Denmark risks new summer drought after unusually dry April
The risk of drought this summer in Denmark is high, according to national meteorology agency DMI.
Fields across the country are already extremely dry after an April unusually short on rain, DMI says.
That means the risk of a summer drought, such as the one experienced by the country in 2018, is increased.
“(Dry weather in April) means that the soil is extremely dry in fields and in gardens. Grass is not growing,” DMI meteorologist Frank Nielsen said.
“This comes after a March that had record rainfall levels, so you might naturally wonder how things can turn so quickly that we have already reached such a high drought index,” Nielsen added.
Just 6.4 millimetres of rain have fallen in Denmark since March 19th, according to DMI, while there has been an average of eight hours of sunshine per day. The drought index has increased from 0 to just under 9 during that time.
“This is very unusual. Normally, drought indices are first seen in May or June,” Nielsen said.
The meteorologist resisted the conclusion that a drought was certain to follow during this year’s summer months.
“It is too early to say. But you can say this is a bad start. It increases the risk, but we cannot conclude that it will be as bad as last summer,” he said.
Last year’s summer was extraordinarily warm and dry, and the resulting cost to Denmark’s agriculture sector was high, with losses at 4.1 billion kroner relative to a normal year, Ritzau writes.
Vocabulary
drought -- tørke
rainfall, precipitation -- nedbør
unusual -- usædvanligt
We're aiming to help our readers improve their Danish by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know.
READ ALSO: Danish agriculture loses millions to drought
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Fields across the country are already extremely dry after an April unusually short on rain, DMI says.
That means the risk of a summer drought, such as the one experienced by the country in 2018, is increased.
“(Dry weather in April) means that the soil is extremely dry in fields and in gardens. Grass is not growing,” DMI meteorologist Frank Nielsen said.
“This comes after a March that had record rainfall levels, so you might naturally wonder how things can turn so quickly that we have already reached such a high drought index,” Nielsen added.
Just 6.4 millimetres of rain have fallen in Denmark since March 19th, according to DMI, while there has been an average of eight hours of sunshine per day. The drought index has increased from 0 to just under 9 during that time.
“This is very unusual. Normally, drought indices are first seen in May or June,” Nielsen said.
The meteorologist resisted the conclusion that a drought was certain to follow during this year’s summer months.
“It is too early to say. But you can say this is a bad start. It increases the risk, but we cannot conclude that it will be as bad as last summer,” he said.
Last year’s summer was extraordinarily warm and dry, and the resulting cost to Denmark’s agriculture sector was high, with losses at 4.1 billion kroner relative to a normal year, Ritzau writes.
Vocabulary
drought -- tørke
rainfall, precipitation -- nedbør
unusual -- usædvanligt
We're aiming to help our readers improve their Danish by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know.
READ ALSO: Danish agriculture loses millions to drought
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