Orkan Niklas

     Two weeks ago, Germany was hit by Orkan Niklas that uprooted trees, damaged homes, cars and businesses and dumped snow and rain from North to South for almost a week. Nicklas left a swath of destruction in it's wake, and we experienced it first hand. I was sure the Rolladen were going to rip right off the windows! Below is a picture of the train that runs by our house. The train tracks running from Marktoberdorf to Füssen were closed for a day due to the storm. 

© Picture Alliance

     An Orkan is a powerful windstorm that is similar to a hurricane, except it is an extra-tropical cyclone. Orkans usually form in the Autumn or Winter over the North Atlantic and travel more slowly than hurricanes. Strong winds, rain and snow, and atmospheric circulation can wreak havoc over a widespread area, which was the case here. Unlike the severe weather of the East Coast of the USA, things don't get as serious here . Well, as you can see, shit got serious.

    Here are some pictures I took a few days afterwards. A lot of the downed trees and damaged property in town were cleaned before I was able to get out there, but you can get an idea of what the storm left in its wake. Trees on carports, blocking streets, leaning on roofs. Cats and dogs living together...Mass hysteria!

     

     Trees were turned into matchsticks!

     Snapped the top right off this baby!

     This is the street my in-laws live on. Luckily nothing happened to their house. (You can insert an mother-in-law joke here if you want. I won't. My mother-in-law is a lovely woman.)

All over Germany there must be some pissed off cows now that some of their favorite trees are gone.

     You can see the trees on the side of this hill, toppled over like a bunch of drunk college students at a kegger. The wind blew across the field, came over the rise and just knocked the trees down. The combination of soft wet soil from the drenching rains and the winds of over 60mph these trees didn't have a chance.

     How only one tree toppled over out of the few dozen in this grove we may never know.

     Now I'm not saying that Climate Change caused Orkan Niklas. After all, organs are natural and common weather events. But the timing of Orkan Niklas was much later in the year than is normal. With a changing climate, the frequency of these types of storms in this region could increase. On top of a greater frequency and them occurring at different times of year, with more heat and energy in the atmosphere, these storms could grow more powerful, causing more widespread damage.

     Something to think about. If you visit this site, then you know how much I love to try and get people to think.