After 1997 and 2006, this was the third warmest winter, according to an analysis by the Hungarian Meteorological Service. In February alone, thermometers showed an average of nearly 5 degrees more than usual, with many places in the country without significant snowfall all winter.
Hungary’s daily average temperatures in December and February were generally several degrees above average, while it stayed around the average value in January. During the third week of December and in some days in early February, the temperature even reached 10 degrees Celsius.
Last winter, the national average of the coldest day’s mean temperature did not drop below minus 3°C.
The lowest temperature during last winter was 14.5 degrees Celsius, recorded in Szamosújlak on December 6th. Throughout the ten days prior to Christmas, the average daily temperature stayed above 5 degrees Celsius. The season’s highest temperature of 21.1 °C was measured in Fertőrákos.
Interestingly, this temperature, which is also a new February 24th record, was not recorded during the day but overnight.
In terms of precipitation, the winter of 2019/2020 is considered to be average, but the precipitation was not evenly distributed over the months.
The phenomenon is not unique to Hungary. The global temperature in January, for example, was warmer than every previous January on record. Also, the first month of 2020 was the warmest January ever recorded in Europe, the Copernicus Climate Change Service reported.
Featured photo by György Varga/MTI