Tornado climatology of Finland

Jenni Rauhala, Harold E. Brooks, David M. Schultz

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    Abstract

    A tornado climatology for Finland is constructed from 1796 to 2007. The climatology consists of two datasets.A historical dataset (1796-1996) is largely constructed from newspaper archives and other historical archives and datasets, and a recent dataset (1997-2007) is largely constructed from eyewitness accounts sent to the Finnish Meteorological Institute and news reports. This article describes the process of collecting and evaluating possible tornado reports. Altogether, 298 Finnish tornado cases compose the climatology: 129 from the historical dataset and 169 from the recent dataset. An annual average of 14 tornado cases occur in Finland (1997-2007). A case with a significant tornado (F2 or stronger) occurs in our database on average every other year, composing 14% of all tornado cases. All documented tornadoes in Finland have occurred between April and November. As in the neighboring countries in northern Europe, July and August are the months with the maximum frequency of tornado cases, coincident with the highest lightning occurrence both over land and sea. Waterspouts tend to be favored later in the summer, peaking in August. The peak month for significant tornadoes is August. The diurnal peak for tornado cases is 1700-1859 local time. © 2012 American Meteorological Society.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1446-1456
    Number of pages10
    JournalMonthly Weather Review
    Volume140
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2012

    Keywords

    • Climatology
    • Tornadoes

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