This work describes the meteorological and oceanographic conditions in the ELWIND wind farm development site in the west of the Sõrve peninsula in Saaremaa Island.
Annual and monthly wind roses show the dominance of southwesterly winds as well known for the Baltic Sea area. Strong southwesterlies are more common in autumn and winter period while winds are generally weaker in spring and autumn. Wind gust speeds have been up to 35 m/s in the nearby coastal stations. In the ELWIND site the gust wind speed could be even higher.
Typically for the Baltic Sea, there are no permanent currents in the ELWIND area. The temporal variability of currents is high and related to the wind forcing and its variability. In the southern side of the ELWIND area, the long-term mean current is parallel to the Sõrve peninsula to the north. In the northern part of the ELWIND area, the long-term mean current turns to the west. The current reverses in the case of winds from the northerly sector. The current speed is quite low in the area and currents with speed above 0.5 m/s are rare. Sea level variability is also quite low in the area, the amplitude of daily sea level was less than 2 m for the 30-year period.
There is strong interannual variability of ice coverage and its properties in the ELWIND area. Ice coverage does not occur every winter in the area. Ice coverage has decreased in recent decades, and the decreasing trend is expected to continue also in the future, but occasionally winters with severe ice conditions with ice thickness of 50 cm still could occur in the ELWIND area. The average length of ice cover is less than one month during ice season and most ice is in the form of drifting ice. The occurrence of deformed ice is rather low in the ELWIND area, however, during severe winters considerable ridged ice could occur in the area.
The main force generating waves, currents, and sea level variations in the Baltic Sea is coming from wind. There is a clear tendency that higher significant wave height occurs when wind is stronger. High waves occur primarily with wind from the southwest and also with northwesterly winds. Stronger currents co-occur with stronger wind, higher sea level is associated with the southwesterly winds. There is a multiscale temporal impact of wind on the sea level variability, i.e. not only the instantaneous and synoptic scale wind determine the sea level height, but also for instance long-term wind forcing regulates water exchange between Baltic and North Sea and thereby overall water volume and sea level in the Baltic Sea. The sea level amplitude is quite low in the ELWIND area.
