A severe storm accompanied by hail and heavy rain struck parts of Gorski Kotar and Lika on Wednesday, 15 July. Roads, courtyards and gardens in the affected areas were briefly whitened by ice.
According to posts by residents on social media, reported by the Rijeka Danas portal, hail fell across the wider area of Vrbovsko, Ogulin and Brod Moravice, as well as in Jablan and Modruš. The storm system moved quickly, and footage from the ground shows a layer of ice that covered roads within minutes.
Damage has also been reported in Lika. In the vicinity of Brinje, hail damaged vegetable plots, fruit trees and other agricultural crops, with some hailstones measuring several centimetres in diameter, according to Lika Club. Locals described how the sky darkened very quickly, the hail lasted only a few minutes, and then the weather cleared again. The true extent of the damage will only be known after a more detailed inspection of the affected areas.
The Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) forecast predominantly sunny but not entirely stable weather for Wednesday, with isolated showers and thunderstorms, especially towards the evening. Daily maximum temperatures ranged between 30 and 34 degrees.
Unstable weather is expected during the night and in the first half of Thursday, with isolated rain, showers and thunderstorms, while conditions should gradually calm down in the afternoon. Along the northern and central Adriatic, showers may be accompanied by strong northwesterly winds and bura, with gusty conditions in places.
