan and W. Egyptian coasts and arrives here, perhaps a couple of times or so per year. The gullible sometimes call it "Coptic" if it happens on the appropriate day of their horoscopic calendars or just a damned nuisance if it doesn't. But it never comes from where the Copts live, but a good 1000 km or so to the W. They add about 0.1 mm of quite fertile desert dust to the Cyprus soil each year but it's a nuisance because each episode usually ends in rain and it leaves a sticky yellow film on everything (often coincident with yellow pine pollen blowing off trees).
7. Do you believe that, in Britain, if rain falls on St Swithin's day, that it will rain for 40 days thereafter? This is much like the folklore of Coptic Gales. It MAY happen (in the UK maybe even more likely!!!!).
As an amateur but serious meteorologist, with my own weather station , I can assure you that my measurements have never correlated to the myth. Of course, there are many days of coincidences, like all things related to the weather, but the probability of a correlation is about 1% (expressed scientifically as a fractile 0.01, if that makes it clearer). Meteorology is never an exact science, although the measurement of data is now very precise, so there will always be those with their piece of seaweed who will forecast 6 months in advance that it will rain on August 20th, but there's a 99% chance they will be wrong.

I don't always agree with Devil but since reading this many years ago and correlating with the real weather I am convinced he is correct...

[Kili01]

I don't know more than the Weatherunderground forecast, however today, despite the sunshine the winds are very strong in my area (Killi-Kamares). They started off coming from the SE this morning, but have since shifted to NE with a drop in temperature. Winds were forecast up to 60kph, probably in gusts. I had to double peg washing to the line! Tomorrow is forecast to be colder and wetter, as is Tuesday. Night temperatures about 8c. It will be cold enough for more snow in the hills.
Tomorrow

[Dominic]

I want to try out my new drone but I need to wait a few months for the winds to die down I think.

[cyprusgrump]

I want to try out my new drone but I need to wait a few months for the winds to die down I think.

Yes, you don't want to try and set-up a new one when it is windy!

[ApusApus]

Hmmm ....... I think the Polis Road could have a few more hazards than usual to negotiate in the near future!


Shane

[Dominic]

So if I see an old man driving a lorry full of snow down from the Troodos I will know why.

[Lincoln]

It has arrived in Chloraka. Strong winds and driving rain at 45 deg angle. Tucked up watching it with a strong coffee.

[trevnhil]

Similar Scenes up here in Polemi.

Trev..

[wilky]

Same here in Letymbou

[cyprusgrump]

And Pissouri...

[PW in Polemi]

Our cat has the best idea - he's curled up in a tight little ball in the corner of the armchair, pushing a few zzzzzzzz - as if he didn't get quite enough last night!
OH was called out to friends to repair their front door handle wot came off in their hands! Hope he's on the inside bit now!

[Dominic]

I'm in the mall so oblivious to it at the moment.

[cyprusmax47]

Snowstorm hits traffic in Istanbul; straits closed, flights cancelled

January 7th, 2017 Reuters News Service Turkey 1 Comment
Snowstorm hits traffic in Istanbul; straits closed, flights cancelled

A girl walks under snow-covered trees during a snowfall in Istanbul

A snowstorm forced the closure of Turkey’s key shipping straits and sweeping flight cancellations on Saturday, while hazardous roads left many drivers stranded overnight in Istanbul, a city of 15 million people.

Turkish Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights in and out of the city’s main Ataturk airport and state-run Anadolu news agency said dozens of planes were diverted to other airports because of the heavy snowfall, which began on Friday evening.

About 6,000 of its passengers were transferred to hotels on Friday evening due to the cancellations and 20,000 meals were distributed to those stranded at the airport, Anadolu said.

Pegasus Airlines cancelled some 200 flights in and out of Sabiha Gokcen airport, on the Asian side of the city.

The Bosphorus strait, which runs through Istanbul, and the Dardanelles strait further south were closed to transit shipping due to poor visibility on Saturday morning, Turkey’s coastguard authority said.

The straits are one of the world’s most important choke points for the maritime transit of oil, carrying over 3 percent of global supply, mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea.

The waterways, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, also carry large amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.

The snow reached a depth of as much as 40cm in some outlying areas of Istanbul and thousands of council personnel worked through the night to keep roads in the city open, the municipality said.

Many drivers abandoned their vehicles and set off on foot, while some stayed in their vehicles for more than 10 hours overnight as they waited for road conditions to improve, the Dogan news agency said.

Istanbul’s underground train system operated through the night for passengers unable to get home on the city’s roads, which were disrupted by dozens of accidents by vehicles sliding on the icy surfaces, the municipality said in a statement.