Storforsen is a
waterfall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...
on the
Pite River
The Pite River (''Bidumedno'' in Pite Sami. ''Piteälven'', ''Pite älv'' or ''Piteå älv'' in Swedish.) is a river in northern Sweden, flowing through the Norrbotten County. It is one of the four major rivers in Norrland that have been left mo ...
in Swedish
Norrbottens län
Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or ''län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders ...
is located approximately 38 km northwest of
Älvsbyn
Älvsbyn (; translating to "the river village") is a locality and the seat of Älvsbyn Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 4,967 inhabitants in 2010. It is known as "The Pearl of Norrbotten".
Älvsbyn has a railway station that is serv ...
. With an average flow of 187 m
3/s, the rapids are one of the most voluminous in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. The rapids stretch over a distance of 5 km in which it drops 82 meters 60 of which are a single waterfall.
Flow usually is highest at
midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...
: 870 m
3/s. During the floodyear 1995 a volume of 1200 cubic metres flowed down Storforsen each second.
To prevent accidents the rocks surrounding the rapids are fenced, views being readily accessible to the public via ramps. While the rapids were used in previous years to transport logs, today its surroundings are part of a nature park, visited by 150,000 people each year.
Image gallery
Image:Storforsen-18.JPG
Image:Storforsen-23.JPG
Image:Storforsen-28.JPG
Image:Storforsen1.jpg
Image:Storforsen2.jpg
Image:Storforsen3.jpg
Image:Storforsen in early Winter.jpg
See also
*
List of waterfalls by flow rate
This list of waterfalls by flow rate includes all waterfalls which are known to have an average flow rate or discharge of at least . The waterfalls in this list are those for which there is verifiable information for, and should not be assumed to ...
References
External links
Storforsen at the website of Älvsbyn municipality
{{commons, Storforsen
Pite River basin
Rapids
Rivers of Norrbotten County