A comprehensive database of strong winds, based on documentary evidence, was created for Poland in the 17th century. It extends the existing database, which ends in 1600 (for details see Przybylak et al. 2025), by another 100 years (until 1700). The construction of the present database is identical to that of the already published first-mentioned database. Three types of documentary sources were used: handwritten and unpublished, published, and so-called “secondary” literature (e.g. articles, and monographs). The database contains detailed information about the occurrence of strong winds (the location/region, time, duration and indexation for intensity, extent and character of damage), as well as the exact textual content of the original weather note, the name of the source, and an evaluation of the source’s quality. Five categories of strong winds were delimited: 1 − fresh and strong breeze (Beaufort scale 5–7), 2 − gale (8–9), 3 − storm (10–12), 4 − squall (i.e., gusty wind during a thunderstorm), and 5 - tornadoes. The intensity, extent, and character of damage were estimated based on the proposition given by Brázdil et al. (2004), which we slightly modified to include the Baltic Sea and its influence on coastal parts. The methodology follows that utilised by Przybylak et al. (2025) for the analysis of strong winds prior to the 17th century.
References:
Brázdil R, Dobrovolný P., Štekl J., Kotyza O., Valášek H, Jež J., 2004, History of weather and climate in the Czech Lands VI: Strong winds, Masaryk University, Brno.
Przybylak R., Araźny A., Filipiak J., Oliński P., Wyszyński P., Szwaba A. 2025. Strong wind occurrence in Poland from the 13th to 16th centuries based on documentary evidence, Clim. Past, 21, 1501–1519, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-1501-2025
(2026-10-06)
