First research stop was the tide tables for Galway, which maxed at 5.0 a few days ago, on say Wednesday and Thursday, the usual 36 hours after the full moon which was last Tuesday. Folks, 5.0 is nothing in Galway. You need 5.6 or 5.7 before the dreaded "sandbag" word is heard. Even then you need other factors complicateding things.
But Venice is still getting hammered and this is Sunday, they are back to 4.6 in Galway (which actually is OHW, ordinary high water, the level that legally determines the foreshore from contiguous privately owned land) so what is going on?
- Is it low pressure ? Remember the rule "an inch is a foot", i.e. an inch of mercury is a foot of water, meaning 2.5cm less of mercurial pressure equates to 30cm of tide height.
- Is it wind? I can't see wind was the major factor.
Advise us, advise us now.
DWalsh