Winter Storm Klaus: 23-24 January 2009
The Winter Storm Klaus occured from 23 to 24 January and has been one of those rare cyclones which leaved a serious path of damage, especially in northern Spain and southern France.
Reaching explosive development rates as high as 34 mb in 24 hours, and registered maximum surface wind gusts of the order of 200 km/h. Klaus cyclone, as a system with a clear surface pressure signal, approximately started on day 23 about 00 UTC, in the middle of the Atlantic, at position shown below, with a minimum MSLP value of 1000 mb, according to ECMWF / HIRLAM analysis. The track of the cyclone was purely zonal and its speed was markedly high, reaching values above 100 km/h. A minimum surface pressure of about 964 mb at cyclone center took place on day 24 at about 00 UTC, more or less maintained for several hours during the warm seclusion phase of the system.