Scandinavia drought 2018
In the summer of 2018 the scandinavian countries were affected by an unusually strong drought lasting most of the summer months. Norway and Sweden were especially hard hit. In Norway it was mostly Østlandet (southeast Norway) that was affected, though most of southern Norway felt the drought. In Sweden almost the whole of the country was affected. The drought was very troublesome for the farmers as both water and grass forage for the animals soon became in short supply. In addition wildfires became a large problem, increasing into July. In Norway up to 100 and in Sweden even more was raging at a given time in the middle of July. In the middle of this month Sweden was assisted by fire extinguisahing helicopters from Norway as well as two water dumping aeroplanes from Italy through the EU-system. Even Norway signalled need for dedicated aeroplanes from EU. It was said to be one of the toughest droughts in Scandinavia in recent history.
The drought as it developed[edit]
April-May[edit]
After a cold winter with a lingering high-pressure system over Scandinavia the general situation continued into the late spring. As the atmosphere was warming in the summer half of the year this led to to a situation of unusually precipitation poor weather. Following the first week of May, the weather became unseasonably warm, and especially the last part of May was quite a bit warmer and drier for most parts of southern Norway. The situation was somewhat similar in Sweden and Denmark.
June[edit]
The drought became early on very noticable as the month of June progressed.[1]
July[edit]
The weather was not any wetter in the first part of July as in June in Norway. The severe drought continued unabated.
Agricultural crisis[edit]
Norway[edit]
The main problem was that the harvesting of grass crops for animal fodder was far below the normal level.[2] In some locations there was hardly any grass. In addition the growth of grain crops like wheat was far below its normal level because of lack of precipitaton.[3] Many farmers didn't see any choice but to send a large part of their cow herds to be slaughtered.[4] In July the general public started to try to help the farmers by searching for supply of grass fodder from any available sources. Farmers counceling telephones were receiving an increasing number of calls from farmers fearing loosing their livelihood and farms. Importing grass supplies from North America was considered, but the fear of importing diseases with it was pointed out as a risk from govermental authorities. The goverment and especially the Minister of Agriculture from the right wing Progress Party was critized by the farming organisations and political parties in opposition to be quite lackluster in allowing govermental resources to remedy the situation.
Sweden[edit]
The warm and dry weather was likewise inflicting problems for swedish agriculture.
Denmark[edit]
In June the drought in Denmark became a very noticeable problem for the the farming industry.
Wildfires[edit]
Norway[edit]
In June the number and extent of wildfires started to become a problem. The meteorologists noted that they didn't see an end to the warm and dry weather. In July the number of wildfires increased and at a point before the middle of the month the number of wildfires increased at a time to about 100 at a time.[5] The number and the spread of them starting to mount to a level where the fire brigades and other additional troops could not cope with all. A substantial number of the fires were caused by lightning from thunderstorms. A preliminary call to EU for water dropping aeroplanes was issued, but so far not demanded.
Sweden[edit]
As the area of warm and dry weather was more extended to the north, the numer and size of the wildfires were greater in Sweden. Especially the middle part of Sweden is hard affected. A large wildfire next to the norwegian border near the Trysil area of Norway is transporting smoke and ash across the border in the middle of July. At this time the general situation necessitated the help of a number of helicopters from Norway in addition to two aeroplanes from Italy under EU cooperation.[6]
Other problems[edit]
Because of the lack of water from water reservoirs the restriction of use of water for domestic garden irrigation was restricted in many communities, in Norway mostly in the region of Østlandet. Lighting of campfires or bonfires was prohibited and strongly warned against in large areas of Norway. Because of low water levels in reservoirs the prices of electric power was increasing and projected to stay at an unusually elevated level throughout the summer and beyond untill substantial rainfall would occur.
References[edit]
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