Last April was “extremely dry and hot”, Hottest April in Spain since the start of the historic series (1961) its average temperature is around 14.9 degrees, which is 3 degrees above the average for this month.
According to the climate balance published by the Meteorology Institute (Aemet) this Monday, some months of April daily maximum values that average 4.7 degrees above normal; for their part, the minimums were 1.3 degrees above the average and the daily swing was 3.4 degrees higher than the monthly normal.
The average temperature at the thirty or so base stations was the highest for an April since the existence of records, while the average of the maximums at the forty-five base stations was the highest in the April series. Regarding the mean of the minimums, it was also the highest since the beginning of the observations.
During the month in question, thermal anomalies of up to 4 degrees Celsius, and even 5 degrees in some parts of these regions were observed in the interior of Andalusia, eastern Extremadura and southwest of Castilla-La Mancha.
In the rest of the southern half of the peninsula, as well as the Cantabrian mountain range, the Ebro valley and southern Castilla y León, anomalies were around 3 degrees; in the rest of the peninsula it was close to 2 degrees, with the exception of the eastern Cantabrian Sea and the coasts of Catalonia and the Commonwealth of Valencia, where they had values close to 1 degree.
While anomalies were between 0-2 degrees in the Balearic Islands, they were between 1-3 degrees in the Canary Islands.
Among the main observatories, 38.8 degrees Córdoba/airport, 37.4 degrees Morón de la Frontera and 36.9 degrees Granada/airport and Seville/airport stand out, all measured at 27.
Regarding the minimum values, the lowest values were observed on the first days of the month, highlighting -8.1 degrees of Molina de Aragón recorded on the 5th, -6.9 degrees from Burgos/airport on the 5th, and -5.2 degrees out of the 5th. Valladolid/airport was also recorded in 5th place and -4.6 degrees from Puerto de Navacerrada in 13th place.
At the main station at Burgos/airport, the minimum of 5 was the lowest in April since the start of the series.
Precipitation: The driest precipitation in the historical series
Regarding precipitation, the peninsula was extremely dry with an average value of 14.2 liters per square meter, 22% of this month’s normal value (reference period: 1991-2020). It was the driest April since 1961.
By region, last month between extremely arid and very arid in nearly the entire country, on the island of Ibiza and the western Canary Islands; Dry to normal in Galicia, northern Catalonia, parts of Castilla y Leon, northern Navarra, the northeastern Basque Country and coastal areas of Murcia, and the eastern Canary Islands.
The highest daily precipitation recorded at the main observatories corresponded to Santiago de Compostela/airport with 57.8 liters on 22 of them; Hondarribia/Malkarroa with 35.2 liters in 12; Vigo/Aeropuerto with 31.8 liters and Pontevedra with 26.2 liters are in 13th place.
Considering the monthly total rainfall, Hondarribia/Malkarroa stands out among the main stations with 116.3 liters; Santiago de Compostela/airport with 103.4 liters and Vigo/airport with 101.6 liters.