34 
Negative Surges in the Southern Baltic Sea 
January 1961 
— ■ ■ Wismar —•—Warnemünde Sassnitz < Swinoujscie — —Kotobrzeg MSL 
Fig. 5.3. b Variations of sea level decrease during the storm of 27 to 31 January 1961 
5.4. February 1962 
Meteorological situation 
On 11 February, an active depression originating 
from the area north of Scotland tracked rapidly 
east, deepening as it crossed the Norwegian Sea 
and southern Norway. On 12 February around 
noon, its centre of about 955 hPa was over 
Stockholm. The pressure gradient was very steep 
in the entire moving system. The wind system in 
duced by the approaching depression generated 
gale-force southwesterly storm of 9-10 Bft which 
backed slowly in the northeastern part of the 
coast and gradually veered in its southern part. 
Wind directions on the southern coasts, in some 
places even behind the cold front, remained 
nearly parallel to the coastline for several hours. 
Winds only veered west after the cold occlusion 
had crossed the coasts shortly after noon on 
12 February. The onshore westerly winds 
reached the northernmost part of the coast first, 
and the westernmost part last. 
Hydrological response of sea level 
Sea levels on the southwestern coast of the 
Baltic Sea oscillated close to mean sea level. In 
the night between 11 and 12 February, the south 
westerly storm led to a smooth, gradual decrease 
of sea levels which began around midnight. 
The passage of the atmospheric frontal system 
interrupted the gradual sea level decrease, and 
slightly higher levels were first observed at Sass 
nitz and Swinoujscie, as early as 12 UTC, followed 
by Kotobrzeg at 13 UTC. Around 17 UTC, the sea 
level also rose at Warnemünde. Finally Wismar 
recorded a rising sea level at about 19 UTC. The 
minimum values recorded this afternoon were as 
follows: Wismar 384 cm, Warnemünde 394 cm, 
Sassnitz 414 cm, Swinoujscie 428 cm, and 
Kotobrzeg 452 cm. Sea levels then rose again 
gradually.