The information obtained from the various climate monitoring bodies in Luxembourg confirms what many may have guessed by tasing a look outside. July has indeed been a wet one.
The torrential rains that have swept the country since Wednesday are breaking records.
The measurements taken last night at 2 am, obtained from the meteorological service of the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, are shocking for the season.
In 24 hours, an average of 60 to 80 liters of water per square meter (l/m²) fell over the country. Up to 100-105 l/m² were observed at two measuring stations across the country, including the facility at the Pescatore.
"These torrential rains resulted in two new records of precipitation intensity for the month of July" said MeteoLux spokespersons.
And the organization gives its figures obtained at 8 am on Thursday morning: "The maximum precipitations in 12 hours and 24 hours respectively reached accumulations of 74.2 l/m² and 79.4 l/m², thus smashing the previous records that occurred on July 22, 2016". Then, rainfall was measured at 60.4 l/m² in 12 hours and 70.6 l/m² in 24 hours.
"The heavy rains that occurred during the day of the 14th and the night of the 15th is exceptional in terms of intensity for the month of July," explains Aline Freyermuth of the CLIMAT division. Especially since the summer months in the Duchy are more often used to stormy episodes, brief and intense.
"A quasi-stationary frontal system associated with a depression above Germany which caused continuous and heavy rains in the Grand Duchy in the presence of a mass of very humid air," is where experts are suggesting this is where the prolonged stemmed from.
It is too early to know if the overall precipitation record for a month of July will be broken in 2021, it is only the 15th. "The maximum monthly accumulation of precipitation ever recorded at our station during a month of July, since 1947, is 197.2 l/m² in July 2000," specifies Aline Freyermuth.
At 8 am this Thursday morning, July 2021 reached a cumulative rainfall of 131.0 l/m². This figure is already 58.9 l/m² higher than the 1991-2020 long-term average of 72.1 l/m².
