Sixteen days of rain, for a total of 219.6 mm. Here, in a nutshell, is the rainfall balance of what will be remembered as the fifth wettest month of May in the entire Brescia historical series, which began way back in 1950.
The confirmation comes from Nicola Gelfi, manager of the meteorological station installed at the Pastori institute, who gives us this eloquent ranking: the month of May 2010 takes first place, with an overall accumulation of 250.2 millimeters. In second place we find May 1949, with 239.3 millimetres, followed by 1988 (232.2 millimetres) and 2013 (222.6 millimetres).
Beyond all expectations
In fifth place, here is the month of May which has just ended with a haul of 219.6 millimetres. We are talking about a period which, according to statistics, often offers abundant and widespread rainfall (it is no coincidence that the month of May is one of the most unstable of the year), but this time the bad weather really exceeded all expectations, due to the succession of disturbances directed towards Northern Italy. All things considered, Brescia’s rain gauges detected more than double the rain that usually falls in the month of May. There was no shortage of sunny periods, but the leading role fell to the humid and unstable currents arriving from the western quadrants, the effects of which involved our entire province, with rain, showers and thunderstorms on several occasions.
If we then take into consideration the first five months of 2024, the rainfall surplus becomes even more evident: in the city, from January 1st to today, 665 millimeters of rain have fallenconfirming a decisive change of course, after the record drought of 2022. Leafing through the pages of the historical series of the Pastori institute, we discover that the first five months of the year were rainier only in 1977 and 2013.
Heat balance
The heat balance in May, however, was completely normal: temperatures, despite many being convinced that they had experienced a much colder month than normal, were overall in line with the average for the period. Today, according to the meteorological calendar, summer will begin: the first day of the new season, according to the forecast, will be accompanied by stable weather and significantly rising temperatures, while tomorrow afternoon there will be alternating clouds and clearings, with possible isolated rainfall, which in any case will not bring noteworthy accumulations. Starting from Tuesday, barring unlikely twists and turns, high pressure will begin to expand its range of action towards the North, embracing the Po Valley and favoring a gradual increase in temperatures. Temperatures will exceed the average for the period, but without excesses, at least for the moment. The first hot days, it seems, are very close.
