Storm warning

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Sign on Lake Constance explaining the storm warning signals

Storm warnings are issued by the meteorological and weather services both on the coasts of the sea and on larger inland waters and are distributed together with the authorities via the maritime and coastal radio or general radio . The lights indicate the danger levels using different intervals (40 and 90 per minute). Older types of lights were built as rotating beacons. New lights are shown as flashing or. Flashlights running.

stages

A distinction is made between storm warning , with impending winds greater than 8 Beaufort ( storm , greater 62 km / h), and strong wind warning , with impending winds greater than 6 Beaufort ( strong wind , greater than 39 km / h).

In some regions, on the other hand, a distinction is made between storm advance warning , in which storm- like winds can occur in the foreseeable future, and storm warning , with an imminent storm-like wind.

The two warning levels in Switzerland are called caution messages at 40 intervals per minute and storm warnings at 90 intervals per minute .

distribution

Storm warnings are distributed through various media:

Marine radio

Storm reports may be sent before each sea weather report. They will be announced on the international distress frequencies : via shortwave below 2182 kHz and via ultra- shortwave on channel 16 or via DSC on channel 70, three minutes after every full and half hour. These times are reserved for warning and safety announcements and for emergency calls .

There are special telephone services for inland waters that transmit sea ​​weather reports via SMS to mobile phones.

Storm warning light

Flashing light on Lake Constance
Storm warning lights on Fraueninsel ( Chiemsee ): old version on the left, new version on the right

Orange flashing lights show the two levels of storm warning:

Flash frequency meaning Wind speed
40 flashes / minute Strong wind or storm warning > 6 Bft
90 flashes / minute Storm warning > 8 Bft

Storm warning lights are widespread on Swiss lakes, German lakes and Austrian lakes as well as the shared Lake Constance. The rule is that at least one lamp must always be visible from every location on the lake.

Flags, acoustic signal

Warnings can also be given acoustically or with warning flags at small lakes and bathing beaches .

There are also optical storm warnings on the coasts with internationally defined signals. Storm warning points are contained in the nautical chart , the nautical manual and the beacon list. However, these signals are slowly being suppressed by radio warnings.

Their scheme is:

yellow + green Strong wind
red + red Storm from west to north
red + yellow Storm from north to east
yellow + red Storm from east to south
yellow + yellow Storm from south to west

Responsibilities

The responsibilities are regulated very differently. Some authorities have a fixed process in which a person responsible usually decides on the issue of storm warnings after evaluating the weather data from the weather services. Often the police are responsible, in larger bodies of water the maritime police, sometimes the municipality or a sailing school , water rescue or a similar organization is responsible.

The meaning of the warning varies from region to region:

  • Commandment : Boats on the water must then immediately seek the vicinity of a protective bank.
  • Recommendation : Boats on the water should seek the vicinity of a protective bank as soon as possible.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Storm warning Switzerland leaflet of the SLRG
  2. Regulations for storm lights