Rain and snow, the North leads: +42% above average. Drought in the South
Italy has experienced two winters: rain and snow in the North, drought in the South and islands. From today the new Lab24-CIMA Foundation dashboard with all provincial data is online
3' min read
3' min read
There have been two winters in Italy. The one in the north brought rain and snow at high altitudes such as we have not seen in years. From the Apennines downwards, and particularly in the southern regions and islands, the drought emergency has worsened.
Now available on the Sole 24 Ore website is a page realised by Lab24 and in collaboration with Fondazione CIMA, which contains up-to-date data on the most significant variables for monitoring the state of water, snow, soil moisture and temperature in the various Italian provinces. With timely and constantly updated data, on a monthly basis, from 2011 to date.
The two Italian winters
.The latest available snapshot tells us that after two years of deficit, the snow water equivalent (Swe), an indicator that defines the water contained in snow, has risen nationally from +1% in April to +42% today compared to the 2011-2022 average. This is a key value, because snowmelt in spring, and thus its quantity, fills our catchment areas.
"The recovery occurred at the tail end of the winter," says Francesco Avanzi, researcher at CIMA Research Foundation, "in the Po basin we went from the end of February, when we had a snow water equivalent deficit of 60%, to the current +40%. For this time of year we are in one of the years with the most snow since 2011. And half of our snow goes into the Po basin'.
CIMA Foundation is a research body and centre of expertise of the Italian Civil Protection Department on climate change-related risks (floods, forest fires, droughts).
