Hailstorm from Reutlingen
The hailstorm in Reutlingen was a severe weather event in Baden-Württemberg , especially Reutlingen , and Bavaria on July 28, 2013. With a total damage of 3.6 billion euros, the storm caused the largest hail damage in Germany to date and 2.8 billion euros. Euro insured damages the largest damage to date from a single event in Germany for the insurance industry . It moved from the Black Forest along the densely populated Albtrauf over the Ostalb into the Nördlinger Ries and weakened more and more over the course of Bavaria.
Initial condition and emergence
In the third decade of July 2013, large parts of Central Europe experienced a heat wave. In many places, the weather stations in Germany recorded temperatures of up to 38 ° C. Even on the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas, there were daily maximum temperatures of up to 32 ° C. Responsible for these temperatures was a high trough lying above the East Atlantic, which brought the hot , humid air directly from the Mediterranean to Germany. Because of this massive warm air advection to Central Europe, the temperature in Germany could reach such heights. In front of the trough, so-called short-wave troughs came into Germany from France in the course of the third and fourth week of July. These disturbances repeatedly induced the formation of high cumulus clouds in Central Europe, which could develop into large thunderstorm complexes in the humid, hot air. Severe thunderstorms occurred in France on July 25, 2013. On July 26 and 27, 2013, further violent storms formed over Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. In Pforzheim, for example, there was a hail of 4 cm, in Lower Saxony, especially in the metropolitan region of Hanover, there was hail with hailstones up to 10 cm in diameter. The peak of the heat wave was expected to be reached on July 28, 2013, when the corresponding low Andreas advanced further towards Germany. On the front side of the associated cold front, a convergence developed over Baden-Württemberg , which represented the outcome of the weather event that was to cause the highest insured losses of all hailstorms in the history of Germany and of all natural disasters worldwide in 2013.
Course of the hailstorm
In the course of July 28, 2013, the inactive convergence until around 3 p.m. lay across Baden-Württemberg. Due to the daily heating of the air mass, thunderstorms were triggered over the southern Black Forest at around 3:30 p.m. Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the thunderstorms quickly developed into large and well-organized hailstorms, which moved northeast due to the prevailing south-westerly high-altitude currents. In the course of the further development process, two of the thunderstorms formed into so-called super cells . Cities along the Swabian Alb further towards Bavaria were on their track. The two cells migrated in parallel at a distance of about 50 kilometers across Baden-Württemberg. While the northern of the two thunderstorm cells only caused local hail damage in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, the southern and stronger cell moved along the Swabian Alb and caused hailstorms with dimensions that were not previously documented. The districts of Zollernalb , Tübingen , Reutlingen , Esslingen and Göppingen as well as the Ostalb district were particularly badly hit . Heavy hailstones with hailstones up to 8 cm in size occurred in a lane up to 15 km wide. Reutlingen in particular was hit extremely hard. The fire brigade control center in Reutlingen registered 10,900 emergency calls in the first two days after the storm. Fire brigades, THW and other aid organization associations from all over Baden-Württemberg were brought together to cope with the many deployment sites. At times, up to 120 emergency vehicles and over 800 emergency services were deployed in Reutlingen and the surrounding area.
After reaching the Bavarian border, the thunderstorms weakened, but still caused flooding and hail damage , especially in the northern district of Bavarian Swabia . 13 hours after the first thunderstorm began, the structures on the radar images were lost.
Consequences of the storm
damage
Hailstones up to the size of tennis balls damaged or destroyed vehicles, facades, photovoltaic and solar systems, skylights and roof tiles. Traffic lights and power lines were also affected. Fallen trees and flooded underpasses prevented rescue workers and clearing vehicles from getting on. Hail and fallen leaves clogged the drains on traffic routes and drainage systems, which often led to flooding. As a result of the leaking roofs, smashed windows and facades, rain entered unhindered, which led to such consequential damage, especially in apartments and houses, that they were no longer habitable. Even seven months after the storm, there was no end to the damage reports in sight. Numerous birds also fell victim to the hail.
Personal injury
Several hundred people were injured by the storm. The central emergency room in Reutlingen reported 75 injured people alone. The Eichert Clinic in Göppingen registered 60 injured people. No deaths are known to be directly related to the storm.
Web links
- Munich re press release
- Synoptic summary from Skywarn Germany
- Super cell with large hail in the Swabian Alb - Documentation of the formation of the storm with many photos of the super cells and hail damage
Individual evidence
- ↑ Damage events 1970-2013 , accessed on March 16, 2014
- ↑ www.munichre.com
- ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung: Severe weather in the Reutlingen district After ten minutes of hail nothing was like before. Retrieved March 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Der Tagesspiegel: After a hailstorm in Baden-Württemberg, thousands of birds died in Reutlingen and Tübingen. Retrieved on March 16, 2014 .
- ^ NWZ - Neue Württembergische Zeitung: 60 injured and major damage after hailstorm. Retrieved March 29, 2014 .