Prof. Georgi Rachev before FACTS: I hope we have a stable snow cover in the mountains, because we need water and a lot o

What weather awaits us in December… The climatologist Prof. Georgi Rachev.

- Prof. Rachev, we start the month of December with a little snow in Sofia. What to expect though…
- In Sofia, there is little snow, but that's why there was snow in the Kyustendil region, in Pernik, in the Blagoevgrad region, in the high valley fields, in the region of Southwestern Bulgaria, we presented ourselves with a snow cover, although it is not large. More substantial is the snow cover in the high mountains, which was expected. In Borovets we have about 30 centimeters, a little higher and over 30 cm. The snow is wet and quite heavy, because there was nowhere to get enough cold. If there was a little cold, this wet snow would become more brittle, the snowflakes would be more ethereal, but we still have about the same amount of precipitation, which was not small. Unfortunately, it rained entirely in Southwest Bulgaria, and in other places it rained episodically and in small amounts – I mean Central Bulgaria. This, unfortunately, does not in any way distance us from the land. Rainfall has now rather wet the surface layer. In general, the situation is good, with good rainfall in Western Bulgaria. In the East, symbolism and quite warm weather for the season.

- Will we have more warm weather and what can we expect in the new week?
- We will enjoy temperatures that are already typical for December. The same weather awaits us, but without precipitation. The process is such that the rains are already stopping and will be isolated today. From today, Tuesday, Wednesday is waiting for us normally – according to the new normal, December time. We'll have low stratus clouds, the sun will make an appearance around midday, but temperatures will remain relatively cool compared to what we've been used to. Otherwise, the temperatures will be normal for December. The morning temperatures will be from -2 to +2 degrees, in the afternoon in Western Bulgaria 4, 5 degrees, in the East a little warmer.

- And will we soon have snow and a bigger snow cover, if we compare December with the last years. Last year it literally snowed twice in Sofia?
- Last year it rained in Sofia one and a half times, if we have to be more precise. Let's put it this way - there was no snow. Recently, I read on a weather site that he needs a few more days to make it one year since Vratsa has had no snow cover!!? Vratsa has a specific climate and in winter there is a lot of snow. And now we will celebrate a year without snow!? On Thursday and Friday, a more interesting synoptic situation is set. It is quite far for now, but there will probably be precipitation in places around 600-700 meters above sea level, to which I also add Sofia. There the precipitation will be entirely from rain, and above 1000 meters the precipitation will be from snow, and I hope that a snow cover will form in the mountains, but already more stable. And that's something we haven't seen in a while. I mean that in recent years it has not snowed above 1000 meters so early. In December, the benchmark for me has always been the student holiday, December 8. It always snowed around this date enough to make a small snowman on Borovets, and then everything turned to water.

- And when should we expect more rainfall...
- There is another possibility of precipitation in the period 9 and 12 December, when another such combination of a Mediterranean cyclone and high atmospheric pressure to the north-east of Bulgaria may occur, in order to obtain this “magic“ that we will have at the ground on - cool air from the northeast, and at a height we have warmer and moisture-rich air, which also produces precipitation, and this precipitation already turns into snowflakes on the ground. Both processes are ahead of time to be refined. It's good to look at the big models too – I'm talking about the European and the American, which give a normal December in terms of temperatures. For a long time, these models have not given such a forecast for precipitation and average temperature. The European Center for Medium-Term Forecasts indicates that December will be slightly warmer - by about 0.5 degrees above normal, and the new normal for Bulgaria is already between 5 and 5.5 degrees of average monthly temperatures. The monthly average precipitation is also expected to be normal, there is even a sneaking suspicion that it may be slightly higher than the normal for December. In Northern Bulgaria, they are between 50 and 70 liters per square meter. So an interesting month awaits us, but generally familiar compared to recent years, because December turned out to be extremely warm and with much less sun, because in September, October and November there was a lot of sun. Otherwise, I hope that the forecast of the two big models will not come true in terms of precipitation, but that they will be more. We just need this rain very badly. Water is low in all dams. Those for drinking water are relatively in good condition, but we have to think ahead in time, because if we have another dry summer like this year, the heat will drain them. So let's hope we have a stable snow cover in the mountains, because we need water and a lot of it.