A Mini Case-Study of Cyclone Lothar

Last post I looked at the science of extra-tropical cyclones, today I will explore the damages that these cyclones can cause through a mini case-study of Cyclone Lothar. 

Cyclone Lothar was one of three extreme storms over Europe in December 1999. In total they claimed more than 130 lives and caused about 13 billion euros worth of total economic losses. Lothar was the second storm event which caused a trail of destruction from north-western France to Southern Germany and Switzerland. The largest damages occurred around Paris' well-known tourist sites with gusts reaching wind speeds of almost 50 ms. Damages to forests, buildings and infrastructure was widespread. In France public life was severely disrupted due to power outages, infrastructural damage caused substantial economic losses and over 10,000 trees were uprooted within hours. The photo below was taken in the area following the storm and hints at the extent of damage caused by countless uprooted trees:

In Switzerland, more than 12 million cubic metres of timber were damaged, approximately 3% of the growing stock of the whole country: that's the equivalent of an entire years supply of wood at Ikea's current usage (they account for 1% of all wood used commercially around the world). The economic costs were sky high, amounting to 1.4 billion euros. Transport facilities, cable cars, telecommunication services and the Swiss electricity network were also heavily affected. In terms of human costs, 14 people were killed during the event, mostly from falling trees or bricks and a further 15 people died during clearance work in the forests. 

Here are a few bullet points to help summarise the key points mentioned above:

• formed on Christmas Day of 1999 
• affected Western Europe 
• highest gust recorded 161 mph 
• 110 fatalities

Make sure you check out this video taken from an apartment block on the coast of Vevey (Switzerland) for footage of the storm in action! For those kill joys who didn't click the link, I'm giving you a second chance. Ready, steady - GO!

Can the occurrence of these storms be taken as fuel for discussions on anthropogenic climate change? How does this compare to St Jude only a few days ago? As the worlds population moves into cities along its coasts are we making ourselves more vulnerable? 'Self-regulating machine'? Is it starting to make sense yet? No? Stay with me. Hold that thought, I will come back to it. Later.