Flood and drought

Historical floods in Norway
We have some information about floods from as long ago as the 1340’s. From around 1600 information about flood damages can be found in old historical archives. The earliest floods were devastating in their effects, including the loss of lives. Several of the largest known floods in Norway have occurred just before or after particularly cold decades. The large flood in 1789 occurred after a cold period lasting from the autumn of 1773 to the spring of 1789. This flood was caused by a very warm weather type with abundant precipitation of long duration. This weather type has also caused many of the catastrophic floods in the rivers Rhine, Danube, Elbe and Oder.

Historical droughts in Norway
Historical data also give information about dry periods in the past. Drought during the growing season could be devastating for farmers. In the 1830’s there were many dry years in eastern Norway and in the mountains. There were also several dry years between 1875 and 1881. In the autumn of 1915 it was so dry that several run-of-river hydropower stations had to stop production in the southwestern part of Norway.