Why so many storms in Luxembourg?
Flurries at the beginning of the month, Eunice on Friday and Franklin on Monday. Storms have followed one another in close succession in Luxembourg for several days. While some were waiting for snow, winter is rather marked by strong winds and rainy phenomena. The sign of a long-term change in the weather? No for Lucas Mathias, meteorologist at MeteoLux: “This type of event is normal. Storm season is from late fall through winter. In 1990, Luxembourg had experienced even stronger storms at the same time.
And if the gusts of the last few days are impressive, the intensity of the recent storms in Luxembourg remains quite relative. “Last night, winds of 91 km/h were recorded. This is not an extreme phenomenon. Of course it depends on the region. In England, the gusts reached 200 km/h…”.
“A lot of ingredients come into play”
Implicitly, the impact of climate change on the recurrence of these phenomena questioned. But on this point too, Lucas Mathias is cautious. “In the case of storms, many ingredients come into play. In reality, it is very difficult to measure the consequences of global warming. Will they be more or less efficient and vigorous? Will their structure evaluate? Difficult to draw conclusions.
For the specialist, the comparison with the floods which affected Luxembourg and the neighboring countries during the summer is irrelevant. Attributed to global warming, these extreme phenomena are linked “with thermodynamics and humidity”. Clearly, the rise in temperatures explains all or part of the heavy rains experienced at this time of year.
No clue for spring
So why so many storms in such a short time? “First of all, it is a question of remembering that storms are always of maritime origin. And the context is quite conducive to successions of storms for one or two weeks. Nothing unusual about it. This is even often the case in our regions. There have not been many in recent years, it is also a matter of chance.
The mild temperatures and the scarcity of snow days are, on the contrary, notable developments, adds the meteorologist. While waiting for the possible return of snow by the end of winter, Luxembourg is not done with wind and rain. A choppy “but no storm” weather is forecast for the next few days ahead of a fairly dry weekend and next week.
What about spring, or even next summer? Lucas Mathias is categorical: recent weather events do not bode well. And beware of those who risk any predictions! Last year, several experts had counted on a “hot and dry” start to the summer, before the floods wreaked havoc…
(Thomas Holzer/The Essential)
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