«The rain that fell in May interrupts the series of months with below-average rainfall, but does not reduce the deficit accumulated in recent months. The regional average of monthly precipitation was approximately 47 millimetres, significantly higher than the norm for the period 2003-2022 which was approximately 17 millimetres”. This is what emerges from the analysis of the Sicilian Agrometeorological Service (Sias) based on the data collected by the monitoring stations.
«The regional average number of rainy days – explain Sias – was equal to 4.5 compared to a normal value of 3.1, with a maximum of 9 rainy days recorded by the Sias Linguaglossa Etna Nord station (Catania) and a minimum of 2 rainy days recorded by the Pantelleria station and by several stations in the central southern sector in the provinces of Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Ragusa – they add from the service – on the Sias network the maximum monthly accumulation of 167.4 mm was recorded by the Linguaglossa Etna station North (CT), which also recorded the maximum daily accumulation on day 9 with 65.6 mm. The hopes of repeating the exceptional contributions of May 2023 were thus dashed.” The rains, where they fell more abundantly, brought benefits not only to the tree crops, but also to the cereals and fodder crops of the cooler hilly and mountainous areas, especially in the western sector, where the crops were still in a sufficiently good vegetative state, such to still be able to take advantage of these not too late contributions.
«At the end of May the precipitation accumulated in Sicily in the last 12 months – concludes Sias – with a regional average of 453 mm, fell below the psychological threshold of 500 mm on average, a value that had not been recorded since the great drought of 2002, when in the same period the average accumulation was 415 mm. The areas of the region stand out, mainly in central-eastern Sicily and in the central-southern band, where annual accumulations are less than 300 mm, with deficits that reach over 60% at an annual level, as in Catania, where with only 240 mm fell in a year, over 400 mm of rain is missing.”
