Erwin

Fallen tree by Onslunda Church in Sweden.

Erwin was a powerful storm which hit Denmark and Sweden on 8 January 2005. The name Erwin was chosen by the German Weather Service, while the storm was named Gudrun by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and was the name used in Sweden. Sustained wind speeds of 126 km/h with wind gusts of 165 km/h were measured in Hanstholm, Denmark - the same strength as a Category 1 hurricane. At least 17 people died in the storm.

The storm caused significant financial damage in Sweden, where the forest industry suffered greatly from damaged trees, as more than 75,000,000 cubic metres of trees were blown down in southern Sweden. This resulted in Sweden at the time having the world's largest storage of lumber, and got visited by enthusiasts from all over the world because of the overwhelming stock sites. This was a huge blow to the lumber industry and the government had to pay out enormous insurance money to the victims. About 341,000 homes lost power in Sweden and several thousand of these were without power for many days and even weeks in some cases, as about 10,000 homes were still without power after three weeks. The death toll in Sweden was seven victims, while four were killed in Denmark.

See also

• The 1999 storm Anatol
• The 2007 storm Per
• European windstorm
• European windstorm names

References

• Danish page with wind speeds and satellite image - From the Danish Meteorological Institute (in Danish).
• Windstorm Erwin / Gudrun – January 2005 - A report for the insurance business with detailed information about the storm.

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