[Nigel Bolton]

Could be a good one of these developing across the eastern side of Greenland during the next few days. Tight pressure gradient fuelling intense katabatic drainage. Winds can easily exceed 100kt.

N.

Play Eskimo National Lottery. "Inuit to Win It".

[Stuart Robinson]

Thnaks for the heads up Nigel - I will have to keep an eye on that.

[Dave Hancox]

Thanks Nigel learned something new after having to look up what it was. Great way to learn.

[EllyTech]

That also took me on a 'trail' as I'd not heard of that, Nigel. Thank you for prompting a good read - which led to other things to do with mountain/hill winds. Found out more about some of the conditions that might affect us here, near to the hills too, as we sometimes seem to have a rain shadow or recently, a snow shadow! (hills to the East).

Will watch out for the Piteraq (a Danish word - ?)

[Dave K]

Quote

EllyTech - 16/2/2009 21:13  Will watch out for the Piteraq (a Danish word - ?)

Piteraq sounds Greenlandic to me,

[EllyTech]

Thanks Dave. Just wondered, as there are a couple of dialects as well as Danish spoken in Greenland but yes, the word sounds less, 'Danish'..

[Nigel Bolton]

Should start to develop shortly. Interesting to see how windy it actually gets.

N.

[Nigel Bolton]

This Piteraq proved moderately strong. Ikermiit at 64.8N, 40.3W had winds exceeding hurricane force from around 2200 on the 17th and did not fall below hurricane force until around 1800 this evening. Highest mean speeds were recorded at 0900 this morning at 79kt, this with a temperature of -12.2C. A bit nipsville even for the locals!

N.

Play Eskimo National Lottery. 'Inuit to Win It'.

[John Mason]

Quote

Nigel Bolton - 18/2/2009 20:14

This Piteraq proved moderately strong. Ikermiit at 64.8N, 40.3W had winds exceeding hurricane force from around 2200 on the 17th and did not fall below hurricane force until around 1800 this evening. Highest mean speeds were recorded at 0900 this morning at 79kt, this with a temperature of -12.2C. A bit nipsville even for the locals!

N.

Play Eskimo National Lottery. 'Inuit to Win It'.

79kt @ -12.2 - now that IS painful! Can someone calculate the Windchill?

Cheers - John 

[Stuart Robinson]

Whats the surface Ob?

[Conrad]

I would think that Piteraqs are quite frequent in the winter months on the east coast of Greenland. Maybe thats why there are not too many settlements there. it wouldn't be good to be kayaking offshore when a Piteraq comes. Most Greenlandish settlements ssm to be on the SW coast on the Davis Strait, I suppose the climate must be a bit gentler there.

For a good account of katabatic winds coming off of Antarctica read "The Home of the Blizzard' by the Australian explorer of Antarctica Douglas Mawson, I believe he and his team were based in a place named Queen Maud's Land.

[Vaering]

Hi! I'm new here, so I only read this yesterday. I come from the little South Greenlandic town of Nanortalik, but now live in Norway.

Yes, Piteraq is indeed a greenlandic word, describing this particular weather phenomenon where katabatic winds drains cold airmasses from the ice into the Denmark Strait.

The reason why most settlements in Greenland are situated on the west coast, is because of the sea ice. On the east coast, a cold current is transporting sea ice south from the north pole basin, making it difficult to travel by boat, or kayak. On the west coast an arm of the Irminger current is keeping the shores free of sea ice almost year round. This as far north as to the polar circle, depending on the major weather patterns.

[Si Weaire]

Welcome to UKww, Thorleif! [hi]

[Nigel Bolton]

Indeed Thorlief, welcome. Good to have someone aboard from somewhere where the climate is so different to ours. Did you ever experience the Piteraq whilst in Greenland?

N.

[Vaering]

Hi and thanks! No, I've never experienced the Piteraq. The Piteraq is typical for the Tasiilaq area on the east coast of Greenland. Some of the strongest winds on the west coast, is the foehn (Chinook in North America). They're, unlike the Piteraq, warm winds blowing quite hard, but not as violently as the cold katabatic Piteraq.

The strongest Piteraq ever recorded, was the one of 7th Feb 1970. Sustained winds the blew at 194 km/h, gusting to, presumably, 324 km/h (the anemometer blew away long before ever measuring that!). A friend of mine lived in Ammassalik back then, and he told about cars being sandpapered by the blowing snow, the paint was literally blown off! Houses were blown off their foundations as if they've been hit by a tornado.....

[Uskys]

Quote

Vaering - 20/3/2009 21:32

The strongest Piteraq ever recorded, was the one of 7th Feb 1970. Sustained winds the blew at 194 km/h, gusting to, presumably, 324 km/h (the anemometer blew away long before ever measuring that!). A friend of mine lived in Ammassalik back then, and he told about cars being sandpapered by the blowing snow, the paint was literally blown off! Houses were blown off their foundations as if they've been hit by a tornado.....

Amazing, fascinating account, is there any more you can tell please?

[Vaering]

Here's a link to a September 2008 Piteraq:
http://vimeo.com/1763066

And a sattelite image:

[Nigel Bolton]

One in action at the moment. Ikermiit at 64.8N, 40.3W reporting winds of 63G86kt, i.e. hurricane force with a temperature of -13C.

Likely to make your nipples go hard.

N.

[Nigel Bolton]

Piteraq likely to develop on Sunday south of Ikermiit with winds of hurricane force likely.

N.

[Nigel Bolton]

Just a few knots of wind at Tasiilaq, between the two lows. Should be interesting to see how the wind rises later as the second low passes by to the southeast, and the cold air across the Greenland summit plunges down the east coast.

N.