The 2019–20 European windstorm season was the fifth instance of seasonal European windstorm naming in Europe. This is the first season in which the Netherlands meteorological authority took part, joining those of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It comprised a year from 1 September to 31 August, however names were announced six days into that year. The Portuguese, Spanish and French meteorological agencies again collaborated too, joined by the Belgian meteorological agency.
Background and naming
In 2015, the Met Office and Met Éireann conducted or promoted the "Name our Storms" project for wind storms, going to the public for the suggestions. The meteorological offices produced a full list of names for 2015–16 through to 2017–18, common to both the UK and Ireland, with the Netherlands taking part from 2019 onwards. Names in the United Kingdom will be invoked under the National Severe Weather Warning system when a storm is forecast to merit an Amber ('be prepared') or Red ('take action (danger to life)') warning.
There are two main naming lists: one created by the national meteorological agencies of the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, and another created by the equivalent agencies from France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium. Additionally, former Atlantic hurricanes will retain their names as assigned by the National Hurricane Center of the United States.
United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands The following names have been selected for the 2019–2020 season: Atiyah Brendan Ciara Dennis Ellen Francis
France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium This will be the third year in which the meteorological agencies of France, Spain and Portugal will be naming storms which affect their areas. This naming scheme is partially overlapping with that used by the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, as storms named by the other group of agencies will be used reciprocally.
The following names have been selected for the 2019–2020 season:
Amélie Bernardo Cecilia Daniel Elsa Fabien Gloria Hervé Inès Jorge Karine Leon Myriam Norberto Odette
Other naming systems Two former Atlantic systems (One of them being a hurricane and the other being a tropical storm) transitioned into a European windstorm and retained its name as assigned by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida:
Lorenzo Sebastien Edouard
Besides these naming systems, the Free University of Berlin also names high and low pressure areas through its "Adopt a vortex" programme. The Nordic nations of Denmark, Norway and Sweden also name storms with more limited reciprocation. Other nations may also name storms either through their national meteorological institutions or popularly.
Season summary
The first system of the season was Storm Lorenzo, when Met Éireann issued yellow wind warnings for Ireland and an orange warning for the western coastal counties. The storm consisted of the remnants of Hurricane Lorenzo, which had turned extratropical. The next named system was Amélie, named by Météo-France on 1 November. Storm Bernardo was named next, by the Spanish meteorological agency, AEMET. This system primarily affected the Balearic Islands. Cecilia was named next by AEMET, when the agency warned of rain and wind on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
On 6 December, the Irish meteorological agency named Atiyah, the first system to receive its name from the Irish, British and Dutch storm naming list. After Atiyah passed, storms Daniel, Elsa and Fabien were named in quick succession on 15, 16 and 18 December, respectively. Storms Brendan and Gloria were next to be named by Met Éireann and AEMET, respectively, after a quiet start to January 2020. Hervé was named by Météo-France on 3 February, after the agency expected wind gusts of up to at Corsica's coast. A few days later, on 5 February, Ciara was named by Met Office, warning of heavy rain and gales throughout the United Kingdom.
Following Ciara, Dennis was named by the Met Office on 11 February 2020. The agency warned of heavy rain and gales across the United Kingdom. A day later, Inès was named by the French meteorological agency. The agency warned of wind speeds up to in the northern part of France on 13 February. The Spanish meteorological agency named Jorge next, warning of seas high on 29 February through 2 March and snow around . Following Jorge, Karine, Leon, Myriam and Norberto were named in quick succession, on 29 February, 1, 3 and 5 March, respectively. Karine was named by AEMET, while Leon, Myriam and Norberto were named by Météo-France.
Storms
Storm Lorenzo
The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida began monitoring a tropical wave emerging from the west coast of Africa on 19 September, which subsequently developed into Hurricane Lorenzo by 25 September. The system continued to intensify, ultimately becoming the easternmost Category 5 hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean. On 26 September, the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) began issuing advisories for Hurricane Lorenzo. The National Hurricane Center issued hurricane and tropical storm watches on 30 September for the Azores, which were later upgraded to warnings.
Lorenzo began undergoing extratropical transition on 2 October, while passing over the Azores a few hours before the National Hurricane Center issued their 09:00 UTC advisory. The subsequent (and final) advisory stated that Lorenzo had become a post-tropical cyclone, which was subsequently named Storm Lorenzo by Met Éireann as they issued a yellow warning of wind for the entirety of Ireland, as well as an orange warning for the western coastal counties. The Met Office issued yellow wind warnings for Northern Ireland, Cornwall and parts of Devon and south-west Wales.
On 3 October, the M6 Buoy, located about west of Mace Head, County Galway, recorded a pressure of near Lorenzo's centre. The same buoy also recorded a maximum wave height of . On 4 October, while the storm was passing across Ireland, new weather warnings were issued for the counties of Clare, Galway, Longford, Mayo, Roscommon and Westmeath. The highest recorded wind gust was , with the highest 10-minute mean at , both recorded at Mace Head.
Storm Lorenzo continued to weaken as it moved away from Ireland into the Irish Sea, with the United States-based Ocean Prediction Center ceasing to monitor Lorenzo on 4 October after it crossed the United Kingdom. Now little more than a weak frontal zone, Storm Lorenzo made landfall in northern Germany on 5 October, subsequently moving over eastern Europe the following day before dissipating on 7 October while moving into Russia.
Power was cut to almost 20,000 homes in Ireland at the height of the storm, with flooding occurring throughout the country. The River Eske partially flooded Donegal as result of nearly of rain falling as high tide was approaching. The amount of damage country-wide, however, was less than anticipated. The storm's only known fatality while it was extratropical occurred when a tree fell on a person in Stafford. However, Lorenzo had been responsible for nineteen further fatalities, including seven crew members of the capsized French cargo ship Bourbon Rhode who were never found. During its combined lifespan as a major hurricane and a European windstorm, Lorenzo caused at least £285 million (€340 million) in damage.
Storm Amélie (Arne)
The low-pressure system that would later become Amélie was first noted on 31 October between Canada and Greenland over the Labrador Sea. After emerging into the open Atlantic, the system was named Storm Amélie by Météo-France on 1 November. The French meteorological agency expected wind gusts up to and possibly surpassing locally at the western coast at the time of naming the storm.
Storm Amélie underwent explosive cyclogenesis on 2 November while located over the open north Atlantic, reaching a minimum central pressure of . Amélie subsequently made landfall on Brittany's Atlantic coast in the early hours of 3 November, bringing wind gusts of to at Cap Ferret. Amélie also brought wind gusts up to along the northern coast of Spain, including a record-setting gust for Santander Airport. The highest wind gust recorded from Amélie was at Cagnano in Haute-Corse on Corsica, reaching .
Besides causing numerous fallen trees and power outages for 140,000 properties, Amélie also triggered a landslide in Nice in the south of France, resulting in the only known fatality from the storm. The SNCF temporarily closed a TGV line between Hendaye and Bordeaux due to debris on the tracks, causing some 2,000 passengers to be stranded for up to 15 hours. Damage from Amélie across France, Italy and Spain totalled more than £110 million (€120 million).
After the centre of Amélie moved inland over northern France, it gradually tracked eastwards and then north-eastwards. Amélie passed over Belgium and the Netherlands on 3 November and then over Germany on 4 November, while steadily weakening. After crossing Poland on 5 November as a weak frontal boundary, Amélie stalled over the Baltic states on 6 November, before being absorbed by an approaching warm front over Estonia on 9 November.
Storm Bernardo (Detlef)
The precursor to Storm Bernardo was first noted as a deep low over north-eastern Canada on 7 November. After considerably weakening and crossing the Atlantic without any notable impacts, the system was named Bernardo by the State Meteorological Agency of Spain (AEMET) on 9 November as it was approaching the Iberian Peninsula from the Bay of Biscay. Bernardo crossed northern Spain and emerged into the Mediterranean Sea, affecting the Balearic Islands on 10 November with wind gusts of up to recorded in the Alfabia Mountains along the north-west coast of Mallorca. On 11 November, Bernardo strengthened to its peak intensity of and formed an eye-like feature, leading several media outlets to report that the storm had medicane-like characteristics. However, AEMET did not confirm that the storm had reached medicane status.
After losing its brief eye-like feature, Bernardo followed the coast of Algeria, remaining closely offshore as it moved eastwards across the Mediterranean before stalling over southern Italy for two days. Bernardo then accelerated to the north-east as a weak frontal boundary, moving over the Baltic states on 14 November and into northern Russia on 15 November. After briefly reintensifying and then weakening once more, Bernardo was last noted as a weak low over Siberia on 18 November.
When first issuing warnings for Storm Bernardo, AEMET expected wave heights of up to around the Balearic Islands and along the coast of several Spanish provinces bordering the Bay of Biscay. They also forecasted precipitation up to in the form of snow over the Cantabrian Mountains above , and rainfall up to within 12 hours in the provinces of Cantabria, Navarra, Basque Country and Asturias. In Asturias, the regional meteorological agency warned of the risk of avalanches due to snow accumulation. Wind gusts were forecasted to reach up to . However, impacts from Bernardo were ultimately minimal. A fallen tree in Mallorca caused the only known fatality from the storm, and little damage was reported along its track.
Storm Cecilia (Luis)
The precursor to Storm Cecila was first noted as a developing low between the Carolinas and Bermuda on 16 November. It subsequently deepened and slowly moved north-eastwards parallel to the East Coast of the United States, before crossing Newfoundland and emerging into the open Atlantic by 21 November. At this point, the system was named Cecilia by the State Meteorological Agency of Spain (AEMET), who issued warnings for rain and wind impacts across the Iberian Peninsula and on the Balearic Islands. Weather warnings were also issued in southern and coastal western France.