Just over two million cubic metres of Swedish forest fell during Storm Dave over the Easter weekend, with damage valued at two billion kronor. That is according to a joint assessment from the Swedish Forest Agency and Södra, completed after inventories of storm-affected properties across southern Sweden.
Wood Central understands that damage was concentrated across Götaland, with Västra Götaland County worst affected, followed by Jönköping County. Hurricane-force winds were recorded in parts of southern Sweden as Dave crossed from the British Isles on Easter Sunday, though the scale of destruction fell well short of early fears.
Estimating the extent has proved difficult because the damage is widely spread rather than concentrated in a single zone. “The damage is spread over a large area, and locally a relatively large amount of forest has fallen, which we received reports about already last week,” said Mattias Sparf, regional damage coordinator at the Swedish Forest Agency.
Västra Götaland County absorbed the heaviest hit, with roughly one million cubic metres of forest flattened. Jönköping County recorded just under 500,000 cubic metres, whilst the neighbouring counties of Östergötland, Kalmar, Kronoberg, Halland and Örebro collectively lost approximately another 500,000 cubic metres.
Södra’s own inventory confirms about one million cubic metres of damage on member-owned land across Götaland, concentrated in Västra Götaland and parts of Jönköping. Spruce accounts for 61 per cent of the damaged volume, pine for 35 per cent, and hardwood for the remaining 4 per cent, with the cooperative noting that the pine share is slightly higher than typical in storm damage.
To meet demand in the worst-affected areas, Södra is moving staff and redirecting harvesting and truck capacity toward storm-felled stands, and has urged members to contact their advisers quickly to plan salvage harvesting. Harvest rates may fall temporarily in less-damaged parts of its footprint as the cooperative prioritises storm-felled timber, a shift compounded by softer industrial demand for sawlog assortments during the period.
Dave’s late-season timing heightens the risk of spruce bark beetle, with damaged spruce likely to become breeding material as spring temperatures rise. Sparf urged affected landowners to assess the damage quickly but cautiously before engaging a timber buyer, warning against owners attempting to process storm-felled timber themselves. “Forest owners who lack experience or training in working in storm-felled forests should not take on the processing of the timber themselves, as it is risky,” he said.
Dave’s two million cubic metre tally is dwarfed by Storm Johannes, which tore through central and northern Sweden at Christmas and felled close to 11 million cubic metres, the worst hit to Swedish forests in more than a decade.
