Cyprus has a total of 14 meteorological stations that have been in continuous operation for at least 100 years. Five of them were designated as "centennial stations" during the 19th World Meteorological Organisation Congress that is currently underway from 22 of May to 2 June in Geneva.
The Cyprus Department of Meteorology was represented at the congress by its Director Dr. Kleanthis Nicolaides in his capacity as permanent representative of Cyprus to the WMO.
Among the resolutions examined was the designation of Centennial weather stations. The World Meteorological Organization has so far recognized 291 centennial weather stations and Congress increased this by a further 118 by including, for the first time, hydrological and marine stations. Cyprus has several such stations, and during the 19th Congress, five more stations from the Department were named centennial. These stations are the rainfall measurement stations in Drousia, Agios Neophytos, Kykkos, Kalos Chorio Limassol, and Palechori.
The designation of these five stations as centennial stations, the Department of Meteorology said, brings the number now to a total of 14 centennial stations, which is a significant number considering the size of the island.
According to the WMO, observations from long-term observing stations and other platforms are vital inputs to climate models that scientists use to understand the climate and create credible scenarios of future climate change.
They accurately measure how high-impact events such as intense heatwaves or extreme rainfall are changing in terms of occurrence, and so make it possible to evaluate risks and find solutions.
The WMO attaches great significance to centennial stations with long and continuous time series of observations, as they provide much more reliable climate data over a long period of time, while simultaneously validating climate models, the Department of Meteorology added.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
