«April further extended in Sicily a now long series of months with lower than normal rainfall, which began last September, which is increasingly seen as an extreme anomaly compared to the Sicilian climate. The hopes of a significant recovery of the heavy deficit accumulated during the autumn and winter were concentrated above all on the beginning of the month, when significant amounts of rain could have saved at least part of the cereal production, which in some areas went instead of all lost. The regional average of monthly precipitation was approximately 23 mm, compared to a normal value of 41 mm for the period 2003-2023″. The technicians of the Sicilian agrometeorological information service say so.
«The phenomena were practically completely absent in the first part of the month, while the three disturbances that occurred in the second part of the month affected the island only marginally and were characterized by an almost total absence of convective activity, thus producing widespread but quantitatively not significant – add Sias – The regional average number of rainy days was equal to 3.2 compared to a normal value of 6, with a maximum of 8 rainy days recorded by the SIAS Cesarò Monte Soro (Me) station and a minimum of a single rainy day recorded by the Santa Croce Camerina (Rg) station. On the Sias network, the maximum monthly accumulation of 78.6 mm was recorded by the San Fratello station (Me), while the maximum daily accumulation was recorded on day 16 by the Gangi station (Pa) with 27 mm”.
Dry invasions
Today the association of basin consortia, the Anbi, is also raising the alarm, speaking of a dramatic situation,
«Despite a timid recovery (just over 13 million cubic meters in a month) – explains the Anbi -, in the Sicilian reservoirs there is a total lack of around 670 million cubic meters of water (-68%), but above all we are well 145 million below the previous negative record, recorded in the drought of 2017.”
«According to the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service – continues the Anbi -, from September 2023 the average rainfall deficit in the region is around 300 millimetres, with peaks of mm. 350 in the province of Catania: this means that the water supply in the traditionally rainiest months (from September to April) is practically halved compared to the historical average of 620 mm!
«The month of March on the island was extremely dry for the central and especially south-eastern provinces – explains the association -, where the cumulative temperatures recorded were between 70% and 90% lower than the norm in most of the municipalities between the provinces of Catania, Syracuse, Enna and Caltanissetta”.
According to the Anbi “the basins of Disueri, Comunelli and Cimia, in the province of Caltanissetta, are almost empty, retaining volumes of water of less than one million cubic metres”.
