never like this since 1991. And the heat arrives

Thursday, June 20 is the summer solstice, and now the weather is really trending in that direction. After a long and intense season of rain, unprecedented in recent years, the heat is also breaking through in Bergamo: it will not be as intense as in the Centre-South, where the African anticyclone Minos will lead to peaks above 40 degrees, but the «blaze » expected in the Bergamo area these days will push the thermometer above 30 degrees. But be careful, the rains remain just around the corner: thunderstorms are forecast as early as June 21st. Not anything new, given what has happened in this first part of the year.

By systematizing the data from the ARPA control units present in Bergamo (between via Stezzano, via Goisis and via Maffei), it emerges that from 1 January to 16 June this year, 920.1 millimeters of rain fell in the capital: to be clear, it is equivalent to 83.4% of all the rain that fell in 2023, although we have not yet reached half of the year. The spring that is about to end delivers some records: in the second quarter of 2024 alone (April, May and June, always up to the 16th of this month) 548 millimeters of rain fell in the city, never so much in this same quarter since Arpa’s precise data became available (i.e. from 1991, while before that year the sources were diversified and the comparison would be imprecise). In particular, May was a decidedly wet month, with 329 millimetres: the wettest May since these data came into existence.

Now a truce is opening, albeit with different intensity depending on the area of ​​the country: «The African anticyclone arriving on Italy will be more intense in the Centre-South, with peaks of 38-40 degrees – specifies Edoardo Ferrara, meteorologist from 3bmeteo.com -, while in the North and in the Bergamo area the heat will be more subdued, although fully summery and sultry”. The forecasts from 3bmeteo.com, in particular, identify 19 and 20 June as the days most characterized by this heat: «In Bergamo, temperatures will reach 30-31 degrees, with a certain feeling of mugginess. This heat may cause some discomfort at times». However, the sky will not be completely clear: «These two days will tend to be sunny, but they could also present a sky clouded by the Saharan dust typical of the phenomenon», explains the expert. Which he adds: «Already on the evening of June 20th, even with the climate still hot and muggy, there could be a few drops of rain. The real change will take place between the 21st and 22nd, with some possible storms, even of strong intensity».