Algarve's hot summer

Second hottest summer on record
1/10/2010

Portugal has just emerged from the second hottest summer on record, the Portuguese Met Office revealed this week.

Following on news that July had been the hottest since 1931, it was revealed this week that the summer of 2010, taking into account the months of June, July and August, was the hottest for 79 years.

This past summer, according to the Met Office, witnessed average temperatures of 23ºC on mainland Portugal which is 1.7ºC above the average for the reference period, which is 1971 to 2000. Average maximum temperatures this past summer were 30ºC, which is a staggering 2.5ºC above what the Met Office considers normal, while thermometers sat at an average minimum of 15.9ºC, which is 1ºC above what weathermen would expect for that time of the year.

Thermometers exceeded 35ºC in all districts of the country, with the Alentejo reporting 50 out of 90 days where temperatures were closer to 40ºC than they were to 30ºC.

In July, the Algarve reported record numbers of tropical nights which occurs when minimum temperatures fail to fall beneath 20ºC.

July was also particularly hot, with average temperatures of 31.75ºC being 3ºC above normal.

The Met Office also said that in addition to these temperatures being substantially higher than usual, they were also responsible for increased discomfort.

According to the Weather Stress Index people on mainland Portugal were subjected to high and extreme levels of thermal discomfort.

A total of three heatwaves were reported during the months of July and August.

Last December, the Met Office revealed that Portugal has warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius over the past few decades and is increasingly prone to extreme weather patterns such as heavy rains, heatwaves and extended cold snaps.

"Extreme phenomena could start having a greater frequency than they have had in the past. We are constantly setting new records for the hottest summers", predicted the president of the National Met Office, Adérito Serrão.

Meanwhile, and despite the higher than normal temperatures, the Met Office said the past summer varied from being "normal to dry".

No concerns have as yet been raised due to rain, especially after Portugal managed to break yet another weather record earlier this year with news that it was the wettest winter since 1870 in Lisbon.

Not surprisingly, flood-ravaged Madeira also managed to beat rainfall records, which were first compiled on the island in 1865.

source the portugal news