Articles | Volume 25, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1697-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1697-2025
Research article
 | 
13 May 2025
Research article |  | 13 May 2025

Classifying extratropical cyclones and their impact on Finland's electricity grid: insights from 92 damaging windstorms

Ilona Láng-Ritter, Terhi Kristiina Laurila, Antti Mäkelä, Hilppa Gregow, and Victoria Anne Sinclair

Related authors

Predicting power outages caused by extratropical storms
Roope Tervo, Ilona Láng, Alexander Jung, and Antti Mäkelä
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 607–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-607-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-607-2021, 2021
Short summary
ANYCaRE: a role-playing game to investigate crisis decision-making and communication challenges in weather-related hazards
Galateia Terti, Isabelle Ruin, Milan Kalas, Ilona Láng, Arnau Cangròs i Alonso, Tommaso Sabbatini, and Valerio Lorini
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 507–533, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-507-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-507-2019, 2019
Short summary

Related subject area

Atmospheric, Meteorological and Climatological Hazards
Review article: The growth in compound weather and climate event research in the decade since SREX
Lou Brett, Christopher J. White, Daniela I. V. Domeisen, Bart van den Hurk, Philip Ward, and Jakob Zscheischler
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2591–2611, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2591-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2591-2025, 2025
Short summary
Exploring the interplay between observed warming, atmospheric circulation, and soil–atmosphere feedbacks on heatwaves in a temperate mountain region
Marc Lemus-Canovas, Sergi Gonzalez-Herrero, Laura Trapero, Anna Albalat, Damian Insua-Costa, Martin Senande-Rivera, and Gonzalo Miguez-Macho
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2503–2518, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2503-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2503-2025, 2025
Short summary
Temporal dynamic vulnerability – impact of antecedent events on residential building losses to wind storm events in Germany
Andreas Trojand, Henning W. Rust, and Uwe Ulbrich
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2331–2350, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2331-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2331-2025, 2025
Short summary
Verifying the relationships among the variabilities of summer rainfall extremes over Japan in the d4PDF climate ensemble, Pacific sea surface temperature, and monsoon activity
Shao-Yi Lee, Sicheng He, and Tetsuya Takemi
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2225–2253, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2225-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2225-2025, 2025
Short summary
Tree fall along railway lines: modelling the impact of wind and other meteorological factors
Rike Lorenz, Nico Becker, Barry Gardiner, Uwe Ulbrich, Marc Hanewinkel, and Benjamin Schmitz
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2179–2196, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2179-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2179-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Bengtsson, L., Hodges, K. I., and Roeckner, E.: Storm Tracks and Climate Change, J. Climate, 19, 3518–3543, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3815.1, 2006. a, b, c
Bjerknes, J. and Solberg, H.: Life cycle of cyclones and the polar front theory of atmospheric circulation, Geophys. Publ., 3, 1–18, 1922. a
Browning, K. A.: The sting at the end of the tail: Damaging winds associated with extratropical cyclones, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 130, 375–399, https://doi.org/10.1256/qj.02.143, 2004. a
Campins, J., Genovés, A., Jansà, A., Guijarro, J., and Ramis, C.: A catalogue and a classification of surface cyclones for the Western Mediterranean, Int. J. Climatol., 20, 969–984, https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0088(200007)20:9<969::AID-JOC519>3.0.CO;2-4, 2000. a
Catto, J. L.: Extratropical cyclone classification and its use in climate studies, Rev. Geophys., 54, 486–520, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016RG000519, 2016. a
Short summary
We present a classification method for extratropical cyclones and windstorms and show their impacts on Finland's electricity grid by analysing the 92 most damaging windstorms (2005–2018). The south-west- and north-west-arriving windstorms cause the most damage to the power grid. The most relevant parameters for damage are the wind gust speed and extent of wind gusts. Windstorms are more frequent and damaging in autumn and winter, but weaker wind speeds in summer also cause significant damage.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint