OCTAVIA BOGDAN , MARIA COŞCONEA
ABSTRACT. - Wind blown-down trees in Romania – Case studies for the Curvature area of the Eastern Carpathians. The present paper presents one of the catastrophic cases of wind blown-down trees occurred in the Curvature Carpathians (the southern group of the Eastern Carpathians) on November 5/6, 1995. The event happened because of the wind gusts and the blizzard that lasted approximately 24 hours, caused by the interference of the high pressure belt connecting the Azores High, the Scandinavian and the East European Highs with the low pressure centres located over the Mediterranean and the south of the Balkan Peninsula. The meteorological conditions on the days of concern (rain, sleet, snow, blizzard), as well as the local circumstances, favoured the phenomenon to occur. In order to emphasize its magnitude and its being a climatic hazard/risk, there were studied its localization, genetic causes (synoptic context, meteorological conditions, local circumstances), acting manner, consequences and the risk management (which suggests a methodology for studying such phenomena). This paper underlines that the wind-blown trees event of November 5/6, 1995 was the most “spectacular” of the last decades, triggering catastrophic consequences (5 221 ha affected and 2 518 000 m3 of blown-down wood mass). This event ranks as a catastrophic one, since it was able to cause the largest imaginable damages for its kind to the national economy and the environment.
Key words: catastrophic wind-blown tree events, risk management, Carpathian Curvature, Romania