Some areas of the province of Drenthe saw as much rain on Sunday as they normally get in a month.
By Hans de Preter / Translation by Traci White
RTV Drenthe reports that weather watchers at Noorderweer say that such extreme rainfalls are likely to become the new normal in the province due to climate change.
Rainfall totals varied significantly across the province: De Wijk only got 5 millimetres of rain, but Klijndijk got 67 millimeters, which is more than the average for the entire month of May.
Heavy showers
Noorderweer says that such extreme rainfall is becoming increasingly common, particularly in the spring and summer. “The frequency is increasing because the is earth heating up due to human activity. Warmer air contains more moisture than cooler air, and as the amount of water in the air increases, so does the intensity of the rainfall.”
“Earth is projected to continue getting warmer over the next 50 years, so we can expect this kind of weather to happen more regularly. On average, any given town in the Netherlands will be impacted by a cloudburst about four times in a decade”, according to the weather bureau.
Photo source: RTV Drenthe
