Warmer, wetter than average meteorological summer
The meteorological summer has passed, with August signalling that autumn was just around the corner as it brought showers and thunderstorms towards the end of the month, the MET office has said.
“The total rainfall recorded in one day in August tipped the scales to confirm this past meteorological summer as one that was wetter than the climatic norm. In fact, on August 22nd alone, 13.2mm of rain was recorded, making August 2024 3.5mm wetter than average.”
“Apart from August, June was the only other month to produce rainfall (3.8mm), slightly alleviating the seasonal drought. In total, 17mm of rain were recorded during the meteorological summer, exceeding the climatic norm by 1.4mm.”
Only one heatwave was recorded between June and July, it said. “While last year’s July heatwave spanned over ten days, this year’s was relatively short in comparison, lasting from June 20th to 22nd, with temperatures exceeding 35°C on all three days.”
“A closer look at the temperatures reveals that all three months of the meteorological summer were warmer than the climatic norm. June, July and even August were 1.6°C warmer than the climatic average, with average temperatures of 25.8°C, 28.5°C and 29.1°C, respectively.”
“High temperatures, even in the months leading up to summer, also resulted in the sea warming up faster than usual. In fact, the average sea surface temperature in June stood at 23.7°C (norm 22°C), rising by more than 3°C to 26.9°C (norm 25.2°C) in July, and reaching 28.9°C (norm 26.7°C) in August”, the MET office statement read.