The current May is cool in Bulgaria, but on the morning of May 26, 1991, it snowed in Sofia, said climatologist Prof. Georgi Rachev

The current May is cool in Bulgaria, and such a cult month of May in climatology remains the one in 1991. On May 26, at 8:00 a.m. in 1991, it began to snow in the districts of “Geo Milev” and “Slatina” in Sofia. Then it snowed in half of the capital on the morning of May 26, with a centimeter of snow on the grass. This was said in an interview with BTA by climatologist Prof. Georgi Rachev, who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Geology and Geography of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, when asked how many years May has not been as cool as it is now in Bulgaria.

It was extremely cold on May 24, 25 and 26, 1991.

“This is the latest date – May 26, 1991, when I remember that a snow cover was formed in Sofia. Not to mention the neighborhoods of Boyana, Dragalevtsi, Simeonovo and Cherni vrah, where there was 80 centimeters of snow. Those were three extremely cold days – May 24, 25 and 26, 1991. On May 26, 1991, there was 15 centimeters of snow in Gabrovo. In Lovech, in Europole, in the Pre-Balkan, there was a snow cover of 5 to 15 centimeters. It was a clear winter in the month of May, as this happens under certain synoptic conditions,” said Prof. Rachev.

He explained that if it wasn’t for yesterday – May 24, when the weather in our country was very nice, and if it wasn’t for the day before to reach and surpass the maximum temperature of 25 degrees in Sofia, we would have made a 50-year record for cool weather in the month of May. We were about to get to the point where May would have gone by not reaching those 25 degrees, which are completely natural for this month. If it wasn’t for yesterday, May would have ended without a single day with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees, the climatologist explained.

Prof. Rachev said that the month of May continues to be cool in our country, but it is not as cool as it was at the beginning. Then we had three or four days in which the average daily temperature in Sofia did not exceed 10 degrees. In the morning it was also very cool, and at noon the maximum temperature was 11-12 degrees. These are temperatures typical for the end of February and the beginning of March, commented the climatologist.

However, he specified that the statement that this month of May was very rainy in our country is not true, because until today “we are barely chasing the normal rainfall for May, we have not even fulfilled the monthly norm”.

If we go back ten years, we can say that there was twice or three times the normal rainfall in May. And now there are places in the country where we may not reach it, said Prof. Rachev.

From tomorrow to Sunday, there will be precipitation in many places in the country

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there will be precipitation in many places in Bulgaria and it is possible that it will be intense. And there is a possibility that for these three days ahead, the monthly norm for precipitation in our country will be reached, predicts Prof. Georgi Rachev.

According to him, it cannot be said that so far in May there has been a lot of rain in our country, as there was in Italy, and at the moment also in Spain.

“This month of May has been cool in our country so far, but not very rainy. In all probability, it will probably reach and slightly exceed its monthly norm, since from tomorrow – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it will rain everywhere in our country. However, there will be no precipitation from morning to evening, but it will rain, especially in the afternoon,” explained the climatologist.

According to him, in the coming days it will be warm in our country, but not as warm as is typical for the end of May. Cooler air will invade from the north-northeast over Bulgaria and this will be superimposed in several consecutive synoptic conditions. However, there will be warming, and the day is already very long, in terms of duration. But this wet and rainy weather, but not with such extremely low temperatures, will last until June 7-8 or until June 10, the climatologist said.

For now, there are two big forecasts for the summer in the Balkans and in Bulgaria

The summer will start a little cooler and with a little more rain, and the temperature of the sea water also “speaks” of this. At this time of the year in our country, the water temperature in the Black Sea should have been 19-20 degrees, but now it is 1 to 2 degrees lower. The Black Sea water warms up very quickly, but despite everything, 18-19 degrees by the end of the week will not be suitable for bathing, and it will also rain, said Prof. Georgi Rachev.

He reported that for now there are two big predictions for the summer that are being watched by everyone around the world. One of them is from the European Center for Medium-Term Forecasts, which has a forecast for a good summer – warm, about 1 degree above normal and with normal precipitation.

The second forecast is for the American model, according to which slightly more precipitation is expected in the summer, but with normal temperatures. These two forecasts are for the Balkans and for Bulgaria, explained the climatologist from Sofia University.

BTA