Wind as a natural hazard in Poland

Abstract. The paper deals with wind speeds of extreme wind events in Poland and the descriptions of their effects. Two recent estimations developed by the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management in Warsaw and by Halina Lorenc (a previous co-worker of the institute) are presented here. 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 by an extremal probability paper, block-maxima (BM), and peak-over-threshold (OVT) approaches. Based on the measured and estimated wind speeds (taken from existing literature), the authors suggest new estimations for extreme winds that may occur in Poland. Shortly, Poland will construct important structures, such as a central air terminal and (some) nuclear power plants, so knowledge about extreme winds in our country is significant for engineers who will design these structures.