Wind Gusts Ease Overnight in Latvia After Friday Storm Peaked at 28 m/s in Ventspils
Data from the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre show the strongest gusts hit Ventspils at 28 m/s on Friday evening, then gradually weakened overnight. Gusts are forecast to stay below 15 m/s on Saturday.
Strong winds struck Latvia's coast and Riga on Friday evening, but gusts gradually weakened overnight into Saturday, 10 October, without setting new records. This is according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVĢMC), the state agency responsible for weather observations and forecasts.
Strongest gusts on Friday evening
Over the past 24 hours, the strongest gusts were recorded in Ventspils, where wind speed reached 28 metres per second (m/s) at 8 p.m. On the Liepāja coast, gusts hit 25 m/s at 9 p.m. In Riga, at the Daugavgrīva observation station, they reached 22 m/s at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
From 11 p.m., gusts at all three stations began to ease gradually.
Situation on Saturday morning
Around 7 a.m. on Saturday, gusts were about 16 m/s at Daugavgrīva, 12 m/s in Ventspils and 7 m/s on the Liepāja coast.
Warnings and forecast
On Friday, a yellow-level strong wind warning was in force in Riga and elsewhere in the country. In western coastal Kurzeme, an orange storm warning remained in effect until late evening, and a cell broadcast alert, which is sent to mobile phone users, was also issued.
Forecasters expect that on Saturday southerly and south-westerly gusts will no longer exceed 15 m/s.
