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Hurricane in South Russia comparable with Great Storm of 1854 only — expert

"The fact is also interesting that the Balaclava Storm became the cause of creating the first scientific method of weather forecasting," Roman Vilfand noted

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. The hurricane that came down the south of European Russia on Monday became the strongest throughout the history of weather observations, research director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia Roman Vilfand told TASS.

"We searched for a long time for an analog of the gale in the south of European Russia but there was no such strong one throughout the history of weather observation. However, there is a similar event in times of the Crimean War that occurred 169 ago - the famous Great Storm in Balaclava. Then, on November 14, about a hundred British, French, and Turkish ships were destroyed. It was an incredible and horrific occurrence, judging from descriptions," the expert said.

"The fact is also interesting that the Balaclava Storm became the cause of creating the first scientific method of weather forecasting. There were lore before and the absolutely unsuccessful attempts to make forecasts at a household level," Vilfand added.

The wind will remain strong in coming days but such strong gusts as today are not expected anymore, he added.