August rainfall proves highly beneficial, with 62mm falling in a single day

Local rainTop NewsWeather August rainfall proves highly beneficial, with 62mm falling in a single day Vroxes 1 1536x864 Relevant News August rainfall proves highly beneficial, with 62mm falling in a single day 19 August 2026 Cyprus tourist arrivals fall 1.1% in July as Israel surge offsets European declines 19 August 2026 Jet ski accident reveals delay in new Cyprus boating rules 19 August 2026 newsroom 19 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Recent August rainfall has brought abundant water, with amounts in some cases up to 22 times higher than normal for the season. In Makedonitissa, in the capital, rainfall reached 62mm in just one day. Meteorological Department director Filippos Tymvios told philenews that it rained extremely large amounts in very specific spots. He said the rain, along with the unstable air mass that brought it, will ease from tomorrow, Thursday, followed by a noticeable rise in temperature. According to Meteorological Department data for the 24-hour period of August 17, Tymvios said the rain showed very high localisation. He said the average rainfall was 2.6mm, but individual areas recorded far higher amounts. Readings across all stations showed: Makedonitissa: 62.2mm Xyliatos: 47.2mm Gefyri Panagias, automatic station: 30.6mm CYTA SAT Kakoratzia: 25.3mm Gefyri Panagias, conventional station: 22.4mm Lefkara Dam and Lefkara: 21.7mm Kapoura: 17.5mm Athalassa: 14.5mm Nicosia: 13.5mm Kornos: 11mm Polystypos: 7.8mm Larnaca Airport: 4.8mm The surface distribution of the rainfall showed three main rain cores: the first and most intense on the western and northwestern side of Nicosia, a second in the Lefkara and Kakoratzia area, and a third towards Gefyri Panagias and the surrounding areas. In western Cyprus and many coastal areas, by contrast, Tymvios said rainfall was minimal or non-existent, adding that Tamassos, despite lying between the three storms, saw no rain at all. Βροχές δρόμοι Where August rainfall was highest Regarding August’s figures, Tymvios said the month is already 31% above the average rainfall for the whole month, reaching an average of 3.8mm compared with the normal 2.9mm for the month. The highest percentages this August were recorded at Gefyri Panagias, which has accumulated 22 times more water than normal for the month (1,493%). Kornos followed, 14 times above normal (1,108%), then Larnaca Airport, 4 times above normal (800%), and Athalassa, 14 times above normal (209%). Tymvios said August rain and storms are relatively rare but not unprecedented. He said other years have also seen intense local storms with very high percentages, citing August 2023, when average rainfall in the government-controlled areas reached 197% of normal, while the local rate at Kalavasos Dam reached 9,500%. He also cited August 2024, when a rate of 2,580% was recorded at Kato Drys. Tymvios said the reason such large percentages occur is that normal August rainfall is very low, meaning even 20-30mm can correspond to ten or twenty times the usual value. Which areas had the most water this year The largest amounts of water for the current hydrological year, that is from October 1, 2025 to the morning of August 18, 2026, fell in mountainous areas. Stavros tis Psokas: 1,151mm Platania: 1,123mm Prodromos: 1,092mm Pano Panagia: 875mm Saittas: 794mm Polis Chrysochous: 672mm Kellaki: 634mm In terms of percentages compared with the corresponding normal rainfall, the highest were recorded at: Polis Chrysochous: 140% Stavros tis Psokas: 139% Platania: 124% Frenaros: 123% Gefyri Panagias: 123% Kornos: 121% Prodromos: 120% Athalassa: 119% For all government-controlled areas, rainfall since the start of the hydrological year stands at 582mm, against a normal value of 498mm. Tymvios said this puts the year at about 116% of normal. Tymvios highlighted that a striking element of the recent weather was the huge spatial variation in rainfall, noting that Makedonitissa recorded 62.2mm and Xyliatos 47.2mm, while relatively nearby areas saw much lower rainfall or none at all. He said this is characteristic of summer storms, in that they cover a small spatial area but can be very intense and produce large amounts of water. The local maximum, he noted, exceeded 60mm even though the average for government-controlled areas was just 2.6mm. “The average rainfall for August reached 131% of the normal value,” Tymvios said. He added that the hydrological year now stands at about 117% of normal rainfall, and that it did not rain heavily everywhere, but extremely large amounts fell in very specific spots. This localisation, he said, is the main characteristic and the key difficulty in forecasting summer storms. Rains receding Tymvios said tomorrow’s conditions are expected to be more limited, mainly affecting mountainous and inland areas during midday and afternoon hours. He said the unstable air mass will recede from Thursday, with mostly clear weather and a noticeable rise in temperature, reaching above average climatological values by Friday. On the conditions of recent days, Tymvios explained that the region has been affected by an unstable air mass, describing atmospheric instability as the tendency of the atmosphere to overturn, transporting its lower layer upward, which results in cloud formation from moisture carried from the surface to higher layers. He said this instability, combined with intense heating of the ground, the presence of humidity and local wind convergence, favoured the rapid development of vertical cloud formations. Orography and sea breezes also played a significant role, Tymvios said. He said the storms developed mainly over mountainous and inland areas during midday and afternoon hours before locally affecting neighbouring areas. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Cyprus tourist arrivals fall 1.1% in July as Israel surge offsets European declines Jet ski accident reveals delay in new Cyprus boating rules South Korea minister says Trump appears to be pressuring Seoul over Iran, investment Cyprus, Bulgaria among Iran’s potential targets in Europe, FT reports Hormuz traffic slows as uncertainty over waterway persists As Europe bakes, momentum grows for climate-resilient farming Thailand Ghost Game Festival Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.