Soaking wet spring of 2023 is in the top 10, but it also has advantages (really): ‘Of course this is nice!’ | Interior

The national rain barrel is full

So much rain fell in recent days that the average precipitation deficit in the Netherlands – which was still 11 millimeters on Tuesday – was 0 on Wednesday, Weeronline reports. The meteorologists speak of a wet spring: 210 millimeters of rain fell so far. This puts 2023 in the top 10 of wettest springs ever measured.

“That extra rain is of course nice for us,” says Suzanne Maas, spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat. In this way , the water managers manage to maintain the water supply in the Netherlands at a good level . “In mid-April we raised the level of the IJsselmeer ourselves, by allowing water to flow there from the IJssel. This is how we keep the national rain barrel, as we always call the IJsselmeer, nicely full before the summer really starts.” Should that summer become very dry again, then the starting position is good.

Of course, says Maas, she would rather sit on the terrace in the sun than have to cross the street with an umbrella. But the water managers are not complaining. On May 10 last year, only 1400 cubic meters of water per second flowed through the Rhine, which is now 2300 cubic meters. “An extra egg for the thirsty. We retain water where necessary and possible. If there is too much, it goes to the sea.”

Moss is growing again in the East
Staatsbosbeheer is also happy with the wet spring. “It is a blessing that the growing season does not start with a shortage,” says Henk-Jan van der Veen. He is a forester in Twente and speaks of a ‘huge difference’ with last year. Then there was almost a record drought in May. “On the dried-out sand ridges near the German border, some moss is finally growing again,” it sounds relieved. According to Van der Veen, we are also lucky with the type of showers. “In a heavy shower, the rain only penetrates about 5 to 10 centimeters into the ground. With the steady rain we’ve had over the past few weeks, the water is absorbed into the soil much better.”

According to him, anyone who complains about the ‘too wet’ spring should realize that we have been spoiled with summery temperatures in April and May in recent years. “The spring we have now was normal thirty years ago. Nice and erratic with regular rain.”

A wet spring is a horror, because:

A parking garage in Malden (Gelderland) filled with water, tunnels in Eindhoven looked like ditches and the platform of a station in Haren nearly subsided. In a place where a cloudburst occurs, 70 to 80 liters of rain per square meter can fall in an hour. Last weekend the conditions were ‘perfect’ for this: moist air, an unstable atmosphere (the air could easily rise quickly) and there was little wind, so the showers moved slowly. According to consultancy Weather Impact, we will see such extreme showers more often. “Weather extremes will increase due to climate change: large amounts of precipitation at once and longer drier periods. We have seen many examples of both in recent years

There are already mosquitoes in your bedroom

Have the mosquitoes already targeted you? The hot and rainy weather is like a holiday resort for them. In places with stagnant water – for example a rain barrel – eggs can be laid in the near future. “Mosquitoes are cold-blooded insects,” explains Sander Koenraadt, associate professor of Medical & Veterinary Entomology at Wageningen University. He specializes in mosquitoes. This means that they do not produce body heat themselves. So they depend on warm weather. The warmer, the faster mosquito larvae can develop.” It is understandable that you want to throw open the windows in this clammy weather. But then put a screen in front of it, he advises.

Many arable farmers are also not happy with the wet spring. “In some regions, the situation has gone off the rails,” says Tineke de Vries of LTO Netherlands. “A lot of rain has fallen in the north of Groningen (Roodeschool), in the peat colonies and in Gelderland. That causes damage: potatoes are rotting, for example,” says the chairman of the Arable Farming and Outdoor Vegetables department.

The showers also disrupt the planting season. “Many new potatoes have yet to be planted and that is too late. We have not yet planted a quarter in North Friesland”, De Vries continues. Still, she doesn’t just want to complain. “Last year it took a long time for everything to come up, but due to the moist, warm weather of the past few days, the seed potatoes germinated quickly. That is another advantage.”

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