By Karolina Aleknavičė, LRT.lt.

The severe storm that swept across Lithuania last month is likely to go down in the country’s weather history, according to Donatas Valiukas, head of the Climate and Research Division at Lithuania’s Hydrometeorological Service.

While powerful storms are relatively uncommon in Lithuania, the country has experienced several destructive events over the past decades – some causing deaths, widespread power outages and major damage to infrastructure.

One of the most severe struck October 17-18, 1967, when hurricane-force winds battered western Lithuania. In Klaipėda, winds reached 40 metres per second, while individual gusts may have reached 55 metres per second, according to the Hydrometeorological Service.

The storm, known as Lena in Sweden, destroyed the Palanga pier, damaged dunes and flooded parts of Klaipėda. Some 3 million to 4 million cubic meters of timber were blown down across the Samogitia region.

Another major storm, Anatol, hit Lithuania in December 1999. Wind gusts reached 40 meters per second in some areas and produced waves up to 6 metres high. A Norwegian vessel, the Seines, was washed ashore near Palanga and was not pulled back into the sea until April 2000.

Read more: LRT.LT