A satellite recorded 9,711 lightning detections in and around Cyprus on Wednesday as storms brought rain to the island, the Department of Meteorology said on Thursday.
Of those detections, logged by the Lightning Imager on the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), 6,955 were over land and 2,756 over the sea. The department said their density reflected intense storm activity over Cyprus and the surrounding region, for which it had issued an orange thunderstorm warning in advance.
The rain that came with the storms has pushed the month’s total well above normal. Average rainfall in the government-controlled areas reached 51.2 millimetres between October 1 and Thursday morning, about 157 per cent of the normal for the whole of October, according to preliminary figures compared with the 1961 to 1990 average.
In the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday alone, average rainfall stood at 21.3 millimetres, though the department said amounts varied significantly from area to area. Drouseia recorded 47.8 millimetres, Prodromos and Agros 43.9 millimetres each, Kannaviou Dam 39.0 millimetres and Platania 38.8 millimetres.
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