Spain experiences its hottest summer on record

it was last month second hottest august since the series started in 1961. The month had a normal character in terms of precipitation in mainland Spain, but in the Canary Islands it was the third wettest month of August since the start of the series.

August was totally too hot, the average temperature in mainland Spain is 24.7 °C, 2 °C above this month’s average (reference period: 1981-2010). It was the second warmest month of August since the series began in 1961, and thus the warmest month of the 21st century, after only August 2003.

last month The central and southeastern quarters of the Iberian Peninsula are extremely hotand it was very hot in the rest of peninsular Spain, with the exception of the western end, where Andalusia had a warm or normal character. In the Balearic Islands the weather was very hot, while in the Canary Islands it was hot or very hot in most areas.

The most notable thermal anomalies were around +3 °C in southern Galicia, Castilla y León, Basque Country, Navarra, La Rioja, Aragon, Catalonia, Madrid, eastern Extremadura, northern and western Castilla-La Mancha, central and wider areas. In the north of the Valencian Community and east of Andalusia, it reaches values ​​close to +4 °C at some points in these regions.

Maximum daily temperatures averaged 2.1 °C above normall, the minimum values ​​are 1.8 °C above the average, while the daily thermal oscillation is 0.3 °C higher than normal for the month.

With the data currently available, it can be assumed that: From July 30 to August 15, a heat wave hit the peninsula and the Balearic Islands.With an anomaly of 3.8 ºC, maximum wave temperature of 36.1 ºC and extension of 27 provinces.

At 23 main stations, the average temperature of the month was the highest month of August since the beginning of the respective series. Additionally, the monthly average of daily maximums at 17 major stations was the highest in the August series, and the average of sixteenth minimums was the highest in August since the beginning of the observations.

The highest temperatures for the month were observed during the heat wave of the first two weeks.Among the main observatories, 42.6 °C was recorded at Córdoba/airport on day 2, 42.0 °C measured in Alicante and Almería on day 13, and 41.9 °C at Alicante-Elche/airport on 13. The month’s maximum temperature at seven main stations was the highest recorded in August since the beginning of the observations. In addition, the highest daily minimum (hottest night) of the August series was recorded at nine major stations.

Despite the heat, August wasn’t the driest month, the average precipitation value in mainland Spain is 21.8 mm, 96% of the normal for the month (reference period: 1981-2010). It was the driest thirty-seventh month of August since the start of the series in 1961 and the fifteenth month of the 21st century. On the other hand, since the beginning of the series in the Canary Islands, after 2005 and 2015, August has been the third wettest month of the year.

it’s august between normal and humid in almost the entire Peninsula, with the exception of dry or very dry Galicia, eastern Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra, Huesca, Castellón, Extremadura and most of Toledo. August was very wet in the Huesca Pyrenees, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha and parts of Andalusia and parts of the Canary archipelago. In the Balearic Islands, this month presented a marked contrast between the islands on the island of Menorca and those north of Mallorca that are humid or very humid and dry in the rest of the archipelago.