It’s official: The heavy rains that started pouring down on southern and eastern Norway in June resulted in the wettest summer since 1900. This year’s summer rains also drowned the last record set in 1950.
News bureau NTB reported over the weekend that the entire country had the second-wettest summer, beaten only by the rain that fell in 1964.
Weather statistics from the state meteorological institute showed that precipitation for the nation as a whole amounted to 140 percent of normal. In 1964, the precipitation was 145 percent of normal.
For southern Norway on the eastern side of the mountains (Østlandet), the precipitation this summer was 195 percent of normal. That means it rained nearly twice as much in June, July and August as it normally does. The last record for Østlandet was set in 1950, when it rained 165 percent of normal.
The rain reports shore up predictions that the weather in Norway, as in many other places, will get wetter and wilder as the years go on, and the autumn storm season is just beginning. Officials have been calling for more measures to help prevent landslides and flooding, and to restrict building in areas now more vulnerable to slides and floods.
Views and News staff
