Remembering Hurricane "Erwin" that battered Latvia in 2005

On January 9, 2005, hurricane "Erwin" swept across Latvia, and it remains regarded as the most powerful and destructive storm the country has seen in the last fifty years. The storm left massive damage in its wake — entire forest areas were flattened, ports and city streets were flooded, and roofs were torn off many homes.

In various parts of the country, wind gusts reached as high as 40 meters per second, with the Kurzeme region and the coastal areas along the Gulf of Riga suffering the worst damage. By early morning, most of Latvia's population was left without electricity, heating, or telephone service.

Then-Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis stated at the time that the country had never experienced destruction on such a scale, noting that the disruption to communications and power supply was especially alarming, even posing a risk to national security. Given the severity of the situation, the government declared an energy crisis.

Recalled amid a recent storm

The 2005 events are being recalled in connection with a report from Latvian public broadcaster LSM, which, citing data from the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said that the storm experienced overnight into August 23 was the strongest summer storm since 1966, the year from which reliable wind gust observations for Latvia's territory are available.

Until now, the strongest summer storm on record was the one that struck on July 28–29, 2024, when wind gusts reached storm force at eight meteorological observation stations and severe storm force at two others.