earth science

Hurricane Bawbag

Hurricane Bawbag is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hurricane Bawbag rather than just read about it. In short: Hurricane Bawbag, also known as Cyclone Friedhelm was an intense extratropical cyclone which brought hurricane-force winds to Scotland at the beginning of December 2011. The storm also brought prolonged gales and rough seas to the rest of the British Isles, as well as parts of Scandinavia.

Key takeaways

Hurricane Bawbag belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hurricane Bawbag to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hurricane Bawbag from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hurricane Bawbag, also known as Cyclone Friedhelm was an intense extratropical cyclone which brought hurricane-force winds to Scotland at the beginning of December 2011. The storm also brought prolonged gales and rough seas to the rest of the British Isles, as well as parts of Scandinavia. On 8 December, winds reached up to 165 mph (266 km/h) at elevated areas, with sustained wind speeds of up to 80 mph (130 km/h) reported across populous areas. The winds uprooted trees and resulted in the closure of many roads, bridges, schools and businesses. Overall, the storm was the worst to affect Scotland in 10 years, though a stronger storm occurred less than a month afterwards, on 3 January 2012. Although the follow-up storm was more intense, the winter of 2011–12 is usually remembered for Bawbag in Scotland.

Naming

The Free University of Berlin names low-pressure systems affecting Europe and gave the name Friedhelm to this storm. In Scotland, the storm was dubbed Hurricane Bawbag, the term bawbag being a Scots word for "scrotum", which is also used as an insult or as a jocular term of endearment. The name sparked a trending topic on Twitter, which became one of the top trending hashtags worldwide. Stirling Council also used the Twitter tag. Rob Gibson, the convener of the Scottish Parliamentary Environment Committee, was the first politician to use the term on national television.

Meteorological history

At 00:00 UTC on 8 December 2011, the Met Office noted a strong mid-latitude cyclone along the polar front to the west of Scotland. The polar front supported multiple cold fronts moving southeastward through the Atlantic toward mainland Europe, as well as an eastward-moving warm front approaching Great Britain. In conjunction with strong high pressure to the south, an extremely tight pressure gradient developed along the deep low and produced a large area of high winds. Because of the high temperature gradient between the warm and cold air masses, the cyclone underwent a phase of explosive deepening. By 08:00 UTC, the low had attained a minimum barometric pressure of 977 hPa (28.9 inHg), bringing gale-force winds to much of western Great Britain. The minimum pressure further dipped to 957 hPa (28.3 inHg) around 12:00 UTC, with maximum sustained winds of at least 105 mph (169 km/h) observed at the surface. An overall pressure drop of 44 hPa (1.3 inHg) was observed over just 24 hours, which combined with the extreme winds earned it the label "weather bomb" by meteorologists. A FAAM research aircraft had intercepted the storm on several occasions as part of the DIAMET research project, providing valuable data on its wind profile, temperature and humidity. By 9 December, the low had crossed Great Britain and moved into the North Sea toward western Scandinavia. The weakening occluded portion of the low—located along its centre—produced south-southeasterly gale-force winds across the peninsula. Further north, a large area of heavy snowfall and rough winds developed, while the heaviest rains occurred to the south of the centre. It passed through Sweden with hurricane-force gusts, though its winds and rainfall weakened significantly as it moved over Finland on 10 December. The storm persisted for another three days, before dissipating on 13 December.

Preparations and warnings On 7 December, the Met Office issued a red weather warning—its highest warning—for the Central Belt of Scotland. This was the first time the Met Office had ever issued a red alert for wind for the United Kingdom. They informed the public to take action and urged them to listen to police warnings. By 08:00 UTC on 8 December, all schools in the west of Scotland had been closed, while remaining schools in the east were told to close at lunchtime. In addition, many tertiary centres of education, such as Edinburgh University, Glasgow University who were taking exams on that day, Glasgow Caledonian University and University of the West of Scotland halted their operations as a safety precaution. Also closed were public museums, galleries, sports centres, and many council buildings and libraries. The Police in Scotland advised the public not to travel, and the Tay, Forth, Skye and Erskine bridges were closed to all traffic. Officials feared widespread structural damage to roofs and weak buildings, resulting in the closure of several tourist attractions in central Scotland, including Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens.

Impacts The storm brought gales to much of the British Isles and large parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula, causing widespread power outages and traffic disruptions. The highest winds occurred in Scotland, where hurricane-force winds battered coastal structures and uprooted trees. Additionally, heavy rainfall flooded some locations in England, Wales and Sweden. Despite the severity of its winds, the storm left no deaths in its wake. The storm was classified Hurricane-force 12 on the Beaufort scale. This is the highest classification on the modern scale.

Scotland

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hurricane Bawbag

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hurricane Bawbag claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hurricane Bawbag before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hurricane Bawbag ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hurricane Bawbag

In research: Hurricane Bawbag appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hurricane Bawbag in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hurricane Bawbag is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 disasters in Ireland, 2011 disasters in the United Kingdom, 2011 in Scotland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hurricane Bawbag outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hurricane Bawbag in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hurricane Bawbag means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hurricane Bawbag out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hurricane Bawbag in simple terms?

Why does Hurricane Bawbag matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hurricane Bawbag?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hurricane Bawbag.