Weather bureau warns of heavy rain in western Bulgaria from June 16 to 18
Bulgaria’s weather bureau has warned that heavy rain is expected in many parts of the western half of the country from June 16 to 18.
Rainfall exceeding 100mm per square metre is expected, the weather bureau said.
As The Sofia Globe reported earlier, authorities have issued weather warnings for several parts of Bulgaria for June 16, including nine Code Orange warnings of dangerous weather because of heavy rain and thunderstorms. Further Code Orange warnings are expected for June 17.
In a Facebook post on 24-hour rainfall up to 8.30am on June 15, rainfall of 61 litres per square metre was measured in capital city Sofia’s Mladost 1 residential area.
During the weekend, there will be rain and thunderstorms in the eastern parts of the country, and there is an increased probability of heavy weather and hail in more places, it said.
Weekend temperatures are expected to range between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius.
The first half of next week will see a slow improvement in weather, but on Monday and Tuesday there will still be brief afternoon showers and thunderstorms, mainly in the east. Temperatures will start to rise and by Wednesday the maximum will be between 28 and 33 degrees.
Sofia municipality said that mayor Yordanka Fandukova had ordered constant monitoring of riverbeds and dams in the municipality, given the forecast for continued heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
Emergency teams have been told to deploy and to be ready to respond to reports. District mayors have been told to ensure monitoring of bodies of water in their districts.
Metropolitan Inspectorate teams, cleaning companies, parks and gardens maintenance companies have been ordered to carry out checks.
The June 15 statement by the municipality said that currently, six teams from the emergency services and prevention directorate and three from the municipal fire brigade were deployed, responding to reports and removing fallen trees in the bed of the Iskar River in Sofia’s Vrazhdebna quarter.
An Irrigation Systems team carried out a controlled release from the Pancharevo Dam.
Bulgarian National Television reported Velingrad municipality as saying on June 15 that a controlled release of water from the Malka Mutnitsa dam had begun because the volume of water had reached the critical maximum.
On June 13, Economy and Industry Minister Bogdan Bogdanov ordered 24-hour monitoring of all dams in Bulgaria, the ministry said.
Earlier this week, Berkovitsa declared a state of emergency after being inundated with heavy rain that caused serious disruption, prompting the Defence Ministry to deploy military personnel to assist in clean-up efforts.
(Main photo: Stephen Topp/flickr.com)
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