The Baltic storm surges of 1872 and 2023 – what do they have in common?

Abstract

The Baltic Sea storm surge of 20 October 2023 was one of the highest observed on the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The storm of 13 November 1872 is still the highest rec-orded one in the western Baltic Sea in the last two centuries. In Flensburg, a water level of 3.31 m during the 1872 event and 2.27 m on 20 October 2023 were observed. Both storm events occurred in autumn and are characterised by a similar atmospheric weather situation with a stationary high-pressure area over Scandinavia and a low-pressure area over Central Europe. This led to a strong pressure gradient over the western Baltic Sea and resulted in strong easterly winds with up to 30 m/s at Lighthouse Kiel and particularly high wind surges, which in both cases challenged the coastal protection at the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein.