Case Study: Floods in Central Europe 2021
In July 2021, a low-pressure system called Bernd caused heavy floods in Central Europe, mainly over Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. Bernd later developed into an upper-level low that was characterized by high amounts of precipitation while remaining quasi stationary for several days over Central Europe. As a consequence, rivers and streams broke their banks, overflowing streets and towns.
While being well predicted by numerical weather prediction models, the floods nevertheless caused severe damage and more than 200 casualties. Local precipitation rates were increased by thunderstorms and hail was recorded in France and Switzerland.
The impact of the continuous rainfall was very different from region to region. In some places, such as western Germany, rivers rapidly burst their banks and flooded nearby towns. In other regions, such as Switzerland and Austria, mountains and convection created localized precipitation spikes and flooding.