Record rainfall: Freak storm dumps 102 mm of rain in 1 hour, Norway
On Monday afternoon, July 13, 2015, a sudden storm hit the village of Ogndal, north of Trondheim in central Norway, dumping 102 mm (4.01 inches) of rain in just one hour.
The storm was followed by heavy hail which left a layer of ice across the area.
Government meteorologist Geir Ottar Fagerli told NRK: “This just does not happen in Norway, we have a hard time believing that it’s true. It’s not that we doubt the observations, but it is absolutely amazing.”
“These are figures that you only normally see in the jungle,” he continued, estimating that the country’s unofficial record is probably somewhere between 80 – 90 mm [3.14 – 3.54 inches] per hour.
Kristin Wåtland Delbekk, a farmer and tourist guide who has lived in the village for 28 years said that she had never seen anything like it.
"It was horrible. There was such a lot of rain in one hour. It was so strange for us," she told The Local. "The animals were really afraid, the cows don’t understand what was happening."
Fagerli said that the downpour almost certainly qualified as a Norwegian record, but since there are no official monitoring stations in the area, it would have to remain an unofficial one.
On average, 74 mm (2.91 mm) of rain falls in this area in July.
On June 26, 2014, Norway's capital Oslo experienced its wettest day since recordings started, with more than 60 mm of rain in 24 hours. Weather stations across the city recorded 44.5 mm (1.75 inches) of rain in just one hour, breaking the 1937 record of 41.5 mm (1.63 inches).
The most rainfall ever recorded in one hour was 305 mm (12 inches) in 42 minutes in Holt, Missouri (US) in 1947.
The village of Ogndal is located north of Trondheim in central Norway.
Featured image credit: NASA Aqua/MODIS.
I once experienced a similar flash flood in Cumbria UK – it seemed to come from nowhere – coincidentally immediately after singing Crash on the Levee in hot sun and blue sky – then it thundered and hailed very large (painful) ‘stones and whited out the site (a sloping camp site in which a festival was occurring). Then it rained and was ankle deep EVERYWHERE on the hillside field at once – including our tent and stall. Boulders rolled and hillsides gushed. It was incredibly exhilarating – but no threat to life in our case and of short duration – 10-15 mins. I felt to share this as an experiential connection. I had a quick look but all the news are of recent examples