Storm “Lothar” of December 1999 is in first place of the most destructive storms with 180 million m³ of damaged wood. In some regions of France, Switzerland and Germany, it is still clearly visible which areas have been hit by “Lothar” – even twenty years later. With an overall damage of 100 million m³ in Central Europe, “Vivian” and “Wiebke” follow with some distance in second place. Storms “Erwin” and “Gudrun”, which hit Scandinavia and the Baltic states, rank third with a total of 85 million m³ of damaged wood.
“Kyrill” with 55 million m³ in Central Europe and “Klaus” with 40 million m³ of damaged wood in France are also well known names of big windthrow events.
The intensity of storms decreased over the past 30 years. However, the frequency of extreme weather conditions with considerable damage to forests in Europe increased. With the exception of two years, the last ten years have always seen one windthrow event each year in Europe which made it on the list.
In 2018, storm “Friederike” damaged 17 million m³ in Germany, and “Vaia” caused 11.5 million m³ of damaged wood in Italy. The March storms Eberhard and Franz of March 2019 with an overall damaged of 4 million m³ are still well remembered.
| The biggest windthrow volumes in Europe (more than 1 million m³ of damaged wood) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Name | Country | Damage |
| 1999 | Lothar | FR, DE, CH | 180 million m³ |
| 1990 | Vivian, Wiebke | Central Europe | 100 million m³ |
| 2005 | Erwin, Gudrun | Scandinavia, Baltic states | 85 million m³ |
| 2007 | Kyrill, Olli | Central Europe | 55 million m³ |
| 2009 | Klaus | FR | 40 million m³ |
| 2018 | Friederike | DE | 17 million m³ |
| 2007 | Per | SE | 12 million m³ |
| 2018 | Vaia | IT | 11.5 million m³ |
| 2008 | Emma | AT, DE, CZ | 9.5 million m³ |
| 2017 | Hartmut | AT, CZ, PL | 8.8 million m³ |
| 2005 | Silvio | SK | 8 million m³ |
| 2013 | Ivar | DK, SE | 7.2 million m³ |
| 2008 | Paula | AT | 6.3 million m³ |
| 2002 | Uschi | AT, CZ | 6 million m³ |
| 2011 | Dagmar | FI, SE | 5 million m³ |
| 2017 | Herwart | Central Europe | 5 million m³ |
| 2022 | Nadia, Ylenia, Zeynep, Antonia | DE | 4.8 million m³ |
| 2019 | Eberhard, Franz |
DE, CZ | 4 million m³ |
| 2014 | Petra | AT, IT, SI | 3.8 million m³ |
| 2015 | Helga, Gorm | SE | 3.3 million m³ |
| 2014 | Yvette | AT, CZ | 3.1 million m³ |
| 2015 | Niklas | AT, DE | 2.9 million m³ |
| 2017 | Kolle | AT, DE | 2.5 million m³ |
| 2017 | Yves | AT, SI | 2.5 million m³ |
| 2018 | Burglind | AT, CH, DE | 2 million m³ |
| 2013 | Xaver | DE, DK, SE | 1.9 million m³ |
| 2013 | Eino | FI | 1.5 million m³ |
| 2015 | nameless | FI | 1.5 million m³ |
| 2017 | Xavier | DE | 1.4 million m³ |
| 2008 | Annette | SE | 1.2 million m³ |
| 2013 | Christian | DE, DK | 1.1 million m³ |
| 2013 | Seija | FI | 1 million m³ |
