August 31, 2023

September 8, 2023

In early September 2023, Greece endured a four-day storm that dropped 910 millimeters (3 toes) of rain on central elements of the nation. The file rainfall triggered lethal flooding and inundated cities and farm fields in Thessaly, a area that features Greece’s agricultural heartland.

The flooding was fueled by a stalled low-pressure storm that turned cut-off from the jet stream, also called a cut-off low, which dropped heavy rainfall on central Greece between September 4 and seven. The storm dropped essentially the most rain, 910 millimeters (3 toes), on Zagora, close to Thessaly’s port city of Volos, in accordance with Meteo, the nation’s climate service. About 100 kilometers (60 miles) inland, the city of Karditsa noticed 659 millimeters (2 toes) of rainfall.

The pair of photographs above exhibits flooding close to Karditsa and Larissa, a number of the hardest hit locations in Thessaly. The picture on the proper, acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, exhibits flooding close to the Pineios River on September 8, a day after the storm receded. The picture on the left, acquired by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Landsat 9, exhibits the identical space on August 31.

The pictures present floodwater masking what as soon as have been inexperienced farm fields within the low-lying Thessaly plain. Farming is a serious business within the area, and accounts for about one-sixth of Greece’s agricultural output. Farmers right here develop primarily cotton, wheat, corn, and alfalfa.

The detailed picture under exhibits flooded fields close to the village of Pedino, north of Karditsa. Sediment-laden water overtopped the banks of the Pineios, to the north of the village, and the Mega Rema River to the south.

September 8, 2023

A number of villages alongside the Pineios and its tributaries turned inundated with water through the storm. Based on information stories, over 4,000 individuals have been rescued from excessive water areas. Flooding close to Larissa, Thessaly’s capital and one of many largest cities in Greece, could be seen within the picture under. Suburbs of the town have been flooded after the Pineios River broke its banks.

September 8, 2023

Though water alongside the Pineios had began to recede on September 11, flooding alongside the river might nonetheless be seen in photographs from the Reasonable Decision Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite tv for pc. Based on information stories, the river was nonetheless 2 meters (6.5 toes) above protected ranges.

NASA Earth Observatory photographs by Wanmei Liang, utilizing Landsat knowledge from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.

Courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory.