2008 Poland tornado outbreak

2008 Poland tornado outbreak

Damages in Kalina
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	August 15–16, 2008
Tornadoes confirmed	12
Max rating1	F3 T7 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	~2 days
Damage	Unknown
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

A tornado outbreak struck southern and central Poland between 15 and 16 August 2008. Overall, it killed four people.^[1] Tornadoes affected Opole Voivodeship, Silesian Voivodeship and Łódź Voivodeship. The European Storm Forecast Experiment issued a Level 3 which means there could potentially be a major severe thunderstorm outbreak.^[2]

Tornado outbreak

The tornado outbreak started the 15 August with a tornado that struck the city of Knurów causing little damage. At the same time a large and violent tornado struck the villages of Dolnica, Kopanina,Zimna Wódka,Kolonia Jaryszów,Balcarzowice,Błotnica Strzelecka and Dąbrówka with a total path of 20 km damaging or destroying hundreds of buildings and wounding 15 people, with a width of 500–1000 m and a maximum damage classified as F4. The third tornado touched down between Piłka and Rusinowice to dissipate in the city of Herby with a total path of 15 km and damage of an F3 T6. One person was killed by the storm. Another F3 tornado struck the city of Blachownia and an F2 or F3 tornado struck the town of Mykanów wounding 40 people on a bus on the highway. At 16:40 UTC another F3 struck the west part of Radomsko, destroying or damaging about 100 houses on a path of about 4–5 km. Four other tornadoes touched down, one of which was an F3, one an F2 T5, and 2 were F1. The outbreak continued on 16 August, producing two tornadoes, both were F1, one in Osipy Kolonia and one, the strongest (T3), struck Seroczyn damaging 130 buildings.

Confirmed tornadoes

• Some tornadoes were confirmed but were not rated.

August 15 event

Notable tornadoes

Balcarzowice tornado

The tornado start at 15:00 UTC (17:00 local time) just north-east of Dolnica cutting down trees and power poles. The multiple-vortex tornado continued its path and struck the village of Kopanina with a width of about 600–700 m causing serious damage to homes. The wedge tornado changed direction pointing south side of the city of Zimna Wódka where 15–20 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The tornado changed direction and struck Kolonia Jaryszów. There the tornado reached a maximum width of 1000 m and many buildings were damaged or destroyed and on the highway A4 some cars and trucks were thrown tens of meters away and the trees were debarked. Crossed the highway the tornado struck Sieroniowice and Balcarzowice were many buildings were almost razed to the ground (F4–T8 damage)and some people were injured. After Balcarzowice the tornado struck Błotnica Strzelecka with a width of about 400–500 m causing severe damage,classifiable as a strong F2 (T5), and finally the tornado struck the forest between Błotnica and Dąbrówka causing F2 sporadic damage and causing damage classifiable as a low F1 (T2). Throughout the tornado was classified as an F3 T7 and it damaged about 150 buildings and injured 15 people. No one was killed by the storm.

Kalina tornado

This is the third tornado of the outbreak. The tornado struck the North side of Piłka at 15:30 UTC, about 30 minutes after the first event. There were some little damage,but the storm gained strength quickly and become a strong tornado just in Rusinowice,passing through the southern and eastern part of the town destroying some buildings. The storm passed in a forest area east of Wierzbie were many trees were debarked, and quickly moved to Cieszowa,where only the northern side of the village report damage,in some point as an F3 T7. The forest area east of Mochała was completely destroyed with the trees that were debarked. There the tornado had a width of about 700 m. The storm struck and destroyed the city of Kalina where a woman was killed. Many houses were completely destroyed and many trees have only the trunk. The tornado finally dissipated just passed the city of Herby. The storm produced severe damage, in some point like an F3 T7 but was classified as an F3 T6. It travelled for about 15–20 minutes for about 17 km were 164 houses were damaged or destroyed and one person was killed. Maybe this tornado is the same that hit Blachownia causing severe damage.

Mykanów tornado

The tornado struck the town of Mykanów at 16:20 UTC hitting the southern and the eastern part of the town causing damage to some houses, some with the roof torn off. Probably the storm touched down near Topolów or Radostków but maybe this is the same tornado that hit the city of Blachownia causing F3 damage along its path. The storm passed the highway 1 where a bus was turned and lifted into the air injuring the 40 people inside,10 of which more seriously. The tornado struck Grabowa and Bogusławice causing T4 (F2) damage and low F1 damage in Kruszyna where after dissipated.

Effects

In total, 4 people were killed and about 770 buildings sustained damage.^[3] It was strongest tornado outbreak in Poland in many years. Many downburst occurred between Slovak Republic and Poland, some with winds up to 140–150 km/h causing severe damage to some town and 2 death in Slovak Republic. Also the large and very large hail caused injuries and destruction: in Poland the hail reached the 8–9 cm but also 10–13 cm in diameter (but it is not confirmed) injuring other 10 people and causing severe damage.

See also

• August 2008 European tornado outbreak

References

External links

• Scientist article
• BBC news
• Damages in Lubliniec