42 
Negative Surges in the Southern Baltic Sea 
5.9. November 1979 
Meteorological situation 
On 2 and 3 November, Scandinavia and the 
Baltic Sea area lay between an anticyclone from 
Finland tracking southeast and a low pressure 
system advancing slowly from the Norwegian 
Sea. The pressure gradient over the area steep 
ened, and around noon on 3 November the 
whole Baltic Sea region was under the influence 
of an intensive southerly to southeasterly air flow 
that preceded the low pressure trough with its 
associated frontal system. The trough deepened 
as it entered Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea in 
the afternoon of 3 November. By night, gale- 
force winds from southwesterly directions had 
reached 7-9 Bft. The SW storm continued until 
the late hours of 4 November, when it veered 
west and decreased temporarily in the western 
part of the coast after the cold front had tracked 
across the southern coast. 
Hydrological response of sea level 
Water levels had been slightly below the mean 
values since 2 November. On 3 November 
around noon, the strong offshore wind caused a 
gradual fall of water levels. This time, deeper 
minima were recorded at the eastern water level 
gauges than at the western ones. The lowest val 
ues were recorded at more or less the same time 
in the late afternoon of 4 November, between 18 
and 19 UTC. 372 cm was measured at Wismar, 
381 cm at Warnemunde, 387 cm at Sassnitz, 
370 cm at Swinoujscie, and 370 cm at 
Kotobrzeg. 
Fig. 5.9. a Pressure pattern and wind field over the Baltic Sea on 4 November 1979,12 UTC