- Drought affects 37 percent of Slovakia’s territory with extreme intensity and duration.
- In the last 90 days, most of Slovakia lacked 75 to 100 millimeters of precipitation.
- The lack of moisture causes impaired soil saturation and limited availability of water to vegetation.
- Significant drought significantly increases the risk of fires in the entire territory.
Dry conditions in Slovakia persist for a very long time, which is then gradually reflected in soil dryness. Extreme drought covers approximately 37 percent of the territory of Slovakia. On Monday, during a press conference, climatologist of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) Lívia Labudová stated this. Currently, the precipitation deficit in 90 days in most of the territory is 75 to 100 millimeters. This is the value or amount of water that is missing in the last three months compared to the long-term average that should be there.
“In Zemplín, in the central part of the Danube Plain and in the south of Záhoria, we lack even more, it is 100 to 125 millimeters, which is actually less than 40 percent of the normal value that should occur here at the given time.” said the climatologist. In most of western Slovakia, as well as in the Slovak Karst, the Košice Basin, and the upper and lower Zemplín, the drought has lasted almost 120 days. In the extreme northeast, it is several days more, in the range of 120 to 140 days.
According to Labudova, each category of drought represents a problem for vegetation and water drainage from the country. “This is also shown by the state of relative saturation of the soil, which continues to deteriorate over time. As a result, the availability of water for vegetation in more or less the entire territory of Slovakia also deteriorates,” said the climatologist.
According to Labuda, there is a significant lack of moisture for the ecosystems found here in almost all of Slovakia. “If we were to look at some absolute numbers, that is, how many liters are missing for each square meter to a depth of one meter of soil, then on approximately 40 percent of the territory we are missing 40 to 60 liters per square meter,” Labudová added.
According to Labudová, in the case of a drought forecast, the situation is expected to persist and gradually worsen, especially in the west and east of Slovakia. “Central Slovakia and the Prešov region on the border with the Žilina region temporarily expects an improvement in the middle of the week, but it will only be a temporary or temporary improvement, and then by the end of the week we expect the situation to worsen again,” she explained. As she added, most improvements are only temporary and the drought is expected to worsen again.
According to a climatologist from the SHMÚ, the severe drought also translates into the risk of fires starting and spreading. “Currently, we have a very high risk of fires in the entire territory of Slovakia. This can be mitigated by locally occurring showers and storms,” she said. At the same time, she urged people to be careful when handling fire in the natural environment.
