Hottest Summer on Record since Measurements Began

This summer was the hottest since measurements began in 1901, with the average temperature of the season 2.7 degrees Celsius above the average for the years 1991-2020, HungaroMet Zrt.’s recent analysis reveals.

Analyzing the data of its measurements, the Hungarian meteorological service wrote that the average summer temperature nationwide was 23.5 degrees Celsius, 2.7 degrees higher than the average of 20.8 degrees Celsius for the years 1991-2020. The average summer temperature was 0.76 degrees above the warmest summer on record, 2022.

All three months were warmer than average, with June 1.8 degrees, July 3.0 degrees and August 3.4 degrees above the average for 1991-2020.

June and August were the fifth and second warmest respectively, while July was the hottest since the beginning of the 20th century.

July and August were equally warm, with a mean temperature of 24.53 degrees Celsius, which was only exceeded by August 1992, the hottest August since 1901, when it was 24.54 degrees Celsius.

The average summer temperature in most of the country was between 23 and 25 degrees Celsius on the plains, but in the southern lowlands it exceeded 25 degrees Celsius in several places, while temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius occurred only in the higher mountains of the north-central highlands.

According to the analysis, the season’s rainfall total was 130.1 millimeters on average for the country as a whole, based on preliminary data, which is only 64 percent of the average of 203.1 millimeters for the years 1991-2020.

July and August were the seventh and ninth driest respectively since the beginning of the 20th century.

The national bimonthly rainfall total for July-August was only 47.2 mm, a value lower than that recorded only in July-August 1992 (46.0 mm), but this year the average temperature for the two months was 1.5 degrees higher than in 1992, resulting in a more severe drought.

In the eastern part of the Transdanubian region and in the southern part of the Great Plain, the seasonal rainfall total remained below 100 millimeters over a large area, and at some stations it was less than 60 millimeters. In the southern Transdanubian region and in smaller areas between the Danube and the Tisza, the summer of 2024 was the driest summer since 1901.

As for this summer’s records, the meteorological service said that on June 15, temperatures in Zabar dropped to 5.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature recorded in the summer of 2024, before the first heatwave arrived in the second half of June. The highest daytime temperature was recorded in Kelebia on July 16 at 41.6 degrees Celsius.

Another analysis by HungaroMet shows that

both globally and in Europe, the highest average temperatures since records began were recorded in the summer of 2024.

This year’s average summer temperature was 0.69 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 norm, beating the previous record of 0.66 degrees Celsius set in the summer of 2023.

Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay