Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia

Flash floods and urban flooding Slovenia

Vulnerabilities - Slovenia

Recent flash floods

On the 18th of September 2007 an extreme rainfall event affected approximately one-third of the country (1). More than 300 mm of rainfall was recorded on some rain-gauge stations within six hours after the start of the storm, with the return period of the highest precipitation being more than 100 years (2). In the town Železniki, the observed maximum daily amount of rainfall was nearly 200 mm, which was the highest recorded amount of rainfall since the beginning of the measurements in 1930 (3). The accumulated rainfall resulted in a flood event that by far exceeded the 100-year return period of maximal floods (4). The flash flood triggered by the intense precipitation devastated the town of Železniki: three people lost their lives, while it was estimated that the flood caused nearly 100 million Euros of damage (5).

During the period between 17th and 19th September 2010, Slovenia was hit by heavy and extensive precipitation: an average of 170-180 mm of rainfall fell over 48 h period, which was the highest amount of rainfall accumulated in two-day period over the past 60 years (6). This led to a sharp rise in the water levels in watercourses and flooding occurred all over the country (1). The River Krka, for instance, flooded due to the highest measured discharge for the river since the beginning of measurements in 1926, statistically corresponding to nearly a 1 in 1000-year flood event (7). 



  1. Slovenian Environment Agency (2008), in: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  2. Kobold et al. (2008), in: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  3. Grillakis et al. (2010), in: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  4. Rusjan et al. (2009); Marchi et al. (2009); Zanon et al. (2010), all: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  5. Bouilloud et al. 2009, in: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  6. Slovenian Environment Agency (2010b), in: Kvočka et al. (2016)
  7. Kobold (2011); Slovenian Environment Agency (2013), both in: Kvočka et al. (2016)