Climate Change Makes Fierce Winter Storms Like Éowyn Even Stronger
A hotter ocean and atmosphere are key ingredients to up the intensity and rainfall of winter weather.
A fallen tree brought down during winter storm Éowyn in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 24.
Photographer: Michael Cooper/Getty ImagesWinter Storm Éowyn pummeled Ireland and the UK with hurricane-force winds on Friday, creating blackouts for hundreds of thousands and disrupting travel across northwestern Europe.
Éowyn was one of the strongest storms to hit the region and likely set new intensity records after undergoing “explosive cyclogenesis,” according to preliminary estimates from meteorological officials. Meteorologists are still calculating Éowyn’s toll, but the UK Met Office says the storm’s 114 mph (184 kph) gust near Mace Head is likely the strongest ever recorded in Ireland. And Éowyn’s low pressure — a key measure of a storm’s destructive potential — appears to be the lowest recorded in Northern Ireland since 1900.