This week’s weather is dominated by multiple low-pressure systems, together with several (frontal) troughs. Wind and wave peaks occur at times and in between, winds and waves will decrease into more workable conditions. On Thursday, a frontal system crosses the North Sea, bringing rain, poor visibility, higher winds, and waves as a result.
Synoptic overview
A low-pressure area (990 hPa) lingers over Central Scandinavia in the coming days before filling on Thursday. A weak mobile ridge of high-pressure shifts ESE across the North Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday. A new low-pressure system is located over the Atlantic, moving eastward and lingering between Ireland and Iceland from Wednesday onward (985 hPa). An associated frontal system affects the North Sea on Thursday. The low itself moves eastward afterwards, crossing the North Sea during the weekend.
Wind and waves
In between the low-pressure area over Central Europe and a ridge over the UK, a moderate to strong NW'ly breeze is present over the North Sea area on Tuesday and Wednesday. The highest winds are expected near the Norwegian coastline and over Skagerrak (25-35 kts). These winds will push the significant wave height to 2.5 – 4.0 meters in these areas. By the course of Wednesday, wind speeds will decrease and back towards the west. This means that the Southern North Sea and the area just east of the United Kingdom will be more sheltered, resulting in less wind and waves (1.0 – 1.5m Hs). On Thursday, winds will pick up as a frontal system moves across the North Sea from the southwest to the northeast. Near gale SW'ly winds are expected to occur on the frontal troughs, gusting up to 35 kts. Along with the wind field, waves can increase up to 2.5 meters. Visibility is expected to be reduced during the passage of the frontal system. Winds and waves decrease on Friday before increasing again from the southwest during the weekend.
Figure 1: Isobars (black lines 5hPa) and wind speed/direction (kts) valid Tuesday, July 25th, 12 UTC.
Figure 2: Significant wave height/direction (m) valid Tuesday, July 25th, 12 UTC.
Figure 3: Isobars (black lines 5hPa) and wind speed/direction (kts) valid Thursday, July 27th, 15 UTC.
Figure 4: Significant wave height/direction (m) valid Thursday, July 27th, 15 UTC.
Conclusion
This week’s weather is dominated by multiple low-pressure systems, together with several (frontal) troughs. Wind and wave peaks occur at times, and in between, wind and waves will decrease into more workable conditions. Some thunder activity is expected to occur this week, especially with the frontal system crossing the North Sea on Thursday. Visibility will generally not be a significant problem this week, but it is expected to decrease significantly during the aforementioned frontal passage on Thursday. To conclude, unsettled conditions prevail this week. However, there will be workable weather windows at times. Infoplaza will continue to monitor the latest weather developments, so please make sure to check and follow up on our daily updated forecast reports to stay informed about the latest developments.
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