In recent days, parts of Austria have been hit by exceptionally heavy rainfall, far exceeding the usual amounts for September. An expert explains.
Vienna – Despite the decreasing rainfall, there is still no all-clear in the flood-affected areas of Central and Eastern Europe: In Austria, seven villages in the Tullnerfeld region in the heavily affected state of Lower Austria were evacuated on Monday and during the night of Tuesday, according to the news agency APA reported. The Red Cross has set up emergency accommodation for up to 1,000 people in the Tulln trade fair.
So far, at least 18 people have died in the floods caused by days of heavy rain in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. In Austria, another body was discovered in the floods on Monday evening.
Floods in Austria: Record rainfall in several regions
As meteorologist Johannes Graf von wetter.net reported were in In Austria, places such as Lilienfeld, St. Pölten, Langenlebarn and Lunz am See were particularly affected. Between 300 and 400 millimeters of rain were measured here. In Vienna, for example in the districts of Mariabrunn and Stammersdorf, the rainfall also reached up to 300 millimeters, according to Graf. Photos showed the masses of water on site as early as Sunday. Snow was also recorded in numerous regions.
In St. Pölten, the second highest amount of rain ever recorded in Austria fell within 24 hours over the weekend: 225 millimeters. Many places also broke records over a longer period of time, such as Lilienfeld, where 371 millimeters of rain fell, significantly surpassing the previous record of 273 millimeters from 1997.
Floods in Austria: Extreme rainfall on site
Not only individual places, but also large parts of the region experienced extreme rainfall. According to meteorologist Graf, the average in Lower Austria was around 100 millimeters, and in Vienna around 200 millimeters – values that are significantly higher than the previous major rainfall events.
Flooding in Austria is a rare weather event
According to GeoSphere Austria, this is a rare weather event, the effects of which cannot yet be fully foreseen. As Graf further explains, it is already clear that this rainfall will go down in Austria’s weather history as one of the most intense events of the last decades. In the next few days, the weather is expected to show its sunnier side again, and according to Johannes Graf, there is even a Summer return in space.
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