Crete records 440mm of rain at Chania’s Xyloskalo as two-day storm intensifies
Crete appears to be facing an emergency weather situation after a two-day spell of intense storms, with the network of automatic meteorological stations run by the National Observatory of Athens (meteo.gr) recording an unprecedented volume of rainfall between Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3. The data show the storm’s epicenter was at Xyloskalo in Chania, where rainfall reached 440 millimeters.
According to meteo.gr, that figure translates into 440 liters of water per square meter, or 440 tons of water per stremma of land, since every 1 millimeter of rainfall is equivalent to 1 liter per square meter, or 1 ton per stremma.
Mountain and northern areas hit hardest
The color-coded scale on meteo.gr’s rainfall maps shows the largest totals concentrated mainly in the island’s mountainous and northern areas. The extreme single-day rainfall totals recorded during the event place this storm among the more severe weather episodes to affect Crete this season.
meteo.gr said the readings fully confirm the warnings and forecast data it had issued in a recent extreme weather bulletin. The agency had previously flagged the risk of heavy rainfall concentrated over the island’s higher ground.
The storm follows a string of weather-related disruptions across Crete in recent weeks, during which authorities have repeatedly raised alert levels over flood risk and closed roads and schools in affected regions. Access to several gorges in Crete has also been restricted on multiple occasions this season due to forecasts of heavy rain exceeding safety limits.
