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Cyprus, in data: the articles

Every article from Fragmata, Monopatia and Kairika, newest first. Each article opens on its own site. Subscribe by RSS.

Kairika ·

Thunder, with data: a record August storm, a very wet October and Cyprus's first lightning page

The 2026/27 water year opened with thunder: 28 mm on average across 54 stations in 12 days, lightning on 8 of them, more rain due this week, and a satellite's view of the 29 August storm.

Fragmata ·

Where Cyprus's Water Comes From, and Where It Goes

A reader asked how much closer four new desalination plants will bring Cyprus to breaking even on water. The honest answer needs a map of the whole system first: what comes in, what goes out, and where the two meet. Desalinated water never reaches a dam. It helps the dams only when it replaces da...

Fragmata ·

Happy New Hydrological Year: 2025/26 in Review, and What the Dams Can Expect in 2026/27

Today the Water Development Department's inflow counter goes back to zero and Cyprus starts a new hydrological year. The one that just ended opened with the dams at their lowest in seventeen years and spent five months short of rain. Then came a record-breaking spring, nine overflowing reservoirs...

Kairika ·

September 2026 in numbers: a hot start, a cold finish and two storms

Athalassa ran 17 days in a row at 35°C or more, 7 September broke station records across the island, then two storms on 18 and 30 September brought record September rain to the west — September 2026 across Cyprus, in data.

Fragmata ·

The Summer That Wouldn't Stay Dry: Record Rain, Record Late-Summer Inflow, and Achna Refills by Pipe

Cyprus summers are supposed to be dry by definition. This one kept raining. August 2026 was officially the wettest August since records began in 1902, four Met Department gauges have logged their wettest late summer on record, and the dams took in more water in August and September than in any la...

Monopatia ·

The Best Hikes in Cyprus: Mountains, Gorges, Waterfalls and Coast

The median Cyprus trail is 3.9 km — which means you never spend a whole day on one thing. Seven walks worth planning a trip around, a tour of all ten hiking areas, and the three things that catch first-timers out.

Fragmata ·

The Strongest El Niño Since 1950 Is Coming. Cyprus's Dams Won't Notice.

The US climate agency gives a better than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño this winter, possibly the strongest since records began in 1950. Seventy-six winters of Cyprus rainfall and thirty-nine years of dam records say the same thing: it will make no difference here. The correlation is 0.05, ...

Kairika ·

August 2026 in numbers: record coastal heat, then a storm that broke it

Paralimni & Protaras had the hottest August in the model record at +3.4°C, then on 29 August a storm dropped Nicosia 8.2°C in a day, rained 68 mm on Achna and hit Mammari with 26 m/s wind — August 2026 across Cyprus, in data.

Fragmata ·

The Summer the Dams Barely Drained: Cyprus Just Had Its Gentlest Drawdown in 39 Years

Cyprus ends the summer holding 111.0 mln. m³ — 38.2% of capacity, and two and a half times what it had a year ago. But the recovery came less from rain than from the gentlest summer drawdown of any year on record that had water worth losing. Thirty-nine years of data say the comeback is real. The...

Kairika ·

July 2026 in numbers: a cloudburst on the mountain, a heat peak on the plain

A two-day storm gave Agros 100 mm while the coast stayed dry, Athalassa hit 43.2°C on 23 July and then fell 8°C in two days, and the stations tell a calmer story than the model — July 2026 across Cyprus, in data.

Monopatia ·

Where the Shade Is: A Day of Sun on 181 Cyprus Trails

We modelled the sun's path over every metre of 181 hiking trails — terrain plus every tree. The result: Cyprus has two kinds of trail, shade is a place you drive to, and every trail's day has its own shape. With interactive charts — every dot is a real trail.

Fragmata ·

Introducing Zen Mode: It's 40°C Outside, So We Built a Page Where It's Always Raining

It's over 40°C out there, the dams have begun their long summer exhale, and there is nothing you personally can do about either of those things in the next ten minutes. So we built a page for the next ten minutes. It's called Zen Mode. It is mostly water. Cyprus in late July is an island doing it...

Monopatia ·

Waterfalls in Cyprus: A Guide to the Island's Best Falls

Yes, Cyprus has waterfalls — and the best of them are short, shaded walks in the Troodos mountains. A guide to Millomeris, Caledonia, and Chantara: how to reach each one, how long it takes, and when the water runs highest.

Monopatia ·

Escape the Summer Heat: Cyprus's Coolest Trails

When the coast hits 35°C, head up or head for water. Ten Cyprus trails — high Troodos forests, waterfall pools, and shaded canyons — that stay cool through the summer.

Fragmata ·

The Anatomy of a Cyprus Dam: 108 Reservoirs, a Sunken Church, and How to Read a Dam Wall

Cyprus packs more dams into its hillsides than almost anywhere in Europe — 108 of them, holding a sunken church, a bird sanctuary, and a few engineering stories worth knowing. Here's how to read a dam wall, and why the type of wall tells you how the dam behaves. Cyprus is a small island with a bi...

Kairika ·

June 2026 in numbers: a lopsided month

The west and southeast coasts ran up to 2.8°C above the 1961–1990 normal while Troodos stayed cooler than usual — June 2026 across Cyprus, in data.

Fragmata ·

Peak Water: Cyprus Reservoirs Crest at a Two-Year High as the Inflow Season Hands Off to Summer

Total storage in Cyprus's 18 main dams has flattened at 42.4% (123.4 million m³) — the highest level since June 2024, and almost exactly double where it stood a year ago. After a season that delivered 112 million m³ of new water, the most in four years, the rains have handed off to summer. For ni...

Fragmata ·

100 Million Cubic Metres of Inflow: Cyprus Reservoirs Cross a Line for the First Time in Four Years

Cyprus's 18 main reservoirs have absorbed 100 million cubic metres of new water since the hydrological year began on 1 October — the first season to cross that line in four years, and a number that came almost entirely out of two extraordinary months. A month ago, on 7 April, total *storage* in C...

Fragmata ·

From Water Levels to Hiking Trails: Introducing Monopatia — A Free Guide to 164 Cyprus Trails

Fragmata tracks the water inside Cyprus's dams. Now a companion project, Monopatia, lets you hike to them — starting with 7 trails that pass right by the island's reservoirs. If you've been following Cyprus's reservoir recovery this season — from [27 mln. m³ in December](/articles/2026-03-02-cypr...

Fragmata ·

100 Million Cubic Metres: Cyprus Reservoirs Cross a Milestone for the First Time in 20 Months

After 20 months below the line, Cyprus's 18 main reservoirs have crossed 100 million cubic metres of stored water — a milestone that seemed unthinkable when the season opened at barely 27 mln. m³ in late December. On 7 April 2026, total storage in Cyprus's 18 main dams reached **100.2 mln. m³ (34...

Fragmata ·

Why Kalavasos Dam Drops When It Rains: The Southern Conveyor Explained

A Fragmata reader noticed something strange: Kalavasos Dam is at 12%, and even after rainfall the water level keeps falling. Could there be a leak? The real explanation is more interesting — and more concerning — than a simple hole in the wall. If you've been watching the [Kalavasos Dam page on F...

Fragmata ·

Drought Over North of Troodos: All Five Nicosia Dams Full — Xyliatos, Klirou, Solea, Kalopanagiotis and Tamassos Overflowing

Five dams north of the Troodos mountains are full. As the island debates water restrictions, Nicosia's mountain reservoirs have quietly recorded one of their best seasons in a decade — Xyliatos, Kalopanagiotis, Klirou-Malounta, Solea, and Tamassos are all overflowing. Cyprus's water crisis is rea...

Fragmata ·

Where Does Protaras Get Its Water? Desalination, Pipes, and the Empty Dam That Was Never the Source

A Fragmata reader asks: the Achna Dam has been empty for ages — so where does the Protaras / Ayia Napa / Paralimni area actually get its drinking water? The answer involves a 29-year-old desalination plant, a single 50-year-old pipeline, and infrastructure projects that exist only on paper. It's ...

Fragmata ·

Cyprus Reservoirs Exceed Last Year for the First Time — 12 mln. m³ in 3 Days, Xyliatos Overflows

Exceptional Troodos rainfall rewrites the season: total storage climbs to 26.9%, surpassing last year's 24.7% — and Xyliatos confirms our prediction with an overflow In our [previous article](/articles/2026-03-18-drought-retreating/) five days ago, we noted that Xyliatos was filling fast and call...

Fragmata ·

Is the Drought Retreating? 12 of 21 Cyprus Reservoirs Exceed Last Year's Levels

Updated Fragmata analysis: forecast improved, water deficit unlikely — except in parts of the southeast Two weeks ago, in our [first article](/articles/2026-03-02-cyprus-reservoirs-forecast/) about the Fragmata dashboard, we wrote: "the crisis is real, but cyclical — not catastrophic." The foreca...

Fragmata ·

Cyprus Reservoirs at 20.6% with Forecast Down to 7% — But 38 Years of Data Promise a Turnaround

The free Fragmata dashboard shows: the crisis is real, but cyclical — not catastrophic Cyprus reservoirs stand at 20.6% — 59.9 million cubic metres out of 316. According to the Water Development Department's report of 2 March 2026, the situation remains severe: the government has already imposed ...