Croatian island hit with record rainfall overnight as Mediterranean cyclone sweeps in 

For several days now, Croatia’s Dalmatia region has experienced changeable and rainy weather brought by the cyclone in the middle Mediterranean. 

However, the deterioration that hit Dalmatia overnight brought record rainfall levels to some parts. The absolute record for precipitation was the island of Žirje, which is situated in the Šibenik archipelago just southwest of Šibenik, 

According to the Pljusak.com, an extreme 265 litres of rain per square meter fell there by 1 a.m. with as much as 192 mm falling in 6 hours. Šibenik Meteo said on Sunday that over 300 litres fell per square metre with more than 2,000 lighting strikes. 

The amount of precipitation is best illustrated by the fact that in Split and Šibenik, an average of 113 mm of precipitation falls in the whole month of November. 

“Fortunately, records were broken on the island, because on the mainland such a quantity would be extremely problematic,” reported Dalmacija Danas.

Heavy rain fell in other places in Croatia as well. The Punta Planka meteorological station recorded 82 litres per square metre, followed by Vodice 76, Starigrad Paklenica 73, Biograd na Moru 62 and Vela Luka on the island of Korčula with 51 litres per square meter.

Last night, storm clouds covered most of the Dalmatian islands, stretching from Mljet, over Korčula, Hvar, Brač, Šolta all the way to the coast and part of the Dalmatian hinterland.

Even the sunniest island on the Croatian coast, Hvar, was not spared from the storm.

“There has not been a  stronger storm on the island for a long time. In just one hour, over 25 litres of rain fell,”said a Crometeo member from Hvar, 24sata said. 

On Sunday, it is expected to be mostly cloudy and the precipitation will continue with a weaker storm. There should be no rain however when Croatia takes on Russia in Split this afternoon.