The storm that hit Imereti region of western Georgia yesterday is of anomalous nature, the National Environmental Agency claims. Lia Megrelidze, the Head of the Meteorology and Climatology Center says the weather has gone amok various times in the past as well.

‘During the last 15 years, unusually cold winters have been observed in 2012 and 2014, when the temperature reached 15 degrees below zero. The winter was quite harsh in 2008 too’, - Megrelidze says.

As for the abnormal character of precipitation, Megrelidze says the months of August and October of 2015 are to be mentioned in Kobuleti municipality of Adjara region.
According to the Agency, extreme rainfall happened in 2008, in the vicinity of the Tbilisi airport.

Heavy snow was seen last year and in December of 2013 as well, "Last year, the heavy snow hit five regions: Adjara, Imereti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Racha. The roads were covered and blocked, the electricity shut off , "- Lia Megrelidze says.

The amount of snow that fell on Adjara region in September of 2013 is considered anomalous as well, especially if we take into consideration that January and February was quite warm in that year. As for strong hail and storm, we should remember June 2015, because it was an unprecedented case from meteorological as well as geological points of view"- Lia Megrelidze told ALLNEWS.GE.
As for the anomalous heat, Megrelidze says in the last 15 years, the most devastating drought was in 2000 and it hit the entire territory of Georgia, - "a particularly difficult situation was in Samegrelo and Kolkheti plane", - she said.

The highest temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius was observed in Martvili municipality of western Georgia and this is the highest temperature in the last 60 years. "The summer of 2010 was a very hot one as well. That was the same year when large-scale fires happened in Russia and it spread some thermal masses across the Eurasian continent", - the meteorologist said.
In recent years, the anomalous temperature was observed in Kakheti region, with 43-44 degrees above zero.

It should be noted that 2016 was the hottest summer in the world, and this year will be the warmest period, it was announced. The fact is that in January, the average temperature of land and ocean was 1.05 degrees Celsius over the world, when in 2015 it was 0.20 degrees.

The scientists have linked the rising temperatures to the global warming.

Photo courtesy of Trek in Georgia