It was on Monday evening that a very strong thunderstorm moved in over Torpshammar, a mill located along Ljungan about halfway between Ånge and Matfors, in Västernorrland county. Here, nearly 4 millimeters of rain fell in just one minute – which is a Swedish record.
Torpshammar resident Jannie Ringdahl, who runs the hotel and conference facility Torpshammars herrgård, is not surprised that the small community is once again making its mark on the weather map.
More records
– We usually have both snow and heat records. You often hear that Torpshammar is the warmest in the country, she says.
She herself was not at home when the heavens opened. But she takes the tropical downpour in stride:
– We have downpipes that can handle large amounts of rain. In addition, we live quite high on a slope down towards Ljungan, so the water runs away.
Even during the heat wave at the end of June, Torpshammar excelled. Then it was the hottest in the whole country with a temperature of 30.4 degrees. In March 2022, the year’s highest temperature was measured in Torpshammar.
SMHI’s downpour warnings have been raining heavily all summer. But according to Sofia Strömberg, meteorologist at SMHI, this does not necessarily mean that there are more heavy showers than normal.
– We are looking at what kind of societal disruption the rainfall could cause. Is it an area that is particularly sensitive, is there a lot of people there or is there a big event going on? Then we have some guidelines, if it moves between 30 and 50 millimeters in three to four hours then there is a risk that the rain will cause it, she says.
The world record in the USA
So far this summer, nothing stands out in terms of rain, according to SMHI. In some places, above all in the areas around Linköping, it has rained somewhat more than normal for the time of year, but you have to go much further back in time – the comparison period 1961–1990 – to talk about a major change.
– With the climate we have today, it is around normal.
The question is whether there will be more Swedish weather records this summer. After all, Torpshammar still has a long way to go to the world record, which is a whopping 31.2 millimeters. It was also set in July, specifically on the US National Day of July 4, 1956, in Unionville, Maryland, according to statistics from the World Meteorological Organization.
However, it’s only been a couple of years since SMHI started collecting minute rainfall data, so maybe there’s a chance for new titles.