Cyclone Egon
{{Short description|2017 European windstorm}}
{{Infobox storm
| event = Cyclone Egon
| image = Storm Egon 13 Jan 2017.png
| caption = Cyclone Egon on January 13
| type = European windstorm, Extratropical cyclone, Winter storm
| formed = January 12, 2017
| dissipated = January 13, 2017
| 1-min winds = 86
| gusts =
| damages = €275 million
| fatalities = 3 total
| areas affected = France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria.
| season =
}}
Cyclone Egon was a European windstorm that affected the north of France, Belgium and Germany during the night of Thursday 12 to Friday 13 January 2017. It caused three deaths, widespread power outages, and wind damage and significant snowfall, primarily France and Germany, but also in the Benelux states, Austria and Switzerland.{{cite news|title=Europe's Windstorm Egon to Cost Insurers an Estimated US$223.3M: PERILS|url=http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2017/02/23/442629.htm|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=Insurance Journal|date=23 February 2017}}
The storm was the first to exceed the reporting threshold of €200 million with Perils.org since Cyclone Niklas in March 2015. The total insured damages were estimated at €275m (final loss report).{{cite news|title=Perils: Egon losses finalised at EUR275mn|url=http://www.trading-risk.com/perils-egon-losses-finalised-at-eur275mn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202130601/http://www.trading-risk.com/perils-egon-losses-finalised-at-eur275mn|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 2, 2018|access-date=1 February 2018|work=www.trading-risk.com}}
Meteorological history
On 12 January Egon developed unexpectedly from the trailing cold front of the low Dieter centred over Scandinavia.{{cite news|title=Thema des Tages - Archiv - EGON der Schnellläufer|url=http://www.dwd.de/DE/wetter/thema_des_tages/2017/1/14.html|work=www.dwd.de|publisher=Deutscher Wetterdienst|date=14 January 2017|language=de}}{{cite web|last1=Fischer|first1=Jannick|title=Tiefdruckgebiet EGON|url=http://www.met.fu-berlin.de/wetterpate/Lebensgeschichten/Tief_EGON_11_01_17.htm|website=www.met.fu-berlin.de|access-date=12 November 2017|language=de|date=15 February 2017}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Egon formed to the southwest of Ireland reaching western France by noon that day. Egon formed “rather unexpectedly" as a secondary low on a cold front of Windstorm Dieter, before the depression began to deepen quite quickly as it headed for northern France. The development of Egon coincided with a drop in the height of the tropopause especially between Brittany, Belgium and northeastern Germany. In more than 12 hours, the central pressure of the low pressure dropped to 980 hPa in France on 12 January.{{cite web|title=Bilan : tempête Egon des 12-13 janvier|url=http://www.meteofrance.fr/actualites/44935738-bilan-tempete-egon-des-12-13-janvier|website=www.meteofrance.fr|publisher=Météo-France|access-date=2 March 2017|language=fr-FR}} Satellite water vapour imagery of the low was described as being suggestive of a Sting jet.{{cite tweet |user=KeraunosObs |number=819617777354948608 |date=12 January 2017 |title=L'image vapeur d'eau pourrait suggérer le développement d'un sting jet (courant-jet d'occlusion), d'où ces violentes rafales #tempête #Egon |language=French}}
Impact
The highest gust reported in France was in Dieppe which reported {{cvt|146|km/h|mph}}, a value not seen there since the Great storm of 1987.{{cite news|title=Violent winter storm lashes northern France - France 24|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20170113-violent-winter-storm-lashes-northern-france-egon|access-date=12 November 2017|work=France 24|date=13 January 2017}}
In Caen a gust of {{cvt|131|km/h|mph}} was reported, the strongest since the passage of Lothar in 1999.{{cite news|title=Forte tempête (Egon) du nord de la France à l'Allemagne les 12 et 13 janvier|url=http://www.keraunos.org/actualites/fil-infos/2017/janvier/tempete-vents-violents-12-13-janvier-depression-egon-orages-gresil-neige-nord-ile-de-france-manche-bretagne-lorraine|access-date=2 March 2017|work=www.keraunos.org|publisher=Keraunos|date=14 January 2017}} Despite locally strong gusts, Egon was not considered by Météo-France to be one of the strongest historical storms to hit France as a whole, describing it as not comparable to the storm Lothar of 1999.
Egon was accompanied by heavy rain and snow in places, with the regions of Normandy and Picardy particularly affected, where Egon caused power outages for over 330,000 households concentrated in these regions.{{cite news|title=Storm 'Egon' brings chaotic winter weather to Europe|url=http://www.dw.com/en/storm-egon-brings-chaotic-winter-weather-to-europe/a-37120809|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=13 January 2017|language=en}}
Strong winds from Egon pushed in a significant portion of the west rose window of Soissons Cathedral to the northeast of Paris.{{cite news|title=Tempête. La cathédrale de Soissons très endommagée par le vent|url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/meteo/tempete/tempete-la-cathedrale-de-soissons-tres-endommagee-par-le-vent-4732770|access-date=12 November 2017|work=Ouest-France.fr|date=13 January 2017|language=fr-FR}} Debris from the window landed on the organ causing severe damage.
A unit of the Paluel Nuclear Power Plant, near Dieppe shut down automatically following the malfunction of a 400,000 volt transmission cable.{{cite news|title=Tempête : arrêt d'un réacteur à la centrale nucléaire de Paluel|url=http://www.paris-normandie.fr/breves/normandie/tempete--arret-d-un-reacteur-a-la-centrale-nucleaire-de-paluel-YA8046526|access-date=12 November 2017|work=www.paris-normandie.fr|language=fr-FR}}{{cite news|title=Intempéries : encore 35 000 foyers sans électricité|url=http://www.leparisien.fr/environnement/nature/tempete-11-departements-en-vigilance-neige-et-verglas-fin-de-l-alerte-au-vent-13-01-2017-6562431.php|access-date=12 November 2017|work=leparisien.fr|date=13 January 2017|language=fr}}
Severe gusts and heavy snowfall caused considerable damage and disruption in northern France and central Germany. Some of the greatest damage was incurred to forestry.{{cite news|title=Global Catastrophe Recap January 2017|url=http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Documents/20170208-ab-analytics-if-january-global-recap.pdf|access-date=8 March 2017|publisher=Aon Benfield|date=8 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219091856/http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Documents/20170208-ab-analytics-if-january-global-recap.pdf|url-status=dead}}
In Germany, hurricane-force winds blew on the Saar and Rhineland-Palatinate, uprooting trees and causing power outages. Heavy snowfall covered much of the country and closed the roads, while the German Meteorological Service (DWD) indicated that some areas had received up to {{cvt|30|cm|in}} in a few hours, causing accidents. The airports of Frankfurt, Leipzig and Dresden cancelled their flights. A driver died in an accident, probably because of slippery roads, in Schleswig-Holstein. Another driver was also killed in an accident in Hesse.
On 13 January in Kaiserslautern the winds of Egon brought down the scaffolding surrounding a high-rise. Hurricane-force gusts from the low Egon swept through the Saarland on 13 January up to {{cvt|126|km/h|mph}}.{{cite news|title=Wetter und Klima - Deutscher Wetterdienst - Archiv 2017 - Deutschlandwetter im Winter 2016 / 2017|url=http://www.dwd.de/DE/presse/pressemitteilungen/DE/2017/20170227_deutschlandwetter_winter.html?nn=618918|access-date=2 March 2017|work=www.dwd.de|language=de}}
References
{{Reflist|3}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Storm Egon (2017)}}
- [https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/elibrary/2017/17293-windstorm-egon-example-rapid-cyclogenesis.pdf The Windstorm „EGON“ – an example for a rapid cyclogenesis] Thomas Schumann DWD
{{European windstorms}}