Close-up of a flooded river. Credit: Tomasz Zajda

Extreme weather on the west coast of Norway

14 November 2005 00:00 UTC

Close-up of a flooded river. Credit: Tomasz Zajda
Close-up of a flooded river. Credit: Tomasz Zajda

Extreme weather on the west coast of Norway in November 2005.

Last Updated

28 September 2022

Published on

13 November 2005

by Cecilie Wettre (EUMETSAT)

Storm Loke set new precipitation records on the west coast of Norway on Monday 14 November. Bergen, one of the country's most picturesque cities, was flooded with 134.8mm of rain in 24 hours, exceeding the record set in 1917 of 122mm.

The danger of landslides rose as exposed areas were saturated by huge amounts of water. Roads had to be closed and people evacuated to safer areas. On Monday evening more than 10,000 people were cut off from the traffic infrastructure as a total of 35 roads had to be closed on the west coast.

The strong winds and large amount of precipitation prompted the Norwegian Meteorological Institute to issue an 'Extreme Weather Forecast', giving the storm a specific name, as is also done for tropical storms.

The images below show Loke on 14 November. At 06:00 UTC we see a clear separation mark where the Langfjellene mountain range separates the west coast from the eastern part of the country and a Stau situation, with the mountains blocking the eastward flow of the airmasses.

Met-8, 14 November, 06:00 UTC  RGB Composite WV6.2–WV7.3, IR9.7–IR10.8, WV6.2 Full Resolution Close-up View
Figure 1: Meteosat-8 RGB Composite WV6.2–WV7.3, IR9.7–IR10.8, WV6.2, 14 November, 06:00 UTC
Close-up View
Met-8, 14 November, 13:00 UTC
Figure 2: Meteosat-8 RGB Composite WV6.2–WV7.3, IR9.7–IR10.8, WV6.2, 14 November, 13:00 UTC
Close-up View
Met-8, 14 November, 13:00 UTC
Figure 3: Meteosat-8 Channel 12 (HRV), 14 November, 13:00 UTC
Met-8, 14 November, 12:00 UTC
Figure 4: Meteosat-8 RGB composite: VIS0.8, IR3.9r, IR10.8, 14 November, 12:00 UTC
Close-up View
Met-8, 14 November, 12:00 UTC  IR10.8 with absolute topography  overlay from ECMWF analysis Full Resolution
Figure 5: Meteosat-8 IR10.8 with absolute topography overlay from ECMWF analysis, 14 November, 12:00 UTC
Met-8, 14 November, 12:00 UTC
Figure 6: Meteosat-8 RGB Composite NIR1.6, VIS0.8, VIS0.6, 14 November, 12:00 UTC. Close-up view