Wind as a natural hazard in Poland

Abstract. The paper deals with the wind speed of strong and extreme wind events in Poland and their descriptions of their effects. Two recent estimation developed by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management in Warsaw [4] and by Lorenc [3] are presented. Their strong and weak points are briefly described. The 37 annual maximum gusts of wind speeds measured at all meteorological stations between 1971 and 2007 are analysed with extremal probability paper. Based on the measured and estimated wind speeds (taken from existing literature), the authors suggest new estimations for strong and extreme wind that may occur in Poland. In the near future, Poland is going to construct some important structures, such as a central air terminal and some nuclear power plants, so knowledge about strong and extreme winds in our country is very important for engineers who will design these types of structures. In this case, the information given in Section 6 of the ISO 1382 standard for identifying hazards, estimating, evaluating, and treating risk may be applied.