Tornado on Whit Monday

Former Grossenhain paper mill with the chimney that collapsed in the tornado (height before collapse 96 meters)

Destruction of the Niedermühle in the Seifersdorfer Valley

Tornado on Whit Monday is the unofficial name for a severe weather event on May 24, 2010 in Brandenburg and Saxony in the region north of Dresden . However, it was not a single tornado , but a series of tornadoes, accompanied by several downbursts (thunderstorm gusts). The event was related to severe thunderstorms on the afternoon of Whit Monday 2010. The investigations into the case are not fully completed, but it is now clear that there were several tornadoes.

The track of the storm was about 80 to 100 km long, coming from the northwest. Because of the long trail of damage, a record was initially assumed; one suspected the longest swath of a single tornado in Germany so far. The event occurred between approximately 3:00 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. The strength was F2, possibly also F3 on the Fujita scale . The wind speeds were accordingly up to about 300 km / h. Locally, the event only lasted about 15 minutes.

In particular, it led to damage in Großenhain and other localities in the district of Meißen and the district of Elbe-Elster . There was one fatality, about 50 injured and significant property damage. About 3000 buildings were damaged. The damage amounted to more than 100 million euros.

Trace of damage

According to the state enterprise Sachsenforst , the forest districts Taura , Dresden and Neustadt with a forest area of 94,161 ha were affected. On a damaged area of 2,473 hectares, there was a damage amount of 158,000 solid harvested meters .

Around 300 houses were damaged in Mühlberg .

Grossenhain was particularly hard hit. The damage to the Großenhain monuments alone amounted to 10 million euros. Two thirds of the street lights were damaged. The 18 hectare Kupferberg forest park , the 40 hectare city park and the park in Walda were destroyed. The garden show park lost half of its tree population, the Großenhain cemetery 90% of its tree population. 85 hectares of the Kleinraschützer Heide were level with the ground. In the Großhain district of Kleinthiemig , 80% of the houses were covered. A child died after a falling tree fell on the vehicle it was in in Grossenhain.

The tornado also caused severe damage in the Radeberg region , especially in the Seifersdorfer Tal , the Landwehr , Friedrichstal and Hüttertal . The suburban settlement Am Taubenberg and the adjacent forest area in the direction of Wallroda , especially on Schafberg and Hutberg, were also affected . Numerous trees fell victim to the storm and the area was inaccessible for weeks.