Storm Isha

It can be quite blowy here! But there is a blowy and there is blowy. And when storm Isha was approaching, I had a feeling this might be a big one. It would hit on a Sunday.

Amber warning for wind, and torrential rain: lovely

In the morning it was still quite calm. In the afternoon I had to drive back from Capel Curig, and that was challenging. I was really glad when I got home! And I intended to not leave the house anymore until the storm had gone.

I drove through that puddle! Didn’t enjoy it. 

With me being indoors, I still had business with the storm; I got an email from a colleague, who had had questions from students about the lectures starting the next day. Would they actually happen, given the weather? But the weather warning would terminate at 6 AM, and we don't lecture until 9. But I was aware that there would be problems with transport. Flooded train lines, trees on roads; that sort of stuff. So I emailed the students to say I would make mine a hybrid session. If you couldn't come to campus, you could just log in! I thought that would mean there would be absolutely no one showing up. If you give the students the option to not physically be there, the risk is that they take it en masse. 

The rest of the day was not overly eventful. Nothing seemed to be going wrong with the house! I did get a message from a friend who had damage to their shed, but that was about as bad as it got.

The next day, when I had my first lecture at 9 am, I made sure to leave early. I remembered a day when the whole bicycle path had become an obstacle course after a storm. I didn't want to be late!

On the way out, I took the old road, and there weren't any problems. The wind had also abated so much it wasn't a big issue to stay upright. And I found lecture theatre full of students! Not many had let the storm get in their way. But the wind would get stronger again later in the day; Isha’s successor Jocelyn was on the way. So after my lecture I went straight home. I took a different route; there were no obstacles there either. There clearly had been earlier on! You could tell the council had at least removed one fallen over tree.

The worst of my morning commute: a fallen branch

On the way back, different route: any damage already dealt with

Altogether it was quite the storm; I don't think I've ever driven through worse weather in Wales. But once I got home everything seemed ok! That's not a bad score. Will probably get a few more storms in this record season. I hope they will be as well-behaved as this one…