An unwanted visitor will knock on the Netherlands’ door on Thursday: tropical hurricane Kirk is making its way here from across the Atlantic. And it’s bearing gifts: heavy rain and strong wind gusts.
By the time it reaches the Netherlands, the hurricane should have weakened into an intense storm, says the KNMI (Royal Dutch Weather Institute), who issued the warning yesterday.
Dangerous weather ahead
Kirk originated in the Caribbean and immediately started its journey across the Atlantic, growing into a category 4 hurricane.
As it encountered colder winds, it has weakened considerably, and is now technically an “ex-hurricane”.
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If it keeps following the current route, Kirk is actually not expected to hit the Netherlands directly, but rather to make its entrance in Western Europe through Northern Spain and France.
However, this doesn’t mean that we’ll be spared completely. According to the KNMI, the storm will still bring “dangerous weather” across the Netherlands.
Kirk is a swinger
As a tropical hurricane from the Caribbean that immediately headed across the ocean, instead of hitting North America first, Kirk is known as a “swinger”.
Swingers used to be a pretty rare occurrence: in the last 400 years, only 10% of tropical hurricanes originating in the Caribbean took this route.
However, due to climate change, swingers are becoming more and more common. 😏
While these hurricanes usually lose most of their power by the time they reach Europe, they can still wreak havoc, causing unusually strong storms.
Brace yourselves then, because we might be welcoming more of Kirk’s swinger friends in the future. 🙃
Are you ready for the first proper storm of this autumn? Us neither — let’s complain together in the comments below.
