Most severe negative surges on the southern Baltic Sea coast 
43 
November 1979 
Wismar —»—Warnemünde Sassnitz ■ Swinoujscie — — Kotobrzeg —— MSL 
Fig. 5.9. b Variations of sea level decrease during the storm of 3-5 November 1979 
5.10. November 1981 
Meteorological situation 
In the second half of November, with westerly air 
flow prevailing over Europe, a succession of low 
pressure systems from the Atlantic Ocean moved 
eastward. One of these disturbances formed 
over England in the afternoon of 23 November 
and travelled quickly northeast across the Nor 
wegian Sea and southern Norway, where atmos 
pheric pressure dropped below 965 hPa. On 
24 November at 18 UTC, the low pressure centre 
passed Stockholm, veered southeast and 
reached the Gulf of Finland at about 06 UTC on 
25 November, filling gradually. 
The pressure gradient of this depression was 
very steep. Intensive air flow over the southern 
areas of the Baltic Sea gradually changed from 
southeasterly directions in the eastern basins to 
southwesterly flow in the western basins and 
developed into a storm as early as the night of 
23 November. Early on 24 November, as the 
pressure gradient continued to steepen over the 
Baltic Sea, the storm reached 9-10 Bft and locally 
exceeded 10 Bft. Around midnight, the storm 
veered west, then northwest, first in the eastern 
part of the area (about 20 UTC on 24 November) 
and then, early on 25 November (between 
3-6 UTC on 25 November) in the west. The 
strong onshore winds over the southern Baltic 
Sea began to calm as the low in the southeastern 
part of the Gulf of Finland filled gradually. 
Hydrological response of sea level 
On 23 November, water levels were above the 
mean values. However, as early as 24 November, 
levels began to fall rapidly, with higher rates 
recorded in the western sections of the coast 
under the impact of the intensifying storm, which 
was growing in strength and backing to offshore 
directions. During these hours, the eastern part 
of the coast was under the influence of a shal 
lower pressure gradient with temporarily calmer 
winds, which was reflected in the behaviour of 
sea levels in the area (e. g. Kotobrzeg). In the 
western part of the coast, water levels continued 
to fall at irregular rates from 24 November until 
the early hours of 25 November (00-04 UTC). 
Next, when the storm veered onshore, levels 
began to rise again rapidly. The lowest values 
during this storm surge were as follows: 
Kotobrzeg 450 cm at 21 UTC on 24 November; 
Swinoujscie 409 cm at 16 UTC on 24 November; 
Sassnitz 403 cm at 23 UTC on 24 November; 
Warnemunde 368 cm between 03 and 05 UTC 
on 25 November; Wismar 331 cm at 03 UTC on 
25 November.