The St. Jude storm, also known as Cyclone Christian, and other names, was a severe hurricane-force European windstorm that hit Northwestern Europe on 27 and 28 October 2013 causing at least 17 deaths. The highest windspeed was in Denmark, where a gust of 194.4 km/h (120.8 mph) was recorded in the south of the country (in Als) on the afternoon of 28 October, the strongest wind recorded in the country's history.
Name
Although it was reported that the storm was named by a clerk at the UK's Met Office, the Met Office themselves have stated that they do not know who named the storm. The storm was named by the Weather Channel UK meteorologist Leon Brown, after the feast of Saint Jude the Apostle, which takes place on 28 October, the day when the storm was expected to be at its height. The name is reported to have been popularised on Twitter before being adopted by the media in the United Kingdom.
The storm was named "Christian" on 26 October 2013 by the Free University of Berlin's meteorological institute. According to The Guardian, European Union institutions are officially referring to the storm as "Christian".
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute named the storm "Simone", based on the Swedish name day list. The European Windstorm Centre, a UK-based forecaster, gave the storm the name "Carmen". The Danish Meteorological Institute referred to it as the October storm 2013 (Oktoberstormen 2013), but it was later named "Allan" per request from the Minister for Climate, Energy and Building, Martin Lidegaard.
Confusion over the name of the storm, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and subsequent severe impact, led the Met Office and Met Eireann to later start officially naming European windstorms, starting with the inaugural 2015–16 season's first system, Storm Abigail.
Meteorological history
A depression formed off the east coast of the United States and headed east, assisted by the jet stream. The St. Jude storm formed in the western Atlantic as a secondary low on the southern flanks of an area of low pressure to the east of southern Greenland; this Icelandic Low was named "Burkhard" by the Free University of Berlin. The St. Jude storm formed from a wave front on 26 October in the northwest Atlantic off the Eastern seaboard of North America. The developing low moved under the jet stream passing by the remnants of ex-tropical storm Lorenzo situated in the mid Atlantic. The tropical air from this storm provided an input of energy, strengthening the jetstream, and helping to intensify the deepening of the low in an area closer to Europe than usual. This, together with a strong jet stream, led to a rapid deepening of the St. Jude low before it hit western Europe as a strengthening storm. The storm has been cited as both meeting and not meeting the strict criteria of explosive deepening. The storm system was swept across the Atlantic at a rapid pace moving eastwards with an average speed of 77 km/h (48 mph), and crossed over 2,000 km (1,200 mi) in less than 26 hours.
Across southern England two zones of strong winds were noted, the first ahead of the storm that battered the south coast, and a second zone that struck East Anglia and the South East as the storm passed over into the North Sea. This second zone of winds has been identified by meteorologists as potentially being a sting jet, an area where wind speeds are enhanced by cooled air rapidly descending from high in the storm. The storm developed as a baroclinic leaf over England. Over 20 hours between 27 October at 18:00 UTC and 28 October 14:00 UTC the central pressure of the storm dropped by 22 hPa (0.65 inHg). The storm intensified as it crossed the North Sea with the central pressure dropping to an estimated 965 mb (28.5 inHg), the lowest land-based pressure of 967.6 mb (28.57 inHg) was recorded at Thyboron, Denmark. The low pressure centre of the storm reached Finland at 01:00 UTC 29 October having only filled to 970 mb (29 inHg).
The storm made landfall in the early hours of 28 October. A gust of 159 km/h (99 mph) was recorded at The Needles Batteries, Isle of Wight. Over the British mainland peak gusts were limited to 120 km/h (75 mph). Speeds of 230 km/h (150 mph) were measured at the Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm.
On the Île d'Ouessant, Finistère, France, a gust of 133 km/h (83 mph) was recorded. On the Dutch coast and in the IJsselmeer, gusts of 90 to 130 km/h (56 to 81 mph) were recorded.
The storm was the strongest in the Netherlands since the Burns Day storm of 1990, with windgusts measuring speeds between 140 and 150 km/h (87 and 93 mph) at Wadden Sea.
Two private weather recording stations on the German islands of Borkum and Heligoland both recorded a possible low-elevation national wind speed record of 191 km/h (119 mph) on 28 October, with maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h (81 mph) which are as yet unverified by the German weather service.
A gust of 194.4 km/h (120.8 mph) was recorded in southern Denmark, the strongest wind recorded in the country's history, however the Danish Meteorological Institute is convinced that the 1999 storm had even higher wind speeds, but different methods and faulty equipment meant that recordings were less than in 2013.
Forecast
The storm was first forecast in the week before it occurred, with the Met Office supercomputer modelling the storm four days before it even formed. Initial predictions, broadcast on 24 October, were that the south coast would be affected. A later forecast was that the storm would pass over the United Kingdom on a more northerly track, affecting all areas south of the Midlands. Predictions were for 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) of rain, with wind speeds of 130 km/h (80 mph) falling in a period of six to nine hours. These were later updated, with winds of Force 11 predicted.
The Met Office issued "Amber – be prepared" warnings on 24 October for the storm along the south coast of England, with a "Yellow – be aware" warning extending up to the Midlands. Warnings up to the Midlands were upgraded to amber on 25 October.
The forecast storm was widely reported in the British press on 25 October, with comparisons being made to the Great Storm of 1987 and the Burns' Day Storm of 1990. A Met Office spokeswoman said the 1990 storm, when damaging winds affected a larger area of the UK, was a better comparison than the 1987 storm, though in fact the great storm of 1987 did actually affect a similar swathe of England when matched with this storm. Later projections predicted the storm to have a severity more like storms in October 2000, January 2007, and March 2008. Forecasters in the UK latterly thought the storm would affect England in a similar manner to the storm of 27–28 October 2002. Michael Fish, who made an infamous error in forecasting the Great Storm of 1987, wrote that he felt that people should delay their journey to work because of the storm. The Met Office received praise for the accuracy of its forecast.
On 26 October, Météo-France issued orange warnings for Brittany, Normandy, coastal Picardy and Nord-Pas de Calais. Twelve departments in Northern France were placed on alert, all in the regions of Brittany, Haute Normandie and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, as well as the departments of Calvados, Loire-Atlantique, Manche and Somme.
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute issued a warning of severe gusts of 75 to 100 km/h (47 to 62 mph) on Monday with gusts up to between 90 and 120 km/h (56 and 75 mph) expected in the afternoon on 28 October. In the Netherlands, four provinces were placed on alert – Utrecht, North Holland, South Holland and Zeeland. On the north-west coast of the Netherlands, winds of Force 11 were predicted.
The Danish Meteorological Institute warned of the possibility of a storm and high coastal waters for Monday afternoon,
with storm-strength gusts expected. The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute warned authorities in the country that the storm could continue to the west coast of Sweden.
Preparation
Ahead of the storm, London's Metropolitan Police Service advised people to only use the 999 emergency telephone number in an emergency, and to use the 101 Single Non-Emergency Number service for reporting non-emergency situations, anticipating the emergency services being stretched by the storm's passage.
Damage
United Kingdom
The worst damage was caused by trees being brought down by the wind (as many had still not yet dropped their leaves) falling onto buildings, cars and powerlines. Overall structural damage to residential and commercial buildings was limited in the United Kingdom, with most damage to roofs, cladding and glazing. Many insurance claims were expected for food in freezers which defrosted after power outages.
Some of the more notable incidents in the United Kingdom included: In Essex, the helter-skelter on Clacton Pier was blown down and the orangutan enclosure at Colchester Zoo suffered roof damage. In London, a crane collapsed on top of the Cabinet Office, closing Whitehall between Horse Guards Avenue and Parliament Square. A second crane collapsed in South East London, closing the Old Kent Road, both cranes were the same model and an investigation was subsequently launched by the manufacturer and the Health and Safety Executive. Construction sites across London were in lock-down during the storm, Francis Road in Leyton saw one-hundred-metre-long (330 ft) two storey scaffold collapse and in Mayfair's Berkeley Square another large scaffold collapsed. In Hounslow, London, two people were killed when a gas explosion destroyed three houses and damaged two after the storm blew a tree down. In Ipswich, Suffolk, the high winds ripped exterior cladding off buildings overlooking the marina, with brick walls and hoardings also being brought down leading to road closures. A double-decker bus with two passengers on board was blown over near Hadleigh, Suffolk.
Belgium
Damage in Belgium was relatively limited. Fifteen people were evacuated from their homes when scaffolding collapsed in Merksem Antwerp, damaging cars parked below. Scaffolding in Ostend was also brought down during the storm. A high sided truck loaded with chocolate was blown over on the European route E34 between Antwerp and Germany shedding its contents on the road and causing delays. Elsewhere in Flanders the coastal town of Nieuwpoort saw strong gusts damage two marquees which had been hosting the International Boat Show, despite being weighted down with large concrete blocks the damage was estimated at more than €200,000. In Brussels a large banner on the European Commission's Berlaymont building was ripped to shreds by the winds. Also in Brussels, a section of the orbital ring road was closed after road signs were brought down by high winds.
Netherlands
The record for the highest gust in the country (for the month of October) was broken three times, with a 148.2-kilometre-per-hour (92.1 mph) gust measured in Texel, North Holland, a 151-kilometre-per-hour (94 mph) gust on Vlieland, Friesland, and the strongest gust of 152 km/h (94 mph) at Lauwersoog, De Marne in Groningen. Vlieland sustained winds of Force 11 for one hour, and Force 12 winds for at least 20 minutes. Two people were killed, a woman in Amsterdam and a man in Veenendaal, while at least 25 others were injured.