Finally...

Some reasonable wind conditions this weekend on the UK south coast, forecasts Libby Greenhalgh

An unsettled weekend ahead with rain and sunshine but most importantly of all not too much or too little wind. In fact a cracking 15 to 20 knots from the south to south west.

General Situation

The weekend will be dominated by the rapid movement of two low pressure centres and their associated frontal systems with the strongest winds on Saturday. A warm front will push through the Solent early Saturday maintaining broad warm sector conditions (low cloud, slight rain and drizzle) and a southly wind around 18 knots. By late evening Saturday the trailing cold front will have cleared the Solent providing a sunny and dry start for Sunday with wind speeds a touch down at about 15 knots from the south west.

Saturday



With broad warm sector conditions the wind direction and speed will be fairly stable, with a slight squeeze on the wind strength ahead of the cold front - generally 190 deg to 210 deg with wind speeds initially 12-15 knots gradually strengthening across the morning reaching 18 to 20 knots by midday. The stable flow will limit the gusts to only 3 to 5 knots above the mean. As the cold front approaches in the early evening around 1800 the wind will back off slightly towards 170 deg and increase reaching a 25 knot mean. On passage of the cold front the cloud will lift and the rain will stop while the wind will veer to 200 deg and decrease overnight to 8 to 10 knots.


Sunday



With the cold front well clear to the east it will be a very different start to the day with sunshine and a slightly lighter wind. First thing the wind will be backed around 200 deg and about 8 knots, as the sun heats things up it will gradually veer towards 230 deg and increase to between 12 to 15 knots by 1100. With a polar maritime airmass (post cold front) generally expect unstable conditions with convection and therefore larger gusts about 5 to 8 knots above the mean. These will be largerly suppressed in the morning due a transient ridge in the pressure field ahead of a trough feature expected in the Solent around 1600. When the passes through the Solent depending on the temperature convection will spark off with the chance of a light shower. Behind the trough the wind will veer to around 260 deg with no change in the general wind speed.

Other websites to check out...
Latest Radar: www.metoffice.com/weather/europe/uk/radar/
Synoptic Charts: www.westwind.ch/?page=ukmb
Satellite Imagery: www.eumetsat.de/

For some actual wind and direction:
Isle of Wight - www.islandweather.co.uk/
SouthamptonWater- www.apbg09.dsl.pipex.com/met/mainframe.htm