“Occasional Gusts to Hurricane Force”
The Bermuda Weather Service [BWS] recorded a peak wind gust of 76 knots at around 11:30am today [Feb 20],which translates to around 87.5 miles per hour or 140km per hour. Category 1 hurricane winds range from 74-95 mph.
Forecaster Jeff Torgerson described the winds as “frequent gusts to storm force, and at Commissioners Point, Dockyard occasional gusts to hurricane force.”
The video below shows the Causeway at approximately 10:30am today, a motorbike knocked over at approximately 3:20pm and waves on North Shore at around 4pm:
BWS said “rain was mixed with small hail less than 2.0mm diameter” and they had one report of “pea-size hail”. They also stated that cold advection showers brought cooling temperatures all day and most notably a brief drop to below 50F/10C.
BWS has forecast similiar weather conditions this coming Tuesday, saying: “A Gale Warning will likely be needed for Tuesday’s winds from early-morning through late-night.”
Early this morning waves started to crash along the North Shore, with sprays of water passing right over the entire road to the other side of the street. View footage here.
Did the Causeway close? If not, why not?
I believe the Causeway closes when sustained winds are 50 mph or higher.
It is more about wind direction than wind speed. Winds excceding 40kts, as they were yesterday, would normally close the airfield if the direction was across the runway. The direction was more or less in line with the runway. You can’t close the causeway if the planes are flying.
I guess a new all weather causeway is a distant dream now that millions have been squandered away on other way over budget projects.
Not strictly true….they have closed the Causeway and left the airport open before – I know I was on the other side!