Strongest European windstorms

sryanbruen

What do you think are the most destructive windstorms to hit any part of Europe in recorded history?

1. Braer storm of January 1993
2. Great storm of 1987
3. Kyrill (18 January 2007)
4. Hurricane Bawbag
5. Tini (12 February 2014)

Supercell

Possibly the the night of the big wind - 6 - 7 January 1839

From an Irish perspective there is a very interesting page on the met.ie website - Major Weather Events which has articles about the most major weather events in the last couple of hundred years in Ireland.
Pity they missed out the October 22nd thunderstorms of 2003 in the Dublin area, besides the two big snow events of my life so far this is easily in the top three of memorable weather events here - http://www.rte.ie/archives/2013/1022/481962-thunderstorms-in-dublin/ .

Hammer Archer

Lothar and, to a lesser extent, Martin would certainly be up there after Christmas 1999. 140 dead across France, Germany and Switzerland and caused over €14 billion worth of damage. Gusts were over 200km/h in Lothar and just under 200km/h in Martin. One station recorded a pressure rise of 18hPa in one hour as Lothar passed.
Both followed almost identical tracks with 36 hours of each other. Didn't help that Lothar particularly wasn't well predicted by a lot of forecasters.

maquiladora

In terms of wind speed records, Lothar was probably the most intense of the 20th century with gusts up to 259 km/h. The Braer Storm may have been stronger but we'll never know because the most intense winds are out at sea and never measured but it has been estimated that it had sustained winds of almost 200 km/h so it's possible gusts may have been stronger than Lothar.

Tabnabs

Also up there is what is called the New Years Hurricane in Norway. They had winds of up to 234km onshore and 270km on a North Sea platform. It struck on the 1st of January in 1992. Scotland also got a hammering from the same storm with two people on Unst dying as a result.

Wanderer78

Tabnabs wrote: »

Also up there is what is called the New Years Hurricane in Norway. They had winds of up to 234km onshore and 270km on a North Sea platform. It struck on the 1st of January in 1992. Scotland also got a hammering from the same storm with two people on Unst dying as a result.

surely there were some platforms damaged in those winds?

Elmer Blooker

EDIT I just saw Hammer Archers post after I posted this, sorry 'bout that!
I remember the stormy period around Christmas 1999, we escaped the worst but there was devastation in France especially. I also remember ESB crews from Ireland being sent to France to help restore power.
It doesn't look particularly bad on this chart but at this stage you can see the worst is over Biscay heading for France.


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

Speedwell

Wanderer78 wrote: »

surely there were some platforms damaged in those winds?

Yeah, there were; I was working for a major oil tools engineering company that year and we watched a lot of films in safety meetings.

Harps

The 1987 storm in England & France must be up there with the worst, especially since it happened with trees still in full leaf. Max gust of 216km/hr according to Wikipedia

Personally for me the worst I've experienced was the Stephens Day storm in 1998 while living on an exposed island off the coast of Donegal. Second strongest storm to hit Ireland on record after hurricane Debbie in 1961

maquiladora

The Royal Charter storm was another very severe windstorm, probably the strongest ever recorded in the Irish Sea.

sryanbruen

When did the Lothar storm take place?

Oneiric 3

Harps wrote: »

Personally for me the worst I've experienced was the Stephens Day storm in 1998 while living on an exposed island off the coast of Donegal. Second strongest storm to hit Ireland on record after hurricane Debbie in 1961

At 18z on that evening, pressure reading at Malin Head was approximately 956 hPa, while Sherkin Island's approximate reading was around 998 hPa, which would would give an isobaric gradient of over 40 hPa between both stations at the storm's peak. This gradient was particularly tight over the NW and N at this time.




I vaguely remember this storm but I don't think it was as impactive around these parts as it obviously was further north.

maquiladora

sryanbruen wrote: »

When did the Lothar storm take place?

December 1999

sryanbruen

maquiladora wrote: »

December 1999

Oh yeah thanks for that

Hammer Archer

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

EDIT I just saw Hammer Archers post after I posted this, sorry 'bout that!
I remember the stormy period around Christmas 1999, we escaped the worst but there was devastation in France especially. I also remember ESB crews from Ireland being sent to France to help restore power.
It doesn't look particularly bad on this chart but at this stage you can see the worst is over Biscay heading for France.


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

Think it was only after 00Z that it really began to intensify. It deepened from 984hPa to 961hPa in the next six hours. Also, because Lothar was so tight and compact, those reanalyses couldn't replicate the pressure gradient properly. The ECMWF reanalysis could only replicate it down to <980hPa.

Oneiric 3

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Think it was only after 00Z that it really began to intensify. It deepened from 984hPa to 961hPa in the next six hours. Also, because Lothar was so tight and compact, those reanalyses couldn't replicate the pressure gradient properly. The ECMWF reanalysis could only replicate it down to <980hPa.

ERA40 has it at 977 hPa at 6z, much higher than the fax analysis had at the same time.




Fax analysis at 6z.

Harps

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

At 18z on that evening, pressure reading at Malin Head was approximately 956 hPa, while Sherkin Island's approximate reading was around 998 hPa, which would would give an isobaric gradient of over 40 hPa between both stations at the storm's peak. This gradient was particularly tight over the NW and N at this time.

I vaguely remember this storm but I don't think it was as impactive around these parts as it obviously was further north.

Certainly remember it well where I was! Think we went about a week without electricity or phone and the storm was immediately followed by a bitterly cold northerly with snow showers. Luckily our house escaped unscathed though there was a lot if damage all along the coast

http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/a-christmas-nightmare-h3northwest-battered-by-worst-storm-since-1961-he3-26166433.html

http://www.weathercast.co.uk/weather-news/news/ch/2460ce1d42e4f3a2b349b768bc560068/article/the_great_boxing_day_storm_of_1998.html

Oneiric 3

Came across a couple of old BBC weather vids regarding the Stephen's day storm in 1998.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7zU0nAYJZU

It was initially projected take a slight more southerly track (first few forecasts in vid) but ended up further north, with NW/N Ireland & W Scotland bearing the brunt.


Back to 1987, Michael Fish's infamous forecast in full:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnxjZ-aFkjs

Summertime8989

I was 8 when the St.Stephens day storm hit. I remember watching Honey I shrunk the kids and the tv kept going on and off. This was hours before the storm started, it was a sign of things to come. It was the worst storm I've seen and by a long way. I remember horizontal hail battering off the window and lightning flashing through the room. The wind was unbelievable. My Dad went to get something from the car and I remember him being blown off his feet in to the garden, he just came back inside immediately ha. My sister got me a battery power radio for xmas and I remember all of us huddled around listening to it when we lost power. We had no power for five days. Slates and debris littered the ground the next morning. Lots of poles/trees downed. My Grandparents were without power for over a week. I had always loved snow but this was when my love of extreme weather was born.

77mph sustained winds recorded at Malin Head with a top gust of 110mph. Belmullet 68mph sustained, gust of 108mph. Castlederg in County Tyrone gust of 97mph, it's a long way to the coast from Castlederg which shows the power of this storm. Gusts of 100mph well inland across the North West. No storm since has come close to this yet for me.

Summertime8989

The highest gust ever recorded in Ireland is 124mph/199.5Kph/108Knots in Kilkeel County Down on the 12th January 1974. Anyone have any in sight in to that particular storm?

Summertime8989

Highest gust speed records - by country (low-level sites)
Country Speed Date Location
Scotland 123 knots / 142 mph 13 February 1989 Fraserburgh (Aberdeenshire)
Northern Ireland 108 knots / 124 mph 12 January 1974 Kilkeel (County Down)
Wales 108 knots / 124 mph 28 October 1989 Rhoose (Vale of Glamorgan)
England 103 knots / 118 mph 15 December 1979 Gwennap Head (Cornwall)

Summertime8989

Harps wrote: »

The 1987 storm in England & France must be up there with the worst, especially since it happened with trees still in full leaf. Max gust of 216km/hr according to Wikipedia

Personally for me the worst I've experienced was the Stephens Day storm in 1998 while living on an exposed island off the coast of Donegal. Second strongest storm to hit Ireland on record after hurricane Debbie in 1961

France saw the highest gusts-

-The highest wind speed reported was an estimated 119 knots (61 m/s) in a gust soon after midnight at Quimper coastguard station on the coast of Brittany (48° 02' N 4° 44' W).
-The highest measured wind speed was a gust of 117 knots (60 m/s) at 12.30 am at Pointe du Roc (48° 51' N, 1° 37' W) near Granville, Normandy.
-The strongest gust over the UK was 100 knots at Shoreham on the Sussex coast at 3.10 am, and gusts of more than 90 knots were recorded at several other coastal locations.
Even well inland, gusts exceeded 80 knots. The London Weather Centre recorded 82 knots at 2.50 am, and 86 knots was recorded at Gatwick Airport at 4.30 am (the authorities closed the airport).

sryanbruen

What about the Christmas Eve storm of 1997?

Eugene Norman

Oneiric 3 wrote: »

Came across a couple of old BBC weather vids regarding the Stephen's day storm in 1998.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7zU0nAYJZU

It was initially projected take a slight more southerly track (first few forecasts in vid) but ended up further north, with NW/N Ireland & W Scotland bearing the brunt.


Back to 1987, Michael Fish's infamous forecast in full:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnxjZ-aFkjs

What strikes me about that is

1) the graphics were way more advanced than I would have expected for 1987.
2) the met office really really got that storm wrong. I mean even had the storm had tracked further north in their models ( which is what I assume then happened in reality) they wouldn't have predicted any great storm. He didn't say that the winds would be severe over the channel or over northern France. Didn't mention much about wind except to say brisk.

I always thought that he got a hard time because technically Atlantic storms are never hurricanes but he didn't predict squat.

pauldry

I vividly remember the St Stephens Day storm of 1998 in Castlebar.

When I got up at 11am it was raining a bit and breezy.

Then around 1pm the wind really got into gear
At 230pm I went outside to bring in the dog..there was a howl in the sound of the wind, a whistle. I could hear things banging against other things. I ran in with the dog as quick as I could but it was quite a struggle.
At 3pm our concrete 6ft wall in our back garden was blown down like a pack of cards..soon after all power went.
At 4pm friends were telling us of lots of trees blocking roads around Castlebar.
Someone who had been in town said they had nearly been hit with a flying roof tile.
At 5pm the wind was just a gale and abating.
By 6pm it had died down a lot so we went to town to survey the damage.
And what damage. All the main streets buildings had tiles missing.
All the pubs were by candlelight so there was a unique atmosphere.
Cars were nowhere to be seen. Just debris...of all sorts on the road.
Bins branches tiles even a couple of chimneys.

At 9pm I was drunk so thats all I can report on it.

It snowed heavily the next morning. Or was that the year after?

sryanbruen

pauldry wrote: »

I vividly remember the St Stephens Day storm of 1998 in Castlebar.

When I got up at 11am it was raining a bit and breezy.

Then around 1pm the wind really got into gear
At 230pm I went outside to bring in the dog..there was a howl in the sound of the wind, a whistle. I could hear things banging against other things. I ran in with the dog as quick as I could but it was quite a struggle.
At 3pm our concrete 6ft wall in our back garden was blown down like a pack of cards..soon after all power went.
At 4pm friends were telling us of lots of trees blocking roads around Castlebar.
Someone who had been in town said they had nearly been hit with a flying roof tile.
At 5pm the wind was just a gale and abating.
By 6pm it had died down a lot so we went to town to survey the damage.
And what damage. All the main streets buildings had tiles missing.
All the pubs were by candlelight so there was a unique atmosphere.
Cars were nowhere to be seen. Just debris...of all sorts on the road.
Bins branches tiles even a couple of chimneys.

At 9pm I was drunk so thats all I can report on it.

It snowed heavily the next morning. Or was that the year after?

Amazingly though both 1998 and 1999 had heavy snowfall on the 27th in your area.

Oneiric 3

Another great stormy month was back in January '74. The month saw a number of strong storms with wind and gust speeds that would put recent years efforts to shame.

This storm on the 27th of that month brought gusts of over 90 knots inland here locally and up to 74 knots in Clones in the heart of the midlands. We are lucky these days to get a couple of gusts exceeding 60 knots during winter storms in the same region



Image from the UK Met Office.

B17G

pauldry wrote: »

I vividly remember the St Stephens Day storm of 1998 in Castlebar.

When I got up at 11am it was raining a bit and breezy.

Then around 1pm the wind really got into gear
At 230pm I went outside to bring in the dog..there was a howl in the sound of the wind, a whistle. I could hear things banging against other things. I ran in with the dog as quick as I could but it was quite a struggle.
At 3pm our concrete 6ft wall in our back garden was blown down like a pack of cards..soon after all power went.
At 4pm friends were telling us of lots of trees blocking roads around Castlebar.
Someone who had been in town said they had nearly been hit with a flying roof tile.
At 5pm the wind was just a gale and abating.
By 6pm it had died down a lot so we went to town to survey the damage.
And what damage. All the main streets buildings had tiles missing.
All the pubs were by candlelight so there was a unique atmosphere.
Cars were nowhere to be seen. Just debris...of all sorts on the road.
Bins branches tiles even a couple of chimneys.

At 9pm I was drunk so thats all I can report on it.

It snowed heavily the next morning. Or was that the year after?

No, you're right. It snowed the next day. Was still living with the parents at the time (Murrisk, near Westport). Vicious storm on St Stephens Day afternoon. Power went off around 2ish, but surprisingly was back by around 8 or 9pm that night. Good layer of snow by next morning. Went up the country to visit friends in Dundalk a couple of days later and some places around there didn't get power back for up to a week.

stooge

Summertime8989 wrote: »

The highest gust ever recorded in Ireland is 124mph/199.5Kph/108Knots in Kilkeel County Down on the 12th January 1974. Anyone have any in sight in to that particular storm?

January 1974 was exceptional in terms of wind speed and numbers of storms. The 11th/12th was particularly stormy and is recored by MET.ie below:

http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/weather-events/Jan1974_Storm.pdf

FWVT

Going back to Debbie in 1961, for me it was not a hurricane when it hit Ireland. It had pretty much lost its tropical characteristics but its gradient winds were well below hurricane-strength too. Only its 58 kph forward speed adding to its gradient winds gave sustained winds near hurricane force (and only managed it at Malin Head, where the anemometer was located at 21 m above the ground, over twice the standard 10 m.

Here's the full analysis

https://irishweatheronline.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/blast-from-the-past-hurricane-debbie-1961/

Oneiric 3

A few snips of old newspaper reports concerning Debby from my own locality. As destructive as it was, I still would have loved to be around for it. The reports confirm what I have heard from older folks (inc my parents who were just kids at the time) who witnessed the storm that it hit very suddenly and without warning. This was no ordinary storm; there was no gradual build up and according to many of them, they could hear a loud, thunderous roaring in the distance before the storm hit.

Forecast issued on the day before (sept 15th 1961).. understatement of the century.





Headline from the 'Tuam Hearld' after the storm.




Snip from that report.




And from another report from the 'Connacht Sentinel'



Can't imagine anything on this scale happening in my lifetime, and if storms and severe weather events are getting more frequent and intense here in Ireland, as claimed by some, I have yet to see actual proof of this.