Remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo Bring Rain, Wind to Europe

October 21, 2014

The remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo battered Ireland and the United Kingdom with locally damaging winds and downpours on Monday night and Tuesday.

Widespread wind gusts of 65 to 90 kph (40 to 55 mph) were reported across Ireland and the United Kingdom. Some of the hardest hit areas include the Channel Islands, Dublin, Tiree, Stornoway and Liverpool.

According to BBC News a wind gust of 159 kph (99 mph) was reported on the Isle of Wight. Wind gusts peaked at 93 kph (58 mph) in Tiree and 87 kph (54 mph) in Liverpool.

At least four people have been killed during the storm, due to falling trees on homes and automobiles.

During the height of the storm, around 600,000 homes were without power, many of which remained without power into Tuesday afternoon.

Rail service was severely impacted across the region due to the combination of high winds and more than 100 trees fallen across tracks.

The low pressure system has now moved into the North Sea and will dive southward across central and southeast Europe over the next few days. The impacts will shift more to flooding downpours with localized damaging winds from Switzerland and Austria southeastward across the Balkan Peninsula.

Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night, as the old circulation from Gonzalo dives to the south into central Europe, wind gusts will increase across France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Locally damaging wind gusts in excess of 65 kph (40 mph) are expected in these areas threatening Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; and Frankfurt, Germany; with power outages.

Moisture from Gonzalo will not only bring rain but will also bring the first significant snowfall of the season to the high elevations in the Alps. Strong wind will likely lead to blizzard conditions above 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) from Switzerland into western Austria. This will cause travel delays across some of the passes Tuesday night and into Wednesday.

By Wednesday, despite weakening, gusty wind and rain will dive farther south into areas from Slovakia and northern Italy to Serbia and Montenegro. The biggest threat will be localized flooding as some areas can see in excess of 75 mm (3 inches) of rain through Thursday.

Wind gusts are expected to reach 65 kph (40 mph) in these areas which should not cause significant damage but may result in some localized power outages. However, the gusty wind along with rain and a drop in temperatures will make for an unpleasant day for many.

Source: AccuWeather

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Europe Hurricane

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