Author(s): Aris Psilovikos; Evangelos Leivadiotis
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: The region of Thessaly located in central Greece (Fig. 1), was highly impacted by severe storms in the recent past (Vasiliades et al. 2022). In September 2023, the region of Thessaly witnessed a catastrophic two-strike hydrological event. Previous researchers highlighted the devastating effects of Storm Daniel unveiling its extreme nature and excessive damage (Leivadiotis et al. 2025), (Diakakis et al. 2025). To start, Storm Daniel saturated the basin with heavy rainfall (Sept 4-7), and only 20 days passed before Storm Elias passed through the area (Sept 26-28). Although a considerable amount of rainfall did not accompany Storm Elias, its floods were much more intense than had been indicated by the rainfall alone. This research examines the concept of the "Wet Sponge" and proposes that an enormous, unrecorded residual amount of remaining ground moisture—the "Invisible Lake"—was sufficient to fill the basin's capacity for absorption to overflow exceptionally when the burst of the second storm occurred.
Year: 2026