Windstorm Jeanette

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Posting Date: November 8, 2002, 12:00:00 AM

A severe windstorm struck northwestern Europe from October 26 through October 27, 2002. Jeanette was the first severe winter storm of the 2002-2003 season. Winds gusting in excess of 130 kph and up to 160 kph (80 to 100 mph) lashed parts of England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria before moving to the northeast. The winter windstorm originated as a low-pressure front in the Atlantic. As the front moved into Europe, the pressure gradient was intensified by a high pressure system over France. At least 34 people are reported to have died as a result of the storm. England incurred some of the worst of the damage as winds of about 130 kph brought down trees and blew off roofs. Transport by air, rail, and sea was affected and many roads were closed as a result of debris and tree branches. Tens of thousands were left without electricity. A newly commissioned British naval warship sustained significant damage when it was rammed by a ferry in Portsmouth harbor. Damage was also sustained in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Austria. In Germany and Austria, winds hurled tractor-trailer rigs into roadside ditches. Hundreds of fallen trees closed roadways and railways nationwide. High winds caused the cancellation of flights throughout the region. Localized maximum gust extremes were reported in the United Kingdom as 165 kph on the Isle of Wight, 183 kph in Germany at Fichtelberg, and 143 kph in the Netherlands at Schiphol airport. AIR meteorologists have run our European windstorm model using AIR's numerical weather prediction (NWP) capabilities. Actual wind speed time series available from hundreds of weather stations across Europe have been used as model input. While the storm produced high gust wind speeds in localized areas, Jeanette was more typically characterized by lower wind speeds ranging roughly between 100 kph and 120 kph (roughly 60-75 mph). Total damage and loss, however, were driven up by the fact that the area affected by this storm was so large. While actual wind speed observations are now available for Jeanette, there still exists uncertainty with respect to these observations and the interpolation between them. As a result, AIR has posted five scenarios that reflect some perturbation of observed data. These scenarios are now posted and are available on the Scenarios page of this website. Please note that all loss estimates are denominated in Euros. Both CATMAP®/2 and CATRADER® clients can download event sets representing the entire range of simulations.

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Posting Date: November 8, 2002, 12:00:00 AM