IMPACT OF SUMMER HEAT, DROUGHT, WET AUTUMN AND MILD WINTER ON VEGETATION IN THE YEAR 2015

Abstract

After two successive dry years and one wet year, 2015 was marked by the warmth during the winter dormancy, the warm spring with low precipitation in some areas, and summer with four heat waves and rainfall deficit, which were irregularly distributed over space and time. The first water deficit occurred as early as in the spring period, and the water supply was very limited in the Littoral, parts of Primorska and Podravje regions, and in southeastern Slovenia. Summer months were very hot, and rainfall deficit was very high in the eastern part of Slovenia, with the worst situation being in the Littoral, where dry periods developed into extreme agricultural drought and the water deficit of more than 460 mm. Crops were affected due to different stress severity levels dependent on precipitation distribution. Autumn was marked by wetness in October, and autumn works were delayed.