Dear Tom,
My friend in Austria told me about a terrible storm named Kyrill that did a lot of damage and killed many people. What kind of a storm was it?
Diane Howard, Round Lake Beach, Ill.
Dear Diane,
Kyrill, packing sustained winds to 100 m.p.h. and gusts to 140 m.p.h. was an intense extratropical (non-tropical) storm known as a European windstorm. Like hurricanes and typhoons, these storms are also named. Kyrill, which raked Europe last week, is being called the worst storm to hit Europe in nearly a decade. The storm developed near Newfoundland on Jan. 15 and raced across the Atlantic and northern Europe causing destruction from the U.K. to northern Russia. The storm was responsible for nearly 50 deaths and damage is estimated as high as $10 billion. The German forests were especially hard hit with the loss of 40 million trees. The storm’s heavy rain also produced widespread flash flooding.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
