Wikipedia

Cyclone Dagmar

Cyclone Dagmar[3] (also referred to as Cyclone Tapani in Finland[4]) and as Cyclone Patrick by the Free University of Berlin) was a powerful European windstorm which swept over Norway on Christmas Day 2011, causing severe damage in central coastal areas, before continuing over the Scandinavian peninsula towards the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. The storm caused $45 million (2011 USD) in damage.[5]

Cyclone Dagmar
Storm Dagmar over Scandinavia 26 December 2011
TypeEuropean windstorm, Extratropical cyclone
Formed24 December 2011
Dissipated27 December 2011
Fatalities2[1][2]
Damage$45 million (2011 USD)
Areas affectedNorway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Russia

Meteorological history

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Patrick formed as a small low just south of Newfoundland on 24 December.[6] The system raced across the north Atlantic, deepening rapidly to 956 mb (28.2 inHg) by Christmas Day.[7][8] Patricks extraordinary windspeed was due to it being a secondary low to the deep cyclone Oliver to the north and the powerful high Cora to the south, enhancing the southwesterly winds on the south side of the low.[9] On 26 December, Patrick made landfall in western Norway with a central pressure of 964 mb (28.5 inHg).[10][11] The storm continued to move eastwards at a rapid pace, however, as it was overland it had weakened significantly.[12] It hit Finland the same day, St. Stephen's Day (Tapani in Finnish), and got the Finnish name due to that day. It then moved out of the Free University of Berlin's tracking charts the next day.[13]

 
Damaged outbuilding in Norway

Impact

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Norway

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Damage in Molde, Norway

Patrick (Dagmar) arrived in Norway as a southwesterly storm, with windspeeds estimated to be on average 110 km/h (30 m/s; 67 mph) on the coast. Up to 160 km/h (44 m/s; 98 mph) 10 minute sustained winds was measured at Kråkenes Lighthouse, Sogn og Fjordane, before the anemometer broke. Powerful winds occurred in Sogn og Fjordane, Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag during the night of 24 December and early morning of 25 December. Extreme high storm surge in Finnmark estimated to be 50–80 cm (20–31 in) over normal sea levels, although this was due to the preceding storm Cato (Oliver). In Norway comparison was made with the New Year's Day Storm of 1992, however this storm was not as strong[14] Patrick (Dagmar) is believed to be the third strongest storm to hit Norway in 50 years.[15][16][17] A large landslide on 1 January 2012 close to the Norwegian city of Trondheim has been attributed to the warm weather and large amounts of rain the system brought to the area, which resulted in 50 people being evacuated.[18][19][dubious – discuss] The pier area of Trondheim was badly damaged during the storm, heavily damaging the façade of the Pirbadet water park.[20] A F2 tornado was reported in Hellesylt, Norway. The Tanker BW Thames was disabled and adrift northwest of Bergen as the storm approached, however the crew were able to regain power and survived the storm without incident.[21] The Russian trawler Krasnoselsk sank in Hundeidvika harbour, Sykkylven, Norway.[22][23] Dagmar knocked out 390 Telenor communication masts leaving 40,000 customers without mobile or landline telephone connections.[2] Royal Dutch Shell's Ormen Lange gas processing plant was inoperable after its electricity was cut off by the storm, which left gas supplies in the UK vulnerable as this facility can supply up to 20 percent of the UK's supply via the Langeled pipeline.[24]

Sweden

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Storm Dagmar mostly affected Southern Norrland and northern Svealand.[25] The Swedish transport authority suspended all train traffic north of Gävle at 20:00 on Christmas Day in preparation.[26] Many trees fell in the storm, bringing down power lines and blocking roads and railways. Approximately 170,000 households were left without power between Uppland and Västerbotten, some for several days. Train traffic came to a standstill in Norrland, however the principal north–south route of the country (European route E4) was quickly cleared.[25] Several weather stations in the Norrland interior experienced their strongest wind gusts in 15 years.[25] Winds of 41 metres per second (92 mph) were recorded on the pylons of the Höga Kusten Bridge.[27] 1.2 million Swedish Kronor of damage was caused in Ljusdal when sixteen rail wagons weighing 313 tonnes (345 short tons) were blown along the railway for 500 m (1,600 ft) until they derailed on a road intersection.[28] Some 40,000 homes were still without power around 14:00 on 27 December.[29]

Finland

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Patrick (Tapani) was dubbed the worst storm in Finland in 10 years.[30] Thousands of customers were left without electricity in Southern Finland.[31] The storm was a rare event in Finland and gave the warmest Christmas period in half a century.[32] An old man is reported to have died after being hit by a falling tree.[1][33]

Estonia

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Patrick left 100,000 homes without power in Estonia, and triggered 600 rescue operations. Eesti Energia reassigned its customer services personnel to answer emergency calls.[34] Patrick also brought record high temperatures to the country for December.[35][36] Flooding was reported in the streets of major cities.[1][37]

Russia

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The Saint Petersburg Dam gates were closed to protect the city, preventing 15 ships from entering the port.[1] The storm tore metal sheeting from roofs and many trees were brought down.[38] Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant was also affected, as algae and mud stirred up by the storm were sucked into the cooling system, resulting in one of the generators being shut down.[39][40]

Aftermath

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Deutsche Bank estimated that the price of wood could fall by up to 15%.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Cyclone Patrick hits St. Petersburg". ruvr.ru. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Patient died in Norway storm". theforeigner.no. Archived from the original on 31 January 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Norske ekstremvær får navn" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. ^ "På annandag jul drar årets värsta storm över landet" (in Swedish). hbl.fi. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Claims from Windstorm Dagmar in Scandinavia to break $46m". Insurance Insight. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  6. ^ "December 24, 2011 surface analysis". Meteorological Institute. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  7. ^ "December 25, 2011 surface analysis". Meteorological Institute. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  8. ^ "December 25, 2011 surface analysis". Met Office. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  9. ^ "Image". wetterzentrale.de.
  10. ^ "December 26, 2011 surface analysis". Meteorological Institute. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  11. ^ "December 26, 2011 surface analysis". Met Office. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  12. ^ "December 27, 2011 surface analysis". Meteorological Institute. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  13. ^ "December 28, 2011 surface analysis". Meteorological Institute. Free University of Berlin. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Sterk orkan- men kraftigare i 1992" (in Norwegian). 26 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Dagmar could be third worst Norwegian storm of last 50 years". insuranceinsider.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Record recent storms in Norway cut off several villages and left over 100,000 without electricity". theforeigner.no. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Norway storms isolate thousands". theforeigner.no. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Evacuees returning after massive landslide". thelocal.no. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  19. ^ "Residents on alert following Norway landslides". icelandpulse.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  20. ^ "Dagmars herjinger" (in Norwegian). Trondheim Havn. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  21. ^ "Product tanker BW Thames nearly fell a victim to raging Dagmar storm". Maritime Bulletin. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  22. ^ "Storm Dagmar sank Russian trawler". Maritime Bulletin. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  23. ^ "Krasnoselsk". shipwrecklog.com. 25 December 2011. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  24. ^ "UK gas supplies choppy after North Sea storm". Reuters. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  25. ^ a b c "December 2011 – Var händelserik med värme, åska och stormar" (in Swedish). SMHI. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  26. ^ "Christmas storm causes problems for thousands". Sveriges Radio. sr.se. 26 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  27. ^ "Stormen orsakar stora problem på många håll". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 26 December 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  28. ^ "Säkringen höll inte för Dagmar" (in Swedish). Ljusdals-Posten. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  29. ^ "Sweden struggles with wrath of storm Dagmar". thelocal.se. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  30. ^ "Värsta stormen på tio år" (in Swedish). HBL.fi. Retrieved 4 January 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  31. ^ "Stormen drar över Nyland" (in Swedish). HBL.fi. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  32. ^ "Storm on St Stephen's Day was rare". Finnish Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  33. ^ "Nordisk orkan koster liv i Finland" (in Danish). jp.dk. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  34. ^ "Storm puts Estonian emergency capacity on the brink". balticbusinessnews.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  35. ^ "Patrick Brings Record High Temperatures, Downed Power Lines". err.ee. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  36. ^ "December 27 Temperature Exceeds Record by Half". err.ee. 27 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  37. ^ "Eesti Energia: storm in December caused more damages than last year's Monika". baltic-course.com. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  38. ^ "Elements go wild in St. Petersburg". ruvr.ru. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  39. ^ "Myrsky sulki generaattorin venäläisvoimalassa" (in Finnish). yle.fi. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  40. ^ "Generator stängd vid Sosnovij Bor" (in Swedish). hbl.fi. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  41. ^ "Stormen Dagmar guld för skogsbolag" (in Swedish). affarsvarlden.se. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
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