It Could Be Worse: 'Storm Of The Century,' 'Weather Bomb' Hitting Britain
(CBS SF) -- While the Bay Area braces for what is forecast to be the biggest storm in 6 years, if not 16 years, any hyperbole is nothing compared to what the UK is facing in a storm called the "Storm of the Century," and a "Weather Bomb" packing 40-50 foot waves (that's over 15 meters for Anglophiles), and 70-80 mile per hour winds.
By comparison, the Bay Area storm is due to bring 50 mile per hour gusts to the Bay Area (although the local mountains may see gusts in excess of 70 mph or higher, and the Sierra is bracing for a blizzard with 100 mile per hour gusts at the ridge tops).
The Express's headline says it all: STORM OF CENTURY: Britain smashed by hurricane-force winds and 50ft waves in WEATHER BOMB
The UK may see five days of blizzards, the worst in 100 years, and more severe than the December 2010 storms that decimated the country.
The image from "Magic Seaweed" shows wave heights approaching the coast, with an ominous black hole looming toward the UK. The site is calling this the Black Wednesday storm.
For empirical comparisons, here's how the storms stack up in terms of barometric pressure, the lower number indicated the most severe atmospheric disruption:
BRITAN'S "STORM OF THE CENTURY" TODAY: 952mb of barometric pressure at the eye of the storm
BRITAIN'S 1987 PREVIOUS STORM OF THAT CENTURY: 951mb
THURSDAY'S BAY AREA STORM: 968mb
WORLD RECORD LOW: 870mb during a Typhoon
NORMAL ATMOSPHERE: 980-1050mb
FULL BAY AREA STORM COVERAGE: