The Unknown Tornadoes of Europe
Tornadoes, you probably think it’s a weather phenomenon only occurring in the US. But you’re wrong, tornadoes occur almost all over the world, from the US to Argentina to Europe to Bangladesh, even in New Zealand. The US and especially the area called ‘Tornado Alley’ has the most tornadoes of any region in the world. But it isn’t only Tornado Alley, Europe has his part too.
To understand tornadoes you will first need a little background in how a thunderstorm forms and works. There many types of thunderstorms, but the type that produces tornadoes is called a supercell. This type of storm forms when temperatures are high and there is a lot of moisture in the air, there is also another parameter that distinguishes a supercell from all the other storm types: wind shear.
Wind shear: a meteorologic parameter that takes difference in wind speed and direction on different levels of the atmosphere in to a count. How bigger these differences, how higher the wind shear. A high wind shear can provide a storm with a long lifespan and rotation.
A tornado can form in a supercell, but it isn’t guaranteed. In around 10% of supercells a tornado is formed, but this is higher in Tornado Alley than in other parts of the world. A tornado can form when a rotating supercell with mesocyclone (rotating part under the storm) funnels down to the ground. Large hail, high precipitation and wind gusts also belong to the effects of a supercell.
In Europe there are on average 600 tornadoes per year (with 60% of them waterspouts), in the US that are on average 1200 per year. There are thus only two times as many tornadoes in the US as in Europe (US and Europe are of a comparable size). But the strength of the tornadoes is another factor. In Europe most of the tornadoes are EF0, EF1 or EF2. While in the US there are multiple EF4 and EF5 each year, in Europe the last EF5 tornado was in 1967, in Palluel, France.
The Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale): the EF scale is a scale from 0 to 5, which ranks tornadoes on strength. The EF rating for a tornado is calculated on the basis of the damage done and the wind speeds measured (via weather stations or doppler radars: radars for measuring wind speeds).
EF0: 105–137 km/h (65–85 mph) ___ Minor damage. Peels surface off some roofs; some damage to gutters or siding; branches broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF1: 138–177 km/h (86–110 mph) ___Moderate damage. Roofs severely stripped; mobile homes overturned or badly damaged; loss of exterior doors; windows and other glass broken.
EF2: 178–217 km/h (111–135 mph) ___Considerable damage. Roofs torn off from well-constructed houses; foundations of frame homes shifted; mobile homes completely destroyed; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated; cars lifted off ground.
EF3: 218–266 km/h (136–165 mph) ___Severe damage. Entire stories of well-constructed houses destroyed; severe damage to large buildings such as shopping malls; trains overturned; trees debarked; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown; structures with weak foundations are badly damaged.
EF4: 267–322 km/h (166–200 mph) ___Devastating damage. Well-constructed and whole frame houses completely leveled; some frame homes may be swept away; cars and other large objects thrown and small missiles generated.
EF5: >322 km/h (>200 mph) ___Incredible damage. Well-built frame houses destroyed with foundations swept clean of debris; steel-reinforced concrete structures are critically damaged; tall buildings collapse or have severe structural deformations; cars, trucks, and trains can be thrown approximately 1.6 km(1 mile).
Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Fujita_scale)
Almost everywhere in Europe tornadoes are possible, except Iceland, North Scandinavia, Central Spain, The Alps, The Balkan and Central Turkey, where tornadoes are very rare. Tornadoes are the most reported in West and Central Europe: France, Benelux and Germany hev clearly seen the most. This can be due to the population density that is much bigger in these areas than in the east of Europe (Poland, Russia), and more of the tornadoes are seen and reported.
In the winter and fall, tornadoes/waterspouts are the most likely in the area around the
Mediterranean Sea, because of the contrast between the warm water of the sea and the colder air above the land. This is why in countries like Italy there are a lot of dots on the coastline (see the map above), often these tornadoes are formed above the sea, then they’re called waterspouts.
In the summer the tornado potential shifts northwards, here the rising temperatures and the influence of low pressure areas provide the heat, humidity and wind shear needed for supercells. The storms can travel great distances across the mostly flat plains of Western Europe. This area is sometimes called the ‘Tornado Alley of Europe’.
Some tornadoes and tornado outbreaks in the 21st century:
7 July 2001: The EF3 Concorezzo tornado hit the town of Concorezzo and Arcore in Italy. Resulting in 92 injuries, 2 other tornadoes were seen in north Italy that day.
28 July 2005: In the English city of Birmingham an EF2 tornado hit homes in the center of the city, which left 39 injured.
3 August 2008: Tornado in Hautmont, France. Rated as a EF4 and damaged several villages. The tornado resulted in 4 fatalities and 13 injuries.
18–19 August 2013: A tornado outbreak with multiple EF0 tornadoes in Belgium and an EF2 tornado in Germany, which hit a campsite and injured 27.
5 May 2015: The North Germany tornado outbreak saw 7 tornadoes, one of them rated as EF3. The tornadoes ended up killing one and leaving 30 injured.
16 September 2015: A strong EF2 tornado in Sonnac, France, with a path of 70km(43.5 miles) destroyed some houses, nobody was hurt. On that same day 4 tornadoes struck Belgium and Luxembourg.
16 May 2018: A beautiful tornado nearby the town of Viersen in Germany. Injuring two people.
13 March 2019: An exceptionally early EF3 tornado hit the German town of Roetgen. There was major damage in the town, the tornado made a path of 15km.
9 August 2019: A tornado was seen in the Luxembourgian towns of Pétange and Bascharage. 19 people were injured. On the same day there was also a tornado seen in the center of Amsterdam.
In total in 2019 there were 792 tornadoes reported. On average the amount of tornadoes per year rises with 8. This can be due to that there are more tornadoes seen and reported, but climate change can also be a cause.
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