Conditions of mild or medium drought were recorded in 38 percent of Greece’s territory in October 2023, the Athens National Observatory’s meteo.gr service reported on Tuesday.
The drought in central and eastern Macedonia and especially in the region of Thrace was classed as medium and in some locations extreme.
Mild drought conditions prevailed in parts of the central and eastern Peloponnese, eastern Central Greece (including Attica), central and southern Evia as well as in some islands of the Aegean.
Additionally, conditions of mild drought were observed in some parts of central and western Macedonia.
SPI-1 index for October 2023 in Greece (reference period 1991-2020)
SPI Drought Index (Standardized Precipitation Index) is a climatological index used to calculate the deviation of rainfall from the climatic mean, and to identify areas affected by drought.
The index is calculated for a specific period of time (eg 1 month – SP-1, 3 months – SP-3, 2 years – SPI-48, etc.). It was developed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and is widely used to monitor and evaluate climate conditions worldwide.
Regarding SPI values, positive values greater than 1 correspond to above-average rainfall relative to the reference climate period. Values between -1 and 1 indicate normal rainfall for the period, while for negative values less than -1 we have less rain than average and therefore drought. Values below -2 indicate a severe drought event.
Source: Keep talking greece