Reader’s letter – coming of autumn to the islands

 
Translation: Liis
Gales have shaped the Mändjala - Järve beach in Saaremaa
 
Autumn has suddenly taken over. In Saaremaa, the long heat and drought period ended on August 11th, when there was thundery rain. After this, the whole week was rainy but not very windy. Winds started to blow more seriously on August 18th.
 
Seawater temperature has been contrasting. On August 5th it was still 26°C. Then there were a few more hot days. There was a danger that if the air temperature suddenly were to  drop, a cyclone area can gain force from the warm sea water. So it happened with the storm of August 6th-7th, 1967. Meteorologists who remember it believe that a small cyclone, about  150-200 km in diameter, gathered so much force above the Gulf of Riga where the water temperature was about 25 °C, that gale winds blew constantly at 30–35 m/s for two days.
 
It did not go as badly this year. In the course of 2 weeks water temperature has fallen 10 degrees and is currently 16 °C at Roomassaare. With one week the seawater level has also risen nearly half a metre, and at present is about 20 cm above the zero mark.
 
 
Jaanis Prii
Kuressaare, Saaremaa


 

EST EN DE ES RU  FORUM

       

My Nature Calendar

Help to do Looduskalender.ee better - send Your observations about nature.

History