Cyclone Anatol

For the masculine given name, see Anatol (given name).
Infrared satellite image of Anatol over Northern Europe, 3 December 1999 at 1625 UTC

Anatol is the name given by the Free University of Berlin (the Danish TV2 channel named it "Adam"[1] also often referred to as århundredets orkan (storm of the century) or Decemberorkanen (December Storm) in Denmark, and commonly as Carolastormen or Orkan Carola (Storm Carol) in Sweden) to a powerful winter storm that hit Denmark, Southwest Sweden, and Northern Germany on 3 December 1999. The storm had sustained winds of 146 km/h and wind gusts of up to 184 km/h, equivalent to an intense category 1 hurricane, which is unusually strong for storms in northern Europe. The storm caused 20 fatalities;[2] in Denmark alone 7 died and more than 800 were injured.[3]

According to the Danish Meteorological Institute, the storm is estimated to have caused damage in Denmark of DKK 13 billion (c. US$2 billion).[3] In addition to wind damage, it caused major floods in coastal regions of the southeastern North Sea, reaching a high point of c. 5.5 m (18 ft) above normal sea level in southwestern Jutland, despite peaking during low tide. This is the second-highest ever recorded in the region (after the Burchardi flood of 1634) and had it peaked during high tide instead, it would likely have reached 6.5–7 m (21–23 ft), which by far would have been the highest ever recorded and near the top of the dikes protecting the town of Ribe.[4]

The storm is referred to as an "orkan" in Scandinavia and Germany, which is translated as hurricane in those languages. However unlike the English term hurricane that only refers to Tropical Cyclones in the Atlantic, the term "orkan", is used for any storm that reaches 12 on the Beaufort scale.[5] Cyclone Anatol was an European windstorm.

  1. ^ Cappelen, John. "Orkaner på vore breddegrader (hurricanes at our latitude)" (in Danish). Danish Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  2. ^ Tatge, Yörn. "Looking Back, Looking Forward: Anatol, Lothar and Martin Ten Years Later". Air-Worldwide. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Decemberorkanen 1999". Danish Meteorological Institute. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  4. ^ "De 5 største stormfloder i Vadehavet". Naturstyrelsen (Denmark's Ministry of Environment). Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Orkaner". Danish Meteorological Institute. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2023.