Some plants suffer

May too wet: recovery for the water reserves

The continuous rain of the past few days has really revived the vegetation in Carinthia. Farmers and foresters are also happy about it.

What's wrong with spring this year? Many people are asking themselves this question, as they are eagerly waiting to finally see the sun again for a longer period of time.

Vegetation has been able to recover
But the persistent rainfall of the past few days has also had its good side. After the long dry spells in the first few months of the year, the vegetation has finally been able to recover. This is particularly appreciated by farmers, whose fields and meadows are lush and green. Corn, cereals, potatoes and even fruit crops have benefited from the prolonged rainfall, says Hans Mikl, Director of the Chamber of Agriculture.

Farmers in Carinthia are dependent on the southern weather. That means we have to hope for an Italian low for rain!

Hans Mikl, Landwirtschaftskammer

But water also causes problems in crops
However, the abundance of water from above is also causing headaches for some. The first mowing will be delayed. "And there could be problems in the strawberry crops that are now in bloom," says Mikl. "On the one hand, pollination could fail because bees and bumblebees can hardly fly. On the other hand, rot could attack the fruit."

In the first half of May alone, weather experts in Klagenfurt measured 84 liters of precipitation per square meter. "That's as much as it usually rains in the whole month of May," explains meteorologist Nikolas Zimmermann from the Ubimet weather service.

In view of these facts, one might think that the water reserves in Carinthia have finally recovered.

However, Helmut Malle from the Department of Water Management and Hydrography at the State of Carinthia disagrees: "The rainfall of the past few weeks has of course replenished some of the reserves, but it is certainly not enough to make up for the entire deficit."

Malle does not want to confirm whether this will solve the supply problems in the coming summer: "Of course, that depends on whether there will be long periods of heat again this year."