November came in like a lion as winds roared at historic levels along Finland’s west coast on Friday.
On Kylmäpihlaja island in Rauma, the average sustained wind speed reached 33.5 meters per second on Friday evening. Meanwhile, in Pori's Tahkoluoto district, the average wind speed rose to 30.3 meters per second.
This is the first time that a hurricane-force wind has ever been measured in Finland, said Yle's meteorologist Matti Huutonen. The hurricane criterion is met when the average wind speed is at least 33 meters per second.
In Satakunta, the windstorm knocked down two 400-kilovolt power line poles, unprecedented damage to part of Finland's main electricity grid.
The two poles fell onto a road in Eurajoki, not far from the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.
"We have never had an entire pole collapse," said Arto Pahkin, control room manager at national grid operator Fingrid. He estimated that repairs would take about a week.
The previous wind record was measured in 2019 in Bogskär, Finland's southernmost land area in the Åland Islands. At that time, the wind was clocked at 32.5 meters per second.
The strongest individual wind gusts on Friday were nearly 40 meters per second.
A wind gust of 39.6 meters per second was measured around 9:30pm at Kylmäpihlaja, while in Tahkoluoto gusts reached 38.9 meters per second. The latter area of Pori is the site of Finland’s first offshore wind farm.
Huutonen later clarified to Yle News that while similar wind measurements have occasionally been made at higher land elevations in Finland, for instance on the fells of Lapland, this was the first time that 33 m/s was exceeded at a marine weather station.
Warm sea water boosts instability
Meteorologist Tuomo Bergman of the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) said that Friday's windstorm was highly exceptional, agreeing that "such a reading has never been measured before".
Bergman said that many factors have to be in place for the winds to rise to such readings.
"Strong low pressure, cold air discharge and relatively warm sea water for the time of year make the air above the sea very unstable," he explained.
According to Bergman, another powerful low pressure system is set to hit Finland soon. It's moving along a similar route, and storm-force winds are likely again – possibly even hurricane-force.
According to Bergman, both storms have been challenging to predict as their intensity and routes have constantly varied.
Widespread blackouts
On Friday evening, tens of thousands of households lost electricity in western and southern Finland, including the regions of Southwest Finland, Satakunta, Ostrobothnia and Häme.
As of Saturday afternoon, some 14,000 customers remained without power, mostly in the southwest.
Fierce winds and fallen trees kept emergency services busy, fire marshal Jussi Löppönen from the Satakunta rescue department told Yle. Only one injury had been reported in the district as of 10pm Friday, Löppönen said, adding that his team still had more than 100 call-outs waiting to be handled.
The windstorm coincided with the first significant snowfall of the season in many parts of southern and central Finland, making driving treacherous.
In Hämeenlinna, heavy snow broke thick pine branches, dropping boughs up to 15m in length onto the highway heading toward Riihimäki on Saturday. Some trains were also delayed or cancelled.
12.04: Added Huutonen's clarification.
12.54: Added power line damage.
13.01: Added Hämeenlinna damage.
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