Storm Abigail

Key takeaways

Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Storm Abigail from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Storm Abigail was an extratropical cyclone that brought high winds, rain, lightning, and snow across northern Scotland. It is the first ever storm to be officially named by the Met Office of the United Kingdom and Ireland's Met Éireann, being named on 10 November 2015.

Meteorological history and impacts

On 10 November, a Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: "There remains some uncertainty regarding the exact extent and timing of strongest winds but current forecasts suggest that this storm could have some medium impacts such as disruption to transport and so a warning has been issued and the first storm has been named as Abigail." On 12 November, local ferries were affected by bad weather with many services cancelled. It was announced that every school in the Western Isles and Shetland were to be closed to pupils on 13 November. The storm left more than 20,000 homes without power, according to energy company SSE. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency also warned of the risk of flooding due to the storm, as the weather system was anticipated to create a storm surge along the south-west and west coast, due to coincidence with a high tide.

Background

Earlier in 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann announced a pilot project to name wind storms and asked the public for suggestions. The full list of names, common to both the UK and Ireland, were: Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond, Eva, Frank, Gertrude, Henry, Imogen, Jake, Katie, Lawrence, Mary, Nigel, Orla, Phil, Rhonda, Steve, Tegan, Vernon and Wendy. A storm will be named when it is deemed able to potentially cause "substantial" impact on the UK or Ireland. They will be taken from the list, in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female names. This is the same naming convention as that used for tropical cyclones in the United States. Where weather events result from ex-tropical storms or hurricanes, the original name allocated by the National Hurricane Center in the US will be used.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Storm Abigail

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail

In research: Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail 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: Storm Abigail is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2015 disasters in the United Kingdom, 2015 in Scotland, European windstorms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Storm Abigail 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.

How to study Storm Abigail in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Storm Abigail in simple terms?

Storm Abigail was an extratropical cyclone that brought high winds, rain, lightning, and snow across northern Scotland. It is the first ever storm to be officially named by the Met Office of the United Kingdom and Ireland's Met Éireann, being named on 10 November 2015.

Why does Storm Abigail 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 Storm Abigail?

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 Storm Abigail.