Hurricane Xavier

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Hurricane Xavier
NOAA ground pressure map on December 5th, 12 noon UTC
NOAA ground pressure map on December 5th, 12 noon UTC
Winter storm hurricane
Storm surge up to 4 severe storm surges
Data
Beginning 4th December 2013
The End December 10, 2013
Top gust 229 km / h ( Aonach Mòr , Scotland)
consequences
affected areas Ireland , United Kingdom , Netherlands , Northern Germany , Denmark , Norway , Sweden , Poland , Austria
Victim 13

Xaver , in Denmark Bodil and in Sweden Sven , also in the media Nikolaus-Hurricane , was a hurricane that hit northern Europe in early December 2013.

The storm left severe damage in Scotland on Thursday 5 December 2013, then struck the North Sea coast and eventually crossed the Baltic Sea . It brought wind speeds in hurricane strength with severe storm surges on the coasts and heavy snowfall, also inland.

meteorology

Storm name

Weather maps for Hurricane Xaver, Dec 5th 00:00 UTC - Dec 9th 12:00 UTC

The names for the Atlantic low and high pressure areas that influence the weather in Central Europe are given by the Meteorological Institute of the Free University of Berlin . These names are used by the media in Germany and some neighboring countries, for example in Poland the storm was designated with the Polish form of the name Xaver, Ksawery . In Sweden storm systems are named after the name day of the date of their arrival in Sweden, alternately male and female, so that this hurricane from the Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut  (SMHI) was named Sven . The Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut  (DMI) gave this hurricane a name for the first time, namely Bodil . Due to the date 5./6. December Nikolaus-Hurricane , also about Dutch Sinterklaasstorm , used.

It was the second time that a low pressure area called Xaver developed into a hurricane, but in 2011 the train track was further north, so that although the storm caused damage as hurricane Berit in Scandinavia, it received no attention in the German-language media.

course

Trajectory of the hurricane front based on lightning discharges in the Netherlands

The Atlantic Deep Xaver was formed in the open sea south of Greenland . Storms wreaked havoc in the UK on Thursday 5th December. On the afternoon of December 5, 2013, the hurricane reached the German, Dutch and also Danish North Sea coast. That day and the next, three severe storm surges hit the coasts of the mainland.

The water highs were registered on the night of Friday, December 6th, after the deep core migrated across the Baltic Sea and the north- westerly wind on the back had moved large amounts of water into the German Bight . Most of the water levels were between three and four meters above mean flood (MHW). Several Halligen reported land . In Hamburg, the second-highest water levels since records were recorded from 1825 (see also February flood 1825 ), a higher level was only observed during the Capella hurricane of 1976. In some places the hurricane gusts reached wind speeds of up to 160 km / h, the peak value was recorded at 174 km / h on Sylt . For the German Baltic coast , especially for the Flensburg Fjord and the sluice mouth , low water occurred on December 5, 2013 in the evening due to the strong offshore wind and due to the bathtub effect, a delayed storm flood on the southern Baltic coast on December 6 in the evening with over 140 cm Normal height zero .

On the evening of December 6, 2013, the center of the storm was over the Baltic States ; on Saturday, December 7, it was already over Russia . There it lost its strength and wandered as a weak low towards the Urals.

In the interior of the country there were wind speeds of up to 150 km / h on the low mountain ranges, with half a meter of fresh snow. The Alps were only touched by the low, there was also up to half a meter of snow over the course of the weekend at high altitudes:

On December 10th, the low pressure area dissolved.

analysis

At times there was extremely low water on the German Baltic Sea coast. Here: Eckernförde

In the run-up, comparisons were made with previous storm surges, in particular with the storm surge from the night of February 16 to 17, 1962 (Hamburg flood) , in which 340 people drowned, as well as the flood of 3/4. January 1976 (Capella storm) , which is still the highest storm surge at almost all gauges on the German North Sea coast. The weather patterns of 1962 and 2013 were particularly similar with regard to the course of the border between a pronounced high pressure area in the south and the storm low in the north, which runs from the British Isles across northern Germany.

According to data from the European Energy Exchange and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems , Xaver drove Germany's wind power production to a new peak of 26.3 gigawatts on December 5, 2013  . On December 6, 2013, a total of 563  GWh of electrical energy was generated from wind energy, i.e. an average output of around 23.5 GW.

At the same time there was a cold spell in North America, a situation that was repeated at Christmas with hurricane Dirk and the Toronto ice storm and in the first week of January with the Hercules (polar vortex) cold wave (without a storm in Europe).

Forecasts and preparations

Hamburg-HafenCity on the morning of December 6th

Already on December 1, 2013, warnings were given of an arctic storm that would bring snow to parts of Great Britain. For the area of ​​the North Sea, a warning was given of a severe storm surge due to the strong onshore wind and the spring tides following the new moon on December 3, 2013 due to the spring delay a few days later .

The east coast of England and Scotland was prepared for the highest tide in 30 years (it was then 50 years old). In the Netherlands , the closing structures of the Delta Works and in the United Kingdom the Thames Barrier were closed. As a precaution, districts at risk of flooding in Bremen were evacuated. Police cordoned off areas in the port of Hamburg.

The German railway advised for the period from December 5, 2013 in the afternoon on rail travel in the north. The railway expected hindrances from wind breaks and also from widespread heavy snowfall into the flatlands. As a precaution, it was also announced that ferry traffic to the German North Sea islands, including Sylt , Juist , Norderney and Wangerooge , would cease on December 5, 2013. Warnings were also given about the closure of the Rader high bridge on the federal motorway 7 and the Fehmarnsund bridge on the federal road 207 from a certain wind force. At Hamburg airport , much of the flight has been canceled as of noon. In Skåne , Sweden , all train journeys were suspended from December 6th in the morning and the ferries to Bornholm were shut down. Motorists had to expect the Øresund Bridge to be closed .

On the entire North Sea coast and on the German Baltic Sea coast, school lessons were canceled as a precaution on December 5, and in some cases towards the east on December 6, 2013. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, emergency care was ensured by the teachers present; the parents of the pupils should decide, taking into account the situation, whether they should send their children to school.

Effects

country dead
United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 2
DenmarkDenmark Denmark 1
SwedenSweden Sweden 4th
PolandPoland Poland 5
AustriaAustria Austria 1
GermanyGermany Germany 1 (?)

Total damage

Overall, the hurricane claimed at least 13, and probably even 14, deaths in Europe.

In the estimate by AIR Worldwide, the insured property damage throughout Europe add up to 0.7 to 1.4 billion euros.

British Islands

Coastal damage at Hemsby , Norfolk

On December 5, 2013, the UK suffered the strongest storm surge since the 1953 flood disaster . 20,000 people in Scotland and 6,500 people in Ireland were without electricity. ScotRail completely stopped train service after debris fell on some of the tracks.

A man was killed by a tree in the English county of Nottinghamshire . In Scotland , a truck driver was killed when his vehicle overturned.

Germany

Flooding of the Große Elbstraße in Hamburg-Altona
Effects in the Handewitter Forest
(April 2014)

In Germany, the damage was less devastating than previously feared. This was attributed in particular to the precise weather forecasts and the significantly improved coastal protection in recent decades . Aon Benfield provisionally put the insured property damage in Germany at 100–200 million euros.

While the dykes on the mainland withstood the water masses, all East Frisian islands recorded medium to severe dune breaks. Juist was hit hardest . The Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Protection and Nature Conservation  (NLWKN) explained that the natural dunes were washed away over a width of 25 meters in front of the Hammersee in the western part of the island. There was also considerable dune damage on Langeoog , Spiekeroog and Wangerooge . In addition, there was the necessary disposal of huge amounts of tea (plant debris) along the entire coast .

The North Frisian Islands also reported significant land losses, especially Sylt , Föhr and Amrum . Most of the Halligen were flooded. A dike broke in Keitum on Sylt. At the Sylt beach, the dune landscape was damaged over a length of 23 kilometers, on the Hörnumer Odde at the southern tip around 20 meters were lost in parts. On the dune , the side island of Heligoland, there was also massive sand erosion and water ingress.

It remained unclear whether the accident in an ambulance, in which an 82-year-old woman died in Plau am See , was caused by gusts of wind.

Denmark

In Denmark , a 72-year-old woman died near Holstebro after the wind pushed her car off the road.

Sweden

In Sweden , the search for two missing seamen who went overboard off the coast was unsuccessful. In addition, a woman froze to death and a man was killed by a tree.

Poland

In Poland , a car was hit by a falling tree near the village of Poraj in Pomerania . A total of 5 people were involved in an accident and a facade worker was killed when he was blown from a balcony. Another person died after a tree fell on a tour bus.

Austria

In Austria , a truck driver died near Maishofen in the province of Salzburg when a gust of wind pushed a coach onto the opposite lane and a frontal collision with the truck occurred. The bus driver was seriously injured.

Criticism of the reporting

The reporting in the run-up to and during the storm was often criticized and assessed as excessive. The professor at the Institute for Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Hamburg , Irene Neverla , stated that "not only in the crowd, but [...] also often sensationally" had been lost in the reporting. In general, "never [...] has so much been written and broadcast about extreme weather conditions" as with Hurricane Xaver. This was mainly influenced by a fundamentally “greater awareness of extreme weather events” in the course of the debate about climate change and especially by the storm Christian , which had raged over northern Germany just six weeks earlier . In fact, wind speeds of up to 200 km / h were sometimes predicted in the media and comparisons were made with the great storm surge of 1962 .

The German Meteorological Service stated that the warnings of the weather experts were "almost a direct hit" north of the Mittelland Canal and were therefore not excessive. But a warning was also justified further south in order to ensure that on-call services were provided in an emergency. The mayor of Cuxhaven , Ulrich Getsch , decided that the massive warnings had done their part in reducing property damage and personal injury.

See also

Web links

Commons : Orkan Xaver  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See section Effects
  2. ^ How the North Sea coast is preparing for the hurricane , SZ Online, December 4, 2013
  3. ↑ Nikolaus-Orkan brings winter to Germany , wetter.net, December 3, 2013
  4. ↑ see the article Sinterklaasstorm from 2013 . Dutch Wikipedia
  5. ↑ DWD weather map forecast for Wed December 4, 2013, 12:00 UTC , website of the Free University of Berlin, accessed on December 20, 2013
  6. ^ DWD weather map forecast for Thursday, December 5th, 2013, 12:00 UTC , FU Berlin, accessed on December 20th, 2013
  7. ↑ DWD weather map forecast for Fri 06.12.2013, 12:00 UTC , FU Berlin, accessed on December 20, 2013
  8. ↑ So swept hurricane "Xaver" over Germany , web.de, December 6, 2013
  9. ↑ Facts about the storm: Hamburg experienced the second-highest flood since records began , in Spiegel Online, December 6, 2013
  10. ^ Forecast for the German Baltic Sea coast , Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, accessed at the time of the event (no longer available, updated content).
  11. ↑ DWD weather map forecast for Sat 07.12.2013, 12:00 UTC , FU Berlin, accessed on December 20, 2013
  12. ↑ DWD weather map forecast for Tue December 10, 2013, 12:00 UTC , FU Berlin, accessed on December 20, 2013
  13. ↑ "Xavers" Snow brings tobogganers on the tracks ( Memento from December 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , NDR.de, December 7, 2013
  14. ↑ Fresh snow in Austria, hurricane in Northern Europe (and statistics on the topic of white Christmas) , ZAMG , News , December 4, 2013.
  15. ↑ Axel Bojanowski : Hurricane over Germany: “Xaver” is so dangerous , Spiegel Online. December 4, 2013. Retrieved on 2013-21-06. 
  16. ↑ Storm surge reaches Hamburg , Hamburger Abendblatt. December 6, 2013. 
  17. ↑ Oliver Schirg: Hamburg threatens storm surge like 1962 , Hamburger Abendblatt. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2013. 
  18. ↑ Electricity generation from solar and wind energy in 2013 . Fraunhofer ISE . Retrieved December 18, 2013 (pdf).
  19. ↑ Hurricane low "Xaver" brings new record - German wind turbines produce electricity with over 26,000 MW for the first time , iwr, December 6, 2013
  20. ↑ Actual production wind ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Website of the EEX electricity exchange. Retrieved December 7, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.transparency.eex.com
  21. ↑ → en: 2013 North American cold wave
  22. ↑ Severe Storm System & Arctic Blast Thursday 5th Onwards , Netweather.tv, forum, posted December 1, 2013
  23. ↑ Storm surge in the North Sea: Hurricane depth threatens large parts of Germany , Spiegel Online, December 3, 2013
  24. ↑ Onset of winter for St. Nicholas , Wetterspiegel, December 3, 2013
  25. ↑ Communities urged to prepare for worst east coast tidal surge in 30 years ( Memento of the original from December 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.environment-agency.gov.uk archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Environment Agency, December 4, 2013
  26. ↑ Deadly storm and tidal surge batter northern Europe , BBC News, December 6, 2013
  27. ↑ Bremen is preparing for the flood ( memento of the original from December 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.presseportal.de archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press portal, December 5, 2013
  28. ↑ Bahn expects failures in northern Germany , Spiegel Online. 4th December 2013. 
  29. ↑ Hamburg Airport cancels more than a hundred flights , Spiegel Online, December 5, 2013
  30. ↑ Dozens of schools in the north remain closed , Hamburger Abendblatt, December 4, 2013
  31. ↑ Will the Nikolaus hurricane plunge northern Germany into chaos? , Bild.de, December 4, 2013
  32. ↑ No school due to "Xaver" on Friday in the whole country ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mecklenburg-vorpommern.eu archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state portal, December 5, 2013
  33. ↑ a b Hurricane "Xaver" gains strength - dead in Great Britain , Reuters, December 6, 2013
  34. ↑ a b Hurricane “Xaver” sweeps across Northern Europe , Zurich Oberland, December 6, 2013
  35. ↑ a b Relief after hurricane "Xaver" , Passauer Neue Presse, December 7, 2013
  36. ↑ a b Poland takes stock after storm “Xaver” - five dead Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, December 7, 2013
  37. ↑ a b Hurricane "Xaver": Ten fatalities already , Kurier, December 6, 2013
  38. ↑ a b Hurricane "Xaver" over Germany: storm, snow and flying roofs , taz, December 6, 2013
  39. ↑ Eleven dead: "Xaver" leaves a trail of devastation , Focus. December 6, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013. 
  40. ↑ Extratropical Cyclone Xaver ( English ) In: Event Summary . AIR Worldwide. December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  41. ↑ Violent storms batter UK triggering emergency response . The Guardian, December 6, 2013
  42. ↑ Hurricane Xaver: Severe Destruction in Scotland , German Business News, December 5, 2013
  43. ↑ Balance of "Xaver": Triumph of the disaster tamers , Spiegel Online, December 6, 2013
  44. ↑ Hurricane 'Xaver' costs insurers in Germany up to 200 million euros , Focus. December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013. 
  45. ↑ 25 meters of dune demolition on Juist ( memento from December 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) , Weser Kurier, December 9, 2013
  46. ↑ Hurricane "Xaver": Dunes badly hit , Harlinger Anzeiger, December 10, 2013
  47. ↑ Dykes defy violent storm surge , Husumer Nachrichten, December 7, 2013
  48. ↑ Xaver “nibbled” Sylt massively , Sylter Rundschau, December 10, 2013
  49. ^ Damage to Helgoland's dune , Cuxhavener Nachrichten, December 6, 2013
  50. ↑ Śmiertelny wypadek w Poraju. 3 osoby zginęły ( Memento of the original dated December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / leborknews.pl archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , leborknews, December 6, 2013
  51. ^ "Xaver" was somehow different ( memento from April 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Norddeutscher Rundfunk , December 6, 2013, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  52. ↑ "Xaver" - above all a media storm? ( Memento from June 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Norddeutscher Rundfunk, December 8, 2013, accessed on January 11, 2015.
  53. ↑ Journalism professor : Media have partly exceeded Orkan t-online.de , December 6, 2013, accessed on January 11, 2015