Week 11: Cyclones

The country I have been researching this semester is Peru. I was looking into the history of hurricanes in Peru and significantly found that due to the country’s cooled coastal waters there are rarely any hurricanes that hit the country. So, I started looking in the complete opposite area of the world and ended up finding out about ‘Hurricane Bawbag” that hit Scotland in 2011. On December 7th 2011, Cyclone Friedhelm (also nicknamed Hurricane Bawbag) created rough seas and created hurricane-force winds to Scotland. 

The Hurricane was dubbed “Hurricane Bawbag” by Scottish citizens as an insult and slang. The hashtag “#HurricaneBawbag” became trending on twitter  and raised a few confused looks. The hurricane started trending and Scottish citizens were saying how proud they are to be Scottish due to the creativity of the name. 

There was a red weather warning issued towards Central Scotland. The hurricane was formed when a cyclone on the West of Scotland hit warmer air coming up from the South. The highest winds went up 165 mph (266 km/h) and the lowest pressure was 956 mb. Thousands of citizens were left without power and others were left stranded at train stations, ferries, and airports. The winds made the Scottish government close many roads and schools. Lights were blown down in Aberdeen and a wind turbine burst into flames in Ayrshire. The Hurricane lasted for six days ending on December 13th 2011. Overall, there were no deaths and the government did a great job containing citizens from going out during the hazardous weather. They shut down schools and citizens were also able to make a fun name out of the situation.

Work Cited: 

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/hurricane-bawbag-glasgow-weather-warning-17706655

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/how-internet-sensation-hurricane-bawbag-1088980

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bawbag