First New Year’s storm in 30 years hits Vlieland, wind reaches force 9
The first New Year’s storm in three decades struck the Netherlands early Wednesday, with Vlieland recording sustained wind speeds of force 9 between 2 and 3 a.m. This marks the seventh New Year’s storm since records began and the first since 1995.
"This is a significant weather event," meteorologists noted, with historical data showing previous New Year’s storms occurred in 1995, 1981, 1976, 1949, 1925, and 1916.
The storm, officially the first of 2025 and the second of the 2024-2025 winter season, brought severe gusts up to 93 kilometers per hour on Vlieland. Stronger gusts were recorded in Stavoren and IJmuiden, reaching 95 kilometers per hour. IJmuiden also experienced sustained storm conditions during the early morning hours.
The KNMI defines an official storm as having an average wind speed of force 9 sustained over at least one hour at one of its weather stations. Gusts or brief intervals of storm-force winds do not qualify as an official storm unless sustained for a full hour.
An official severe storm requires sustained winds of force 10, and a very severe storm is classified by average wind speeds reaching force 11.
Forecasters warned that the storm would persist, with wind speeds possibly increasing later in the morning. The northwest coast could experience extremely severe gusts of up to 105 kilometers per hour by midday. Conditions are expected to improve by the evening as winds decrease and skies clear.
The previous winter season, 2023-2024, saw four winter storms. Storm Pia struck on December 21, 2023, with wind force 9 recorded on Vlieland and Lauwersoog. This was followed by storm Henk on January 2, storm Isha on January 22, and storm Jocelyn on January 24.
In contrast, the 2022-2023 winter season recorded no storms, marking the first time since 1933 that both the meteorological autumn and winter were storm-free. The 2021-2022 winter season, however, experienced six storms, including Corrie, Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin, which struck in February 2022.
