Air Pressure Changes Caused By Tonga Volcano Eruption Recorded In Hastings

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 09:51

A barograph in Hastings, which records air pressure, showed 'blips' on its chart late on Saturday afternoon and again six hours later, showing the impact the volcanic eruption 10,000 miles away had in Hastings.

Hastings is about as far away as you can get from the small Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands.

But the clockwork barograph, housed in a Hastings weather kiosk, on the seafront just to the west of the pier, recorded pronounced 'blips' in air pressure.

Changes in air pressure like this travel at the speed of sound. Tonga is just over 10 000 miles away and, at the speed of sound, that’s around 14 hours away.

A spokesman for Hastings Borough Council said:

"As the eruption was at 0410 GMT on Saturday the shock wave pulses should start to be recorded at approximately 1800 to 1900 in the UK.

"As the attached photo of the barograph chart for last week shows, the first blip in Hastings occurred at 1700 which, allowing for our barograph running up to two hours slow at the end of a week (as the clockwork mechanism runs slightly slow!) means we actually recorded the eruption, as expected, at around 1830.

"The second downward blip recorded approximately six hours later is also part of the volcanic eruption pressure wave recording.

"It is quite amazing to realise that here in Hastings we are able to measure – and see – the impact of a volcano in the South Pacific, and recorded on clockwork equipment."

The barograph is probably the only piece of clockwork equipment still in regular use by Hastings Borough Council

This data was provided by Hastings Borough Council’s volunteer meteorologists, who record the weather in the town every single day of the year.