earth science

Storm Alex

Storm Alex 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 Storm Alex rather than just read about it. In short: Storm Alex was a powerful early-season extratropical cyclone that was particularly notable for its extreme flooding around the Mediterranean. Alex caused widespread wind and flooding damage across Europe, and at least 16 fatalities, with one more person missing.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Storm Alex was a powerful early-season extratropical cyclone that was particularly notable for its extreme flooding around the Mediterranean. Alex caused widespread wind and flooding damage across Europe, and at least 16 fatalities, with one more person missing. Alex was the first named storm in the 2020–21 European windstorm season. Originally, a minor low-pressure system to the south west of Greenland late on 27 September. This pressure system tracked south eastwards, experiencing the Fujiwhara effect and then undergoing explosive cyclogenesis before making landfall in Brittany on 1 October. It was named by AEMET and Météo-France on 30 September, with Red warnings being issued for wind for parts of Northern France from 16:00 CET on 1 October. The storm led to advection of Mediterranean air northwards where it interacted with the coastal topography producing an extremely heavy rainfall in southeast France, known as a "Mediterranean Episode". This brought record breaking flooding and devastation to many areas in the region. The flooding in the south of France was purportedly the worst for at least 120 years, when records began.

Preparations and impact

United Kingdom Many warnings were issued for the storm by UK Met Office. The first being issued for 30 September for heavy rain across south west Scotland. This was a yellow warning, stating the possibility of localised flooding. Further warnings were issued in the following days. Daily rainfall records were broken for many places. The highest fall reported as of 21:00 BST, the Met Office reported the maximum rainfall total to be 78 millimetres (3.1 in) at Liss, Hampshire, with the maximum gust of 71 mph (114 km/h) being recorded at Berry Head, Devon.

Warnings

France

Departments in the south of France were particularly badly affected, with record breaking flooding and landslides. At least 5 people died.

See also Storm Gloria (2020) Storm Ciara (2020) Storm Dennis (2020)

References

External links Eumetsat Case Study Archived 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Storm Alex

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

In research: Storm Alex 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 Alex 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 Alex is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2020 disasters in Ireland, 2020 disasters in the United Kingdom, 2020 floods in Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Storm Alex 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 Storm Alex in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Storm Alex in simple terms?

Why does Storm Alex 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 Alex?

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 Alex.