Soaking Up the Aftermath: following the Rain after a Long Drought
Afterprolongedactsofdrought,waterloggedaftermathunleashesmayhem. - Rainfall following a prolonged dry spell: impacts and consequences described
Rain has recently graced us, a blessing in disguise for a parched Germany. Agricultural meteorologist Andreas Brömser from the German Weather Service (DWD) shares his insights, "Sure, it's rained, but that's only a brief reprieve." Images of blooming fields and revitalized forests may be encouraging, but we're not out of the woods yet.
Andreas Marx, researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in amazing Leipzig, agrees. The downpour in the past two weeks has undeniably quenched the thirst of many soil layers across Germany—even if May wasn't exactly a winner when it came to rainfall. The chillier weather also played its part by reducing evaporation, giving nature and crops a small break.
First up at bat are early ripening crops like wheat and barley. Brömser predicts they'll be just fine with the recent moisture. However, sugar beets and corn, the later bloomers, will need more H2O to thrive in the coming months. "We're just getting started with the heatwave this summer," Brömser warns. And those plants have been shooting up like crazy, consuming exponentially more water. So, while rain showersfall here and there, Mother Nature's gonna have to pull out all the stops to keep these crops afloat.
The top centimeters of soil are drinking it up in the wettest areas, that's up to 20 to 30 centimeters. But beneath that first hot layer, the soil is bone dry down to approximately 50 to 80 centimeters. Summer's still got its tricks up its sleeve, so whether drought will rear its ugly head again for agriculture, shipping, and nature, no one knows for sure. The experts remain on tenterhooks, waiting to see how the story unfolds.
Some forecasters predict a heatwave summer for Europe this year. The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) in Hamburg gives the nod, stating their predictions hint at an abnormally hot summer. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is toeing the same line, anticipating a scorcher of a summer on the horizon. Prolonged dry spells in summer have become more common with global warming. Extreme heat events are also expected to rise with climate change, which could potentially lead to lower yields.
The spring of 2025 took the cake in terms of dryness. The German Weather Service (DWD) reported that only 1893 and 2011 recorded less rainfall than 2025 in Germany spanning early March to late May.
- Drought / Rain
- Leipzig / Germany
- Plants / Agriculture
- Climate Change
- Heatwave
- Global Warming
- Crop Yields
- Irigation Systems
- Farming Practices
- Water Management Technologies
- Drought Monitoring
- Drought Phases
- Evaporation
- Agricultural Metrology
- Temperature
- Sugar Beets / Corn
- Water Conservation
- In Leipzig, Germany, Andreas Marx from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research emphasizes that although the recent rainfall has helped, it's not enough to declare the end of the drought.
- Early ripening crops like wheat and barley are expected to survivors in the current conditions, but crops like sugar beets and corn, which typically bloom later, will need more water to flourish during the summer heatwave, according to agricultural meteorologist Andreas Brömser.
- The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology predicts an abnormally hot summer for Europe this year, which could lead to increased evaporation, prolonged dry spells, lower crop yields, and potentially higher instances of drought, especially in agriculture, shipping, and nature.
