Wick’s windy January can be measured on Beaufort scale
Weather Watch by Keith Banks
The Beaufort scale of wind force is an internationally recognised scale that enables the speed to be estimated without the aid an anemometer.
The scale specifies 13 degrees of wind strength and was devised at the beginning of the 19th century by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort RN.
Originally it was employed as a means to relate wind strength to its effect on the sails of warships from the era.
However, during the Edwardian era of the early 20th century the observations were modified by the meteorologist George Simpson to describe how the sea behaved. During the same period, Simpson also introduced the land-based version of observations.
In the 21st century, the Beaufort scale allows mariners and professionals to estimate wind speed from the wind’s effects, either at sea or on land.
The terms “gale force 8” and “storm force 10” are familiar to most people. Force 12 is termed “hurricane force” because the speed is used to define when a tropical storm is upgraded to hurricane status in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific.
However, in the Western Pacific, where typhoons occur, certain countries use an extended scale up to 17 that was introduced in 1946.
January 2025 was Wick’s coldest since that of 2021, and is currently the 57th most cold in a series of Januarys stretching back to 1910.
In terms of precipitation January 2025 was the driest since that of 2022. Closer analysis of the archive for a series of Januarys commencing from 1910 showed that it is presently the town’s 32nd least wet.
Wick’s mean air temperature for January 2025 was 3.69C (38.64F).
The long-term average in terms of the averaging period 1991-2020 is 4.01C (39.22F).
Wick’s average daily maximum air temperature for January 2025 was 6.49C (43.68F). The long-term average for this parameter in terms of the current 30-year averaging period is 6.40C (43.52F). Highest daily maximum was 12.9C (55.2F) recorded on January 17.
Lowest daily maximum was 0.1C (32.2F), observed on January 10.
The town’s average daily minimum air temperature for the month was 0.88C (33.58F), 0.74C below the current long-term average for the month.
Highest daily minimum air temperature was 7.5C (45.5F), witnessed on January 17.
Air frosts were recorded on 13 dates. The lowest daily minimum air temperature for the month was minus 7.3C (18.9F), witnessed on January 11.
The temperature fell to 0.0C (32.0F), or lower at 5cm over the grass on 18 dates. Lowest temperature over the grass was minus 8.8C (16.2F), noted on January 11.
Precipitation was measurable on 24 dates. The total amount recorded for the month was 50.4mm (1.98 inches), or 69.6 per cent of the current long-term average quantity for the month.
Wettest day was January 26. The total amount recorded for the 24-hour period commencing 9am (GMT) was 7.4mm (0.29 of an inch).
“Days of gale” were experienced on January 24 and 25.
However, wind velocities reached or surpassed gale force 8, (39.0mph/33.9knots) on six other dates.
The strongest wind velocity was observed on January 25 when a gale force 8 westerly wind gusted up to 58.7mph/51.0knots, storm force 10, on the Beaufort scale.
On January 24 the mean sea level pressure (MSLP) in the town fell to an exceptionally low 946.7mbar.
