The extraordinary windstorm of 7 December 1868 in the Czech Lands and its central European context

0477309 - ÚVGZ 2018 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Brázdil, Rudolf - Szabó, Péter - Stucki, P. - Dobrovolný, Petr - Řezníčková, Ladislava - Kotyza, O. - Valášek, H. - Melo, M. - Suchánková, Silvie - Dolák, Lukáš - Chromá, Kateřina
The extraordinary windstorm of 7 December 1868 in the Czech Lands and its central European context.
International Journal of Climatology. Roč. 37, S1 (2017), s. 14-29. ISSN 0899-8418. E-ISSN 1097-0088
Grant CEP: GA MŠMT(CZ) LO1415; GA ČR(CZ) GA13-19831S; GA ČR(CZ) GA15-11805S
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67179843 ; RVO:67985939
Klíčová slova: windstorm of 7 December 1868 * documentary data * Twentieth Century Reanalysis * meteorological situation * damage * forestry * Czech Lands * Central Europe
Obor OECD: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences; Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7) (BU-J)
Impakt faktor: 3.100, rok: 2017

An extreme windstorm that took place on 7 December 1868 in the Czech Lands is analysed by means of rich documentary evidence from narrative sources, damage records, forestry journals and newspapers. Early meteorological measurements and a numerical atmospheric reanalysis support the documentary reconstruction. The windstorm reached hurricane-force over the Czech Lands between 0900 and 1600 of local mean time and was related to the passage of a cold front. The high winds, achieving hurricane-force, led to loss of human lives and many other casualties, as well as to severe damage to buildings and other structures. In particular, the documentary sources facilitate a quantitative reconstruction of the massive windthrow that occurred in forested areas across the Czech Lands, where the windstorm damaged at least 8 million cubic metres of timber, which is arguably more than has been lost to any single similar event since. Reasons for the extreme windthrow, apart from wind forces and destabilization arising from wet and thawed soils, were found in increased vulnerability arising out of old, dense and mono-species conifer stands and inadequate clear-cutting and thinning measures. For the Czech Lands, this event was the most damaging windstorm in the 19th century. Moreover, damage reports are found from the British Isles, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to Austria, the Czech Lands and Poland, documenting its disastrous effects on a (sub-)continental scale.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0273688