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The storm warning station

Until the early 1900s, disasters at sea often occured. Fishermen were unpleasantly surprised by severe, unexpected storms. To prevent this, so-called signal masts were put up along the Swedish coast. A combination of different figures were hoisted on the mast to show which weather could be expected. When bad weather of a half-gale or more was foreseen, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute called those responsible for deciding which signals should be hoisted. In 1906 a mast was built on the summit of Stibyberget. The symbols, or baskets as they were called locally, were a cone, funnel and ball. They were made of strong, braided wooden strips treated with tar to resist weather and wind. The baskets were big, with a diameter of about one and and a half metres, in order to be visible from far out at sea. After Swedish Radio introduced its weather forecasts in 1940, the signal mast was not used any more. Locally the signal mast was called “the ball pole”. The current mast is a model of the original.