54 
Fig. 6.15.1. Route of the depression (from 00 UTC on 2 November to 00 UTC on 4 
November 1995) and pressure pattern on 3 November at 12 UTC with accompanying wind 
field over the southern areas of the Baltic Sea 
However, a widespread flat depression with several weak centres remained over 
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea. One of these centres, which was nearly stationary over 
Lappland, became more active, and at about 03 UTC on 2 November it began travelling 
slowly southwards along the eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea. Between 18 UTC on 2 
November and 12 UTC on 3 November, the depression, still slowly deepening and 
meandering, reached the coast to the west of the Gulf of Gdansk, moving southward. The 
depression was flat, with variable winds, but the pressure gradient over Scandinavia on the 
rear of the depression became menacingly steep, especially over Denmark, Kattegat, and 
the western Baltic Sea, where a strong northerly wind set in at about 09 UTC on 3 November 
and continued to increase. In the course of the following hours, a N-NE storm of 6-8 Bft 
travelled gradually eastward and covered the whole Baltic Sea, reaching 9 Bft in the western 
areas in the night of 3 November and in the morning of 4 November. Wind speeds recorded 
in Warnemünde reached 22 m/s, in Arkona 28 m/s, and in Swinoujscie 19 m/s. The 
maximum wind speed recorded at the western coast during this night was nearly 35 m/s. 
Hydrological response of the sea level 
The described pressure pattern and wind conditions on 1-2 November, which threatened to 
generate a storm surge, did not cause a wind set-up on the western and central coasts. As 
the chief impact area of the storm was the southeastern coast, only an insignificant response 
of water levels was noticeable to the west of the Gulf of Gdansk: scarcely 560 cm in Wismar 
at 00-04 UTC on 2 November. Only a short time before the beginning of the storm surge of 
3-5 November, at about 00-06 UTC, the water level was only about 24-30 cm above mean 
sea level. Under the impact of the stormy northerly winds, water levels on the coast began to 
rise before noon on 3 November, first in the westernmost section of the coast - in Wismar 
and Warnemünde at about 06 UTC - and about 3-9 hours later in the central part (Fig. 
6.15.2.). Water levels rose quickly, with maximum rates between 28 cm/h in the western part 
of the coast and 21 cm/h in its central section. The highest water levels were reached 
between 20 and 22 UTC in Wismar (702 cm) and Warnemünde (660 cm). Culmination in 
Sassnitz (637 cm) was reached at the same time at which also Swinoujscie recorded a 
considerable peak of 652 cm, although the absolute maximum recorded by the Swinoujscie